On Sunday, the Michigan High School Hockey Coaches Association (MHSHCA) announced at its virtual year-end meeting that senior forward Dean Loukus (Calumet, 2021) was the 2020-21 recipient of the Mr. Hockey Award. A four-year player for the Copper Kings, Loukus became just the third player from the upper peninsula to receive the award, joining fellow alumni Ben Johnson (Calumet, 2011) and Bob Ranqus (Calumet, 1998).
Loukus led the Copper Kings to an undefeated regular season; a 14-0-1 record was the first time in 20 years that a team in Michigan high school hockey had achieved such a feat. He scored 25 goals and 74 points in 20 games this season, leading the entire state in assists and points.
One of the more dynamic forwards in the game for the last four seasons, Loukus played in 101 career games, scoring 82 goals and 225 points. He finished his career as the all-time leading scorer in Calumet history, setting the record for assists in a game (six), assists in a season (49), assists in a career (143) and points in a career (225).
Loukus was one of six players to be named to the 2021 Dream Team, joined by Drake Danou (Brother Rice, 2021), Trevor Davis (Byron Center, 2021), Carson Korte (Rockford, 2021), Andrew Larson (Hartland, 2021) and Leyton Stenman (Cranbrook, 2021).
Members of the MHSHCA nominate and vote for All-State honorees at the end of each season. Once finalized, members vote an additional time from that pool of players to select the Dream Team. After that, members vote one final time to select Mr. Hockey in the state of Michigan.