He has been healthy and productive.
Brett Connolly has also been the most dangerous offensive player for the Prince George Cougars this season. For that, he was named the team's most valuable player prior to Saturday night's home game against the Spokane Chiefs.
This is the second time in Connolly's three seasons as a Cat he has been handed the MVP award. The only time he didn't win it was last season, a campaign in which he was limited to just 16 games because of hip injuries.
So far this season, the 18-year-old local forward has 40 goals and 63 points in 53 games. Injury-wise, he was briefly sidelined by a knee problem in January. His only other absence from the Cougars came in December and early January, when he helped Team Canada win a silver medal at the world junior hockey championship in Buffalo.
Connolly is the sixth player in Prince George Cougars history to score 40 goals in a season. The last guy who accomplished the feat was Eric Hunter in 2006. Connolly, a top prospect of the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning, has scored four game-winning goals this season and has 10 multiple-goal games.
Other award-winners on Saturday were Martin Marincin, Troy Bourke and Jesse Forsberg.
Marincin, a Slovakian-born defenceman acquired first overall by the Cougars in the 2010 CHL import draft, got the nod as the club's rookie of the year. Marincin has logged a ton of minutes this season and has been the Cats' power-play quarterback. In 61 games, he has 13 goals and 52 points. He is an NHL draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers.
Other players in the running for the top rookie award were Bourke (17 goals, 38 points in 62 games) and Taylor Stefishen (21 goals, 61 points in 62 games). Stefishen is a 20-year-old forward who joined the Cougars after two seasons in the B.C. Hockey League and two more at Ohio State University.
Bourke was edged out for the top rookie honours, but the 16-year-old forward did pick up the scholastic player of the year award.
Defenceman Jesse Forsberg, the Cats' rookie of the year in 2009-10, was recognized this year as most dedicated player.
Connolly and company have a huge task in front of them tonight at CN Centre. As they fight for their playoff lives, they have to find a way to beat the Red Deer Rebels, leaders in the WHL's Central Division. The Rebels, second in the Eastern Conference, boast a 43-16-3-4 record.
The Cats, meanwhile, are clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They sit at 29-33-2-2 and have just two wins in their past 10 games.
The opening face-off is at 7 p.m.
After tonight, the Cougars will have just five games left in the regular season.
