PrairieThunder Hand out Awards
April 15, 2009 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Bloomington PrairieThunder News Release
BLOOMINGON, Ill. - Jon Booras and John Nail took home the lion's share of the awards Tuesday night at the season-ending Bloomington PrairieThunder hockey banquet at the Chateau Conference Center.
Booras, the team captain, was named the Most Valuable Player and was honored as the high point man for the 2008-09 campaign. The Billings, Mont., native led the team with single-season and franchise records for goals scored (40), assists (60) and points (100).
The 5-foot-10 center finished second in the International Hockey League in scoring; third in goals and assists; second in power play goals (15) and first in shots taken (313). He was named the Player of the Week in the IHL on four occasions and the Player of the Month for January.
During the season, Booras scored at least one point in 59 of the 75 games he played, and on 29 occasions he had multiple-point contests.
In addition to the goals scored, assists, and points records, Booras set franchise marks for power play goals and power play assists (20). He is the PrairieThunder career leader in games played (222), points scored (197), goals scored (85) and assists (112).
Nail was selected by his teammates for the "Unsung Hero" and "Player's Player" awards. Both honors signify the player who works hard in practice, does the little things in the game that aren't reflected on the statistic sheet, and who his teammates have the utmost respect for in the locker room.
The Brampton, Ontario native, who served as the team's assistant captain, finished the year with 11 goals, 18 assists and 29 points with a plus-5 rating in 57 games. He missed the last several games of the season with an arm injury.
Other awards were presented to Matt Frick, Bill Bagron, Brett Holmberg and Jason Lepine.
Frick was voted by his teammates to receive the Rob Guinn Memorial Defenseman of the Year award. Guinn was a defenseman on the 2007-08 PrairieThunder team, who was fatally injured in an automobile accident during the summer.
Frick, a former teammate of Guinn in the CHL two years ago, was the team's steadiest defender. The stay-at-home defenseman had three goals and nine assists in 55 games.
Bagron earned the Rookie of the Year honors after scoring 12 goals with 15 assists for 27 points and a plus-5 rating in 42 games with the PrairieThunder. He was acquired in a mid-season trade from Muskegon, where he scored two goals and had eight assists in 23 in games with a plus-5 rating.
Holmberg was selected by the PrairieThunder staff to receive the "Coach's Award" for his improved play and hard work. Holmberg was the team's third-leading scorer with 24 goals and 31 assists for 55 points in 70 games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.
Last year during his rookie season with the PrairieThunder, the Sherwood Park, Alta., native scored 12 goals with 19 assists for 31 points.
Lepine, who missed most of the season after undergoing early season surgery to repair a torn ACL in his knee, was presented the Community Man of the Year award for his dedication to the team. He represented the PrairieThunder at numerous community, school and civic events during his rehabilitation.
The PrairieThunder finished the campaign with a 29-40-2-5 record (65 points) in Jarrod Skalde's first year as coach.
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