OHL Wins Four Awards at 2008-09 CHL Awards Ceremony

Rimouski, QC – The Canadian Hockey League today announced ten national award winners including Cody Hodgson of the Brampton Battalion as The Hockey Company CHL Player of the Year at the annual CHL Awards Ceremony.  The event was held at the Salle Desjardins-Telus Auditorium in Rimouski, QC as part of the festivities at the 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup.  All CHL award winners were selected by NHL Central Scouting.

The Ontario Hockey League led the way capturing four awards in total.  In addition to Hodgson, who was unable to attend due to on ice commitments with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, Mike Murphy (Belleville Bulls) won the ADT CHL Goaltender of the Year, John Tavares (London Knights) was named the NeilMed CHL Top Prospect, and Bob Boughner (Windsor Spitfires) was named the Old Dutch Brian Kilrea CHL Coach of the Year.  Clayton Hodgson accepted the award on behalf of his brother Cody.

The Hockey Company Player of the Year – Cody Hodgson, Brampton Battalion
Hodgson scored a career-high 43 goals and 49 assists for 92 points in 53 games with a plus-minus rating of plus-41 and 33 penalty minutes.  The Battalion captain led the OHL with 11 game-winning goals and had a league-high point scoring streak of 23 games from November 21 to February 11.  Hodgson recorded 26 multi-point games with four hat-tricks and one five-point game November 6 in an 8-4 win over the Plymouth Whalers.  He won gold with Canada at the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa and led the tournament with 16 points in six games.  Hodgson, a 19-year-old from Markham, ON, is a Vancouver Canucks prospect drafted 10th overall at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.  Also nominated was forward Brett Sonne of the Calgary Hitmen, and goaltender Nicola Riopel of the Moncton Wildcats.

NeilMed Top Prospect Award – John Tavares, London Knights
Tavares finished the season as the top-rated North American prospect for the 2009 NHL Entry 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, ON, set a new OHL all-time record for goals scored this season when he recorded his 215th career goal as part of a four-point performance with a hat-trick March 8 in a 4-3 win over the Windsor Spitfires.  Tavares was named tournament MVP when he won gold representing Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa.  Also nominated was defenceman Dmitry Kulikov of the Drummondville Voltigeurs, and Evander Kane of the Vancouver Giants.

Old Dutch Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year – Bob Boughner, Windsor Spitfires
Boughner is 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 where they ranked first overall in the OHL to capture the Hamilton Spectator Trophy for first place in the regular season.  His team won 16 more games and earned 21 more points than the 2007-08 season when he was the recipient of this award.  Boughner, a 38-year-old Windsor native, is in his third year behind the bench after purchasing the Spitfires along with Warren Rychel and Peter Dobrich in 2006. He guided them to an 18-43-2-5 record in his first season followed by a 41-15-7-5 record last season.  Also nominated were Don Hay of the Vancouver Giants, and Danny Flynn of the Moncton Wildcats.

ADT Goaltender of the Year – Mike Murphy, Belleville Bulls
Murphy, a 20-year-old from Inverary, ON, 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.  He recorded five shutouts in 54 games.  He limited the opposition to two or fewer goals in 36 games this season, including the final five games of the regular season where he recorded five wins, including one shutout to help the Bulls clinch first place in the Eastern Conference.  He made 40 or more saves in eight games including a season-high 50 saves in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Ottawa 67’s as first star of the game November 14.  Murphy is a Carolina Hurricanes prospect selected in the sixth round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.  Also nominated were Nicola Riopel of the Moncton Wildcats, and Chet Pickard of the Tri-City Americans.

The other 2008-09 CHL Award Winners include (OHL Nominee in brackets)

Right Guard Sportsman of the Year – Cédric Lalonde-McNicoll, Shawinigan Cataractes (Cody Hodgson, Brampton Battalion)

Boston Pizza Top Scorer – Yannick Riendeau, Drummondville Voltigeurs (John Tavares, London Knights)

Home Hardware Humanitarian of the Year – Matthew Pistilli, Shawinigan Cataractes (Chris Terry, Plymouth Whalers)

Subway Scholastic Player of the Year – Stefan Elliott, Saskatoon Blades (Matt Duchene, Brampton Battalion)

BMO Rookie of the Year – Brett Connolly, Prince George Cougars (Evgeny Grachev, Brampton Battalion)

Jack Link’s Defenceman of the Year – Jonathan Blum, Vancouver Giants (Ryan Ellis, Windsor Spitfires)

Click here for the full news release and for information about all CHL award winners.