Cody Hodgson takes home top CHL honour; other award winners

by davetherave on Sun May 24, 2009 5:51 am

Hodgson takes home top CHL honour

FACEOFF.COM/Saturday, May 23, 2009

The Canadian Hockey League announced 10 national award winners on Saturday in Rimouski, Que., including Cody Hodgson of the Brampton Battalion as CHL Player of the Year at the league's annual awards ceremony.

Hodgson scored a career-high 43 goals and 49 assists for 92 points in 53 games.
The Battalion captain led the OHL with 11 game-winning goals and had a league-high point scoring streak of 23 games from Nov. 21 to Feb. 11.

He also won gold with Canada at the 2009 world junior hockey championship in Ottawa and led the tournament with 16 points in six games. Hodgson, a 19-year-old from Markham, Ont., is a Vancouver Canucks prospect drafted 10th overall at the 2008 NHL draft.

John Tavares of the London Knights finished the season as the top-rated North American prospect for the 2009 NHL draft to be held next month in Montreal.

The four-year player led the OHL in scoring this season with 58 goals and 46 assists for 104 points in 56 games. The 18-year-old from Oakville, Ont., set a new OHL all-time record for goals scored this season when he recorded his 215th career goal on March 8 in a win over the Windsor Spitfires.

Tavares was also named tournament MVP when he won gold representing Team Canada at the 2009 world juniors.

Other winners announced Saturday included Brett Connolly of the Prince George Cougars who was named rookie of the year The 16-year-old Prince George, B.C., product led his hometown Cougars with 30 goals and 60 points in 65 games this season.

Mike Murphy of the Belleville Bulls was named CHL goaltender of the year. Murphy, a 20-year-old from Inverary, Ont., posted a record of 40-9-2-2 with a league best goals-against average of 2.08 with a save percentage of .941 which was also the best mark in the league.

Defenceman of the year honours went to Jonathan Blum of the Vancouver Giants. Blum helped the Giants to their fourth consecutive B.C. Division crown and to the second-best defensive record in the WHL. The 20-year-old from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., notched 16 goals and a career-high 50 assists for 66 points.

Windsor Spitfires head coach Bob Boughner was named coach of the year. Boughner was awarded the trophy for the second straight season leading the Spitfires to their best regular season in franchise history with a record of 57-10-0-1 for 115 points. His team won 16 more games and earned 21 more points than the 2007-08 season.

Stefan Elliott of the Saskatoon Blades was named scholastic player of the year. The 18-year-old from North Vancouver earned a 93.3 per cent average during his first semester of studies in 2008-09 while taking a heavy course load of Grade 12 classes at Marion Graham Collegiate in Saskatoon.

The sportsman of the year trophy went to Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll of the Shawinigan Cataractes. Lalonde-McNicoll had 38 goals and 66 assists for 104 points in 65 games with just 22 penalty minutes

Yannick Riendeau of the Drummondville Voltigeurs was the CHL's top scorer. Riendeau had 126 points including 58 goals and 68 assists in 64 games this season with a plus-minus rating of plus-38.

The humanitarian of the year award went to Matthew Pistilli of the Shawinigan Cataractes.

Pistilli was a major contributor to the Shawinigan community this season and distinguished himself by visiting underprivileged children and donating his personal tickets to every home game and ensuring that the children received VIP recognition as his guest. Throughout the year he participated in local school activities, fundraising initiatives, and minor hockey initiatives.

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