An Airdrie Hockey player was rewarded by his team for his outstanding season.

On March 4th, the 18 year old was named Defensive Forward of the Year by the Calgary Canucks at their annual Awards night.

"I was pretty surprised, definitely excited to get that but I wasn't expecting it."

McConnell joined the Canucks last offseason after a trade took him from the Drayton Valley Thunder. He says it was good to play close to home enjoyed this past season.

"To be a part of a team, that kind of changes the culture for the Canucks, it's pretty cool. We're all expecting some big things in playoffs, we're hoping to go pretty far."

The Canucks finished third in the AJHL South Division and begin their post season against Drumheller tomorrow.

"It's definitely going to be a tough test. We just got to stick to our game plan, we've been focusing on our special teams. We feel that if we play our game and get things on the powerplay/penalty kill, we should be good."

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