CHIEFS HAND OUT YEAR END AWARDS
Dustin Tokarski was named the Spokane Chiefs Player of the Year and Jared Spurgeon won a pair of awards, Player’s Player and the John “Hitman” Hern Defenseman of the Year, in a pre-game ceremony on Monday night when the Chiefs hosted the Kelowna Rockets. Both Tyler Johnson and Steve Kuhn were honored twice as the Chiefs handed out eight total awards.
Tokarski currently leads the WHL in goals against average (1.99) and save percentage (.936) and is tied for the league lead with seven shutouts. The 19-year-old from Watson, Saskatchewan has won 34 games in 53 starts this season and put a string of 11 victories in a row from December 3rd through February 6th.
In his fourth season as a Chief, Spurgeon was named the Defenseman of the Year for the second consecutive season and earned the Player’s Player award, which is selected by the players, for the first time. Spurgeon leads Spokane defenseman in scoring with 10 goals and 44 points and is also tied for second on the team with a +36.
Johnson was named the Humanitarian of the Year and Ken Rabel Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year. Johnson, a Spokane native, continually gives back to the community he was raised in through numerous endeavors, including KHQ’s Success by 6 promotion and relationships with the Children’s Miracle Network. In his second season in the WHL, Johnson has scored 26 goals and 61 points, third on the team.
While maintaining an 88% in Human Biology, Integrated Math and Chemistry, Kuhn has appeared in all 70 games going into tonight’s game versus the Kelowna Rockets leading all rookies with nine goals and 18 points. Kuhn was named Spokane’s Rookie and Scholastic Player of the Year.
The Chiefs also honored Drayson Bowman as the team’s leading scorer for the 2008-09 season. Prior to Monday night’s game Bowman had scored 46 goals, a career high, and 82 points, equaling the mark he had last season. Bowman is the first Chief to score 40 goals in back-to-back seasons since 1993.
The Chiefs will honor the plus-minus award winner and the cumulative season winners of the North Cedar Dental Stars of the Game prior to one of the Chiefs two playoff games next weekend.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR Dustin Tokarski
PLAYERS’ PLAYER Jared Spurgeon
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR Steve Kuhn
JOHN “HITMAN HERN” DEFENSEMAN OF THE YEAR Jared Spurgeon
MOST SPORTSMANLIKE Tyler Johnson
HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR Tyler Johnson
SCHOLASTIC PLAYER OF THE YEAR Steve Kuhn