Cap News: NHL Awards Recap
r By Warren Henderson – Kelowna Capital News
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r If the rest of the hockey world wasn't already well aware of who the Kelowna Rockets were by now, then the events of Wednesday night in Las Vegas should put the Western Hockey League club on the map once and for all.
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r In what was perhaps the finest hour ever for the Western Hockey League club—with the exception of the 2004 Memorial Cup title—two ex-Rockets took to the stage in the Nevada city to accept major NHL awards.
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r Duncan Keith grabbed the Norris Trophy as the NHL's outstanding defenceman, while Tyler Myers wrapped his long arms around the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie.
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r The awards were new benchmarks, not only for the players themselves, but for Rockets architect Bruce Hamilton and the rest of his organization.
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r "I'm sure happy for those guys and their families," said Hamilton, the Rockets president and GM who was in Vegas to watch the festivities. "I'm proud of those guys, our whole organization is thrilled to see what they've gone on to do. They're great players and great people, and that's what's most gratfying. It was a pretty special night."
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r The Kelowna franchise has a penchant for churning out big-league defenceman—Shea Weber, Josh Gorges, Kyle Cumiskey, Luke Schenn and Alex Edler among them. And all of them are likely years away from the peaks of their careers.
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r "What's really neat is that those guys, Tyler and Duncan, are both still young and they've got a lot of good years ahead of them," he said. "And we've got a few other guys we could be hearing from in the years to come as well.
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r "Those guys are best recruiters we have and they represent what we're building in Kelowna."
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r Keith, who played with the Rockets during the 2002-03 campaign, was nothing short of spectacular for the Chicago Blackhawks this season with career highs of 14 goals and 69 points. He was equally brilliant in the playoffs in leading the Hawks to their first Stanley Cup title in 49 years.
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r The Penticton product, who regularly dazzles teammates and opponents alike with his waterbug-like skating ability, was both humbled and gratified to have his name etched on the prestigious piece of hockey history.
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r "To come out and be the guy who gets the award is kind of surreal a little bit," Keith said on nhl.com. "To think of the other defencemen who have won it, and nominated, and the other Blackhawk players who have won it, Chris Chelios, Pierre Pilote to name a couple, to be in that group is kind of unbelievable."
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r To say Myers' rookie season with the Buffalo Sabres was a hit would be a gross understatement.
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r The sky-scraping, 6-foot-8 blue liner proved quickly that at just 19, he not only belonged, but thrived in the same domain as the game's top pros.
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r Myers led all Sabres in ice time per game (23:44) and topped all rookie defencemen with 11 goals and 37 assist for 48 points.
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r Myers, who thanked the Rockets organization at length during his acceptance speech, was humbled to be mentioned in the same breath as three former defenceman who previously won the Calder—hall of famers Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque and Brian Leetch.
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r "To be put in a group like that…to hear those names is a huge honour," said Myers who led the Rockets to a berth in the Memorial Cup in 2009. "I can't believe it."
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