Prince George Cougars unveil eight new player awards prior to start of tonight’s game     250Sports photo

Prince George, BC – Before getting down to the business of working to ensure their season does not draw to a close with tonight’s final home game against the Kamloops Blazers, the Prince George Cougars hyped up fans in attendance by handing out their all-new player awards…

Cougars Assistant Captain, Jansen Harkins, was awarded the Dan Hamhuis Award for Most Valuable Player.  The 17-year-old centre received the trophy from his dad, Cougars General Manager, Todd Harkins (left), and Team President, Greg Pocock (right).

Last month, Harkins recorded his 100th career WHL point, making him just the second youngest Prince George Cougar to reach that milestone.  This season, he’s currently 19th in the league with 79 points – 20 goals and 59 assists.

All of tonight’s awards were named to recognize a past player or community member who made a significant contribution to the team.

Other winners include:

• the Brett Connolly Award for Rookie of the Year – Jared Bethune
• the Dr. Jeff Zorn Award for Scholastic Player of the Year – Shane Collins
• the Chris Mason Award for Most Points and 3 Star Selection – Ty Edmonds
• the Dorothy Johnson Memorial Award for Fan Favorite – Chase Witala
• the Troy Bourke Award for Offensive Player of the Year – Zach Pochiro
• the Eric Brewer Award for Defensive Player of the Year – Sam Ruopp
• the Michael Fogolin Memorial Players’ Award – Tyler Mrkonjic

Dorothy Johnson was known as ‘Gramma Cougar’.  The longtime resident held season tickets from the time the Cougars came to town until last fall – with help, she travelled from the hospice to ‘see her boys’ on the ice one last time for an exhibition game in September.  She passed away on October 31st.

Below – the Cougars’ starting line up gets set for tonight’s game.