From left, Marquette’s Skyler Blackburn, Brody LeMire and Parker Nevenhoven help hoist the MHSAA regional championship trophy after defeating Escanaba 3-1 at Lakeview Arena in Marquette last Wednesday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

NEGAUNEE — Five players from Marquette Senior High School and one from Negaunee High School were honored when the Great Lakes Hockey Conference recently announced league awards.

Leading the way for the Marquette County contingent was Sentinels sophomore defenseman Jacob Spagnuolo named a major award winner with the Rick Miller Rookie of the Year.

The league’s three major awards are named after a trio of coaches who have now passed away but spent decades coaching with success at Houghton, Hancock and Calumet high schools.

Miller, the Rookie of the Year award namesake, was at Hancock Central High School for numerous years and won a state title in 1999.

Marquette landed one player on the league’s First Team, senior forward Brody Sheldon, and two more on the Second Team, senior goaltender Parker Nevenhoven and senior blueliner Brody LeMire.

One player from each Marquette County school earned honorable mention — Negaunee senior forward Nolan O’Dovero and Sentinels senior forward Seth Sandstrom.

The two other major award winners were Escanaba senior forward Graham Johnson as Jim Crawford Player of the Year and Jeffers’ Aaron Helminen as Don Miller Coach of the Year.

Crawford, who died in 2022, was a long-time coach at Calumet who won six state championships, while Don Miller was a veteran coach at Houghton and won a state championship in 1982. He was Rick Miller’s brother.

In the GLHC this season, Marquette (19-8-3 overall) finished in a tie for third with Calumet, each having a 3-2-1 league record. Negaunee (9-19) was seventh in the league at 0-6.

Jeffers (19-8-1) won the league with a perfect 6-0 mark, while Escanaba (18-10-1) edged out the Sentinels and Copper Kings for second place with a 4-2 mark.

Hancock (14-11-3) and Kingsford (11-13) tied for fifth, each at 2-4.

Marquette’s nine-game unbeaten streak came to a halt Saturday when the Sentinels lost in the MHSAA Division 3 quarterfinals to Houghton 4-0 in Marquette.

Earlier in the tournament, MSHS defeated Kingsford 5-1 and Escanaba 3-1.

Here are the balance of GLHC honorees, listed with position, year and school:

First Team — Brogan Turner, sr. forward, Jeffers; Nathan Londo, sr. F, Calumet; Nolan Bink, sr. defenseman, Escanaba; Drake Niemela, sr. D, Calumet; Kasen Helminen, sr. goaltender, Jeffers

Second Team — Ben Sands, sr. F, Escanaba; Kirby Storm, sr. F, Hancock; Erik Loukus, sr. F, Calumet; Blake Heltunen, soph. D, Jeffers

Honorable mention — Beau Jukuri, jr. G, Calumet; Owen LaBonte, sr. D, Escanaba; Connor Helminen, soph. F, Hancock; Griffin Heinonen, sr. D, Jeffers; Will Murvich, sr. F, Kingsford

Story contents based on email received from Negaunee athletic director Jake Skewis. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.