Nick Kenney Named Player of the Week Again
February 9, 2009 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
FRISCO, TX (Monday, February 9th, 2009) - For the second time in 2009, Mahoning Valley Phantoms forward Nick Kenney has earned the Sherwood NAHL North Division Player of the Week award.
The award comes in the wake of a four-goal weekend for the second-year forward, including a hat trick in Sunday's 5-1 series clincher against the second-place Traverse City North Stars.
Kenney also scored the goal that triggered the Phantoms' 4-1 rally on Saturday night that eventually forced overtime against the North Stars.
His efforts helped to fuel Mahoning Valley's 2-0-1 series win over Traverse City last weekend, a series win that extended the Phantoms' (28-10-4, 60 pts) North Division lead to five points over the North Stars (25-11-5, 55 pts).
Since the New Year, the Wixom, MI, native has piled up 12 goals and 8 assists-including ten points against the North Stars (7-3-10).
Kenney says that high stakes of playing second-place Traverse City helped him to elevate his game, particularly on Sunday.
"We know we're going to see [the North Stars] in the playoffs," says Kenney, "so we all knew we had to step up and get that second win. We wanted to play good defense and be physical, too, because that's what you need to do to beat a team like [Traverse City]."
Kenney also picked up a Player of the Week nod on January 5th, following a three goal, three assist weekend against the North Stars in Traverse City.
Of the six North Division Player of the Week awards handed out in 2009, the Phantoms have collected four; Brandon Saad nabbed the weekly hardware on January 12th and February 2nd.
Mahoning Valley netminder Jordan Tibbett joined Kenney on the weekly honor roll, picking up an honorable mention for the GDI / NAHL Goalie of the Week award.
Tibbett backstopped the Phantoms in both of their wins against the North Stars, making 47 saves while allowing only two goals to improve his 2008-2009 record to 19-5-1.
It is the eighth time the 2009 Top Prospects selection has been honorable mention for the league-wide award in addition to two wins already this year.
Tibbett says his job was made easier by a full-team effort on the defensive end by the Phantoms.
"I haven't seen a defensive performance like that in quite some time," says Tibbett. "We knew coming into the weekend that Traverse City was a team we had to beat and the âD' stepped up to help us get five big points."
Kenney, Tibbett and the rest of the Phantoms continue regular season play on Thursday when they travel to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to open a three-game series against the fifth-place Marquette Rangers at 7:30 PM.
The game will be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio 1240, WBBW-AM, and worldwide at MVPPhantoms.com via B2 Networks. The pregame show will begin at 7:15 PM.
Phantoms individual game tickets are on sale at the Phantom Box Office at the Ice Zone. Call (330) 965-7500 for more information.
• Discuss this story on the North American Hockey League message board...
North American Hockey League Stories from February 9, 2009
- Outlaws and Three Eagles Partner to Help St. Judes - North Iowa Outlaws
- Bobcat Goalies Earn Honors - Bismarck Bobcats
- IceDiggers get Back on Track - NAHL
- Rangers Off to the Races - Marquette Rangers
- Nick Kenney Named Player of the Week Again - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Wildcats Play Six Up North - Wichita Falls Wildcats
- Outlaws' on Four-Game Winning Streak - North Iowa Outlaws
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
