RAKING IN THE REWARDS

Now that the Saint John Sea Dogs are the Jean Rogeau and Luc Robataille Champions, it’s time for the individual players to reap in the rewards of a jaw dropping regular season.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, today, released the nominees for the 2010 Golden Puck Awards Gala that will be held on March 31 in Montreal.

The Atlantic division champion Sea Dogs will be well represented at the annual gala.

In total, five members of Saint John’s hockey club were nominated for seven awards. No Sea Dog player has ever won an award in regards to on-ice performance. However, Payton Liske won the league’s Scholastic Player of the Year award last year and Jacques Beaulieu won the top general manager honor in 2008.

Mike Hoffman was nominated for the most prestigious award toady. The 20-year old is a finalist for the Michel Brière Trophy as Most Valuable Player during the regular season. Luke Adam of Cape Breton and Gabriel Dumont of Drummondville were also nominated.

Hoffman, who know owns the Sea Dogs’ record for goals in a season with 46, was also nominated for the Frank J. Selke Trophy (Sportsman of the Year). Philip-Michaël Devos of the Victoriaville Tigres and David Savard of the Moncton Wildcats were also nominated.

Russian rookie Stanislav Galiev was named a finalist for the RDS Cup which represents the rookie of the year award. His nomination was one of the more obvious selections, as he finished second in rookie scoring and lead all first year players with a rating of +41.

His fellow rookie team mate, Tomas Jurco, was also nominated for the award. Jurco, who finished a close second behind Galiev in rookie plus/minus, was one of the season’s most improved players as the year went on. After a slow start, Jurco grabbed the Sea Dogs’ rookie goal scoring record by potting 26 on the year.

Galiev was also nominated for the Mike Bossy Trophy as Top Professional Prospect. He faces some stiff competition in Brandon Gormley and Kirill Kabanov of the Wildcats, both who are projected first round picks. Last year, Simon Despres was nominated for the honor but was robbed by Dimitri Kulikov.

Both Galiev and Jurco were named finalists for the Michel Bergeron Trophy, awarded to the season’s best offensive rookie.

Yann Sauve was the lone defenseman nominated from the regular season champion squad. Sauve will try to pick up the Kevin Lowe Trophy as the best defensive defenseman. Sauve and his line partner Nathan Beaulieu, finished fifth and fourth in defenseman plus/minus.

Finally, head coach Gerard Gallant was nominated for the Ron-Lapointe Trophy as coach of the year. Gallant, only his first season behind the Saint John bench, faces a challenge in trying to beat Danny Flynn of the always injured Wildcats and fellow rookie head coach Mario Duhamel of the Voltigeurs.

The following trophies will be awarded during on-ice presentations on either Friday, March 19 or Tuesday, March 23: Jean-Rougeau (Regular Season Champions), Luc-Robitaille (Most Goals For - Team), Robert-Lebel (Best Goals-Against-Average - Team), Guy-Carbonneau, Kevin-Lowe, Raymond-Lagacé and Michel-Bergeron.

The nominees for the Paul-Dumont Trophy and the Humanitarian Award will be unveiled next week. Finally, the John-Horman Trophy (Executive of the Year) and the Jean-Sawyer Trophy (Marketing Director of the Year) will be awarded at the Annual Entry Draft, which will be held in Drummondville from June 2 to 5.