Trainer of the Year - Shawn Barnacle

"Shawn was outstanding as a Trainer.  We had a ton of injuries including some serious ones.  He was always calm, thorough, professional. It helped that he was trained as a Wilderness First Responder. He kept a very detailed list of each injury, followed up with players and families immediately following the game with care instructions.  And also checked up regularly until return to play.  He created and was always refining the EAP (Emergency Action Plan) which we activated on more than one occasion.  In particular, we had a player unconscious on the ice for 3 mins after going into the boards head first at full speed.  He was taken to the hospital in ambulance with head and back injuries.  The player made a full recovery and returned to play a few months later.  It was frightening for the team and families but Shawn took the lead, ensured player safety and guided a crew of people including firefighters, paramedics and a very stressed family.  We had fun making jokes about the suitcase-sized first aid kit he brought to every game but we were lucky he had it."