Battalion award winners announced
BRAMPTON, Ont. – Cody Hodgson was a multiple winner as the Brampton Battalion presented its yearly awards Sunday.
Centre Hodgson received the Ontario Hockey League team’s player of the year and most sportsmanlike player honours and also collected the Don (Hockey) Hadley Memorial Award, named for a longtime season ticketholder and presented by the Booster Brigade as the fans’ favourite player.
Hodgson, a resident of Markham, Ont., who turned 19 on Feb. 18, received national recognition this season when he led Canada in scoring as it captured gold at the World Junior Championship at Ottawa. The Battalion’s leading scorer, captain Hodgson was selected 10th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the National Hockey League’s 2008 Entry Draft.
Ken Peroff, a 19-year-old from Chisholm Township, Ont., was named defenceman of the year, while left winger Evgeny Grachev was honoured as the team’s rookie of the year. Grachev, a resident of Yaroslavl, Russia, who turned 19 on Feb. 21, was selected 40th overall in the Canadian Hockey League’s Import Draft last June.
Centre Matt Duchene, a Haliburton, Ont., resident who turned 18 on Jan. 16, was honoured as the team’s top scholastic player, and right winger Jason Dale of Pickering, Ont., was named overage player of the year.
Defenceman Brad Albert, a Nepean, Ont., resident who turned 20 on March 6, was the recipient of the Jerry Callaghan Memorial Award, presented to the team’s top humanitarian. Callaghan, a longtime contributor to the Battalion, died Oct. 12.
Award winners were announced before the Battalion’s final regular-season game, against the Oshawa Generals.
