Top Scorer
With 33 goals and 41 assists under his belt for the entire season, Justin Lefebvre was recognized as this year’s top scorer. Also pictured: Duane Young. Glover photos

Most Improved Player
William Watson was recognized as this year’s player who has shown the most progress and improvement over the course of the season. Also pictured: Tammy Sadler.
Glover photo

CHESTERVILLE – The North Dundas Rockets hockey team trained and fought hard these past few months and, while they didn’t quite reach the gold, they still had a lot to celebrate from their latest season.

“Last year, we managed to make it to the finals but lost in game seven,” said Kent Young, owner of the North Dundas Rockets. “This year, we only made it to the second round. You know, we just caught some bad breaks, some misfortune but we’ll just have to try harder next year.”

The team held their annual end of the season banquet Sat., May. 18 at the Chesterville Legion, to bring together the players, their families, friends and sponsors to celebrate the biggest accomplishments of the past season.

“For the banquet, we like to involve our sponsors and volunteers to show our appreciation for all their hard work and the money they donate,” said Young.

During the night, other than anticipating the hot roast beef dinner, the crowd was eager to find out who the recipients were for this year’s awards. The awards ceremony was meant to honour the players who showed the most improvement, best defense, most sportsmanship and much more.

The full list of this year’s trophy and plaque recipients are as follows: Most Improved Player: William Watson; Top Scorer: Justin Lefebvre (33 goals, 41 assists); Most Outstanding Forward: Connor Roth; Coaches Award: Pierce Egan; Top Volunteer or Executive: Melissa Elliot; Music Technician Thank You: James Forrester; Equipment Manager Thank You: Duane Young; Trainers Thank You: Andre Tondreau; Rookie of the Year: Dylan Robinson; Rockets Resolution Award: Hugo Lusignan; Most Sportsmanlike Player: Brodie Barkley; Top Defenseman: Matt Cowley; Best Defensive Forward: Bradley Stitt; Playoffs MVP: Connor Roth and Regular Season MVP: Bradley Stitt.

Near the end of the ceremony, players Connor Roth, Matt Crowley, Riley Tondreau and Bradley Stitt were honoured and given a heartfelt goodbye as this was their last season due to aging out.

“I want to thank all of our sponsors for coming out, along with the parents, we really appreciate it,” said emcee and general manager Rob Sadler, ending the ceremony. “Best of luck to everyone, we look forward to seeing you back next year.”

Check back next week for more photos of award winners: Rockets Resolution Award, Most Sportsmanlike Player, Top Defenseman, Best Defensive Forward, Playoffs MVP, Regular Season MVP and graduating players.