Moncton Wildcats present Fans’ Choice Awards
The Moncton Wildcats hockey club held an evening gala last night to celebrate the 2007-2008 season. Eight player awards were given out. This year marked the first year that fans were given the opportunity to vote for the players they deemed worthy of the awards. Fan votes were made possible by the Times and Transcript.
“As usual the Wildcats Organization did a first class job putting this event together,” said Danny Flynn Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations. “To the fans, thank you for voting for the team awards. You did a great job with your selections.”
Most Valuable Player
The Most Valuable Player award was given to first year forward, Zach Sill. Sill came to the Wildcats in 2007-2008 from the Maritime Junior A Truro Bearcats. |
 |
|
Outstanding Defensive Player
Outstanding Defensive Player was awarded to Mark Barberio. Barberio led the Wildcats defense in +/- with a -1 rating. |
Unsung Hero
Scott Brannon was named Unsung Hero. In his first year with the Wildcats Brannon was paired up with Sill and Chris Morehouse on the green line. As a line they potted 80 points. |
 |
|
Most Improved Player
Fans voted defenseman Matt Boyle as the Most Improved Player. Boyle was nominated for the 2007 RDS mid-season rookie excellence award earlier in the season. |
Leading Scorer
The Leading Scorer award went to centre Matt Eagles who had a career high of 25 goals with 57 points in 61 games this past season. |
 |
|
Community Spirit
Team Captain, Chris Morehouse was voted the recipient of the Community Spirit award for the third straight year. This year Morehouse worked in conjunction with the Greater Moncton Chapter of the Canadian Progress Club to introduce Cats Corner. Cats Corner is a section of 20 seats, purchased by the Progress Club, for groups of youth. |
Outstanding Athletic Scholastic
Morehouse was also given an award for Outstanding Athletic Scholastic. Morehouse was nominated for the league-wide Marcel-Robert Trophy earlier in the season. |
 |
|
Commitment to Excellence
A new award was unveiled at the ceremony, the Commitment to Excellence award. This award recognizes a person who has gone above and beyond the call of duty as a representative of the Moncton Wildcats. The inaugural award was given to Serge LeBlanc. LeBlanc has been the equipment manager of the Wildcats for eight years and was also equipment manager for the Gold Medal Under-20 World Junior team this past holiday season. |
“To the players, this was a challenging year, but one of the things I enjoyed the most was how hard you competed and worked to be your best,” said Flynn. “It was a great group of kids here and it was a pleasure and a privilege to work with them all.”
“Congratulations are in order for all the young athletes who have been nominated in each of these prestigious categories,” adds Delia.
|
