March 9th, 2010
Screaming Eagles players honoured at banquet
MEMBERTOU — A lot of people were thanked during the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles annual awards banquet at the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre, Monday night. Mathieu Brodeur thanked his billet mother Jean MacDougall for his pre-game steaks, a choked-up Nick MacNeil thanked his grandmother for their pre-game phone calls, Jan Piskacek thanked team president Paul MacDonald for doing his taxes and Olivier Roy inadvertently thanked his “girlfriends” for supporting him.
Everyone thanked the fans. And the fans thanked rookie Brad Cuzner by voting him the winner of the fans’ choice award. Cuzner and Viktor Hertzberg were co-winners of the rookie of the year award.
“I wrote the speech, but Brad is going to say it,” joked Hertzberg, after which Cuzner, a former national champion member of the Notre Dame Hounds of the Saskatchewan Midget ‘AAA’ Hockey League, suggested he might get another ring this year . . . at the Memorial Cup.
“I think he said it all there,” Hertzberg summed up drily.
Cuzner wasn’t the only multiple award winner.
Luke Adam (47 goals and 40 assists for 87 points) was named the team’s scoring champ and MVP co-winner with Roy, who shared the same award last season with Chris Culligan.
Eagles head coach and general manager Mario Durocher joked it was the first time he saw Adam, a forward, and Roy, a goalie, together.
And Taylor MacDougall picked up both the Jim Hawkins Memorial Bursary and the Greg Lynch Memorial Award, in memory of the team’s former president, who died in 2004.
“That was really unexpected,” said MacDougall, adding that Culligan made him aware of the role Lynch played in shaping the team. “This organization owes an unpayable debt to the Lynch family.”
River Ryan native Stephen Horyl picked up the Bobby Joe Ryan Memorial Trophy for best sportsmanship.
“It seems like this is the only award I ever get,” said Horyl of the sportmanship honours. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing. It’s been a good year and hopefully it’s not going to end.”
Other major award winners were Brodeur, who was named the team’s top defenceman, outstanding academic and athletic performance award winner Logan Shaw, most improved player Morgan Ellis, and Francis Meilleur and MacNeil, co-winners of the outstanding community involvement award.
Maxime Legault, Piskacek and MacNeil were also honoured as graduating players.
“He asked and he deserved to be captain this year,” Durocher said of MacNeil, who received two standing ovations. “I think you’re ready to fly like an eagle.”
gmacvicar@cbpost.com
