The Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce held their annual Excellence Awards last night, and the Alberni Valley Bulldogs were presented with the Youth of the Year award. The award is intended for a youth or group of youths that have shown outstanding success in academics, sports, music or arts and have proven to be a role model for the community.
The Bulldogs were the BCHL regular season?s Coastal Conference Champions for the first time in franchise history, and set a franchise record for regular season wins with 45 of 60 regular season games. The 2009-2010 Bulldogs have seven players moving on to Division 1 college hockey, to prestigious schools including Princeton, Union College, Northeastern University, University of Nebraska Omaha, and Holy Cross. In addition, the team directly graduated forward David Dziurzynski into the NHL, a first for the franchise. Dziurzynski signed with the Ottawa Senators in early April.
Bulldogs Marketing Director Laurie Smillie said the team was recognized for their efforts on and off the ice.
?The team raised over $25,000 this year for different charities so they?ve really excelled in being role models for local youth,? said Smillie. ?It?s very important for the Bulldogs to be part of the community. It?s all a part of giving back to the community that so greatly supports our organization.?
This season, the Bulldogs worked alongside a variety of charities including the BC Children?s Hospital Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society, Alberni Valley Minor Hockey, Bread of Life Food Bank, Alberni Valley KidSport, and the Coat Share Program.
The Bulldogs also sponsored local families during the holiday season, collected 967 Teddy Bears during the annual “Teddy Bear Toss” and had the Teddies delivered to local hospitals by the players.
For more information on the Alberni Chamber of Commerce, visit their website at www.avcoc.com.
