Whalers hand out year-end awards

The Ontario Hockey League's Plymouth Whalers officially closed out the 2004-05 season with a season-ending awards banquet held April 5 at Ginopolis on the Ice Restaurant at the Compuware Sports Arena.

The following players received awards:

REGULAR SEASON MOST VALUABLE PLAYER – Goaltender Ryan Nie, who posted a 2.56 goals against average, 3 shutouts and a .914 save percentage in 57 games.

REGULAR SEASON SCORING LEADER - Center John Mitchell, who scored 25 goals with 50 assists for 75 points in 63 games. Mitchell is the franchise career leader with 258 regular season games played and is seventh on the Whalers all-time scoring list with 80 goals and 150 assists for 230 points.

BEST DEFENSEMAN - Mike Knight, who had 8 goals with 40 assists for 48 points in 64 games.

SCHOLAR ATHLETE – Veteran left wing-center Tim Sestito, who attended Schoolcraft Community College full-time this season while playing and maintained a GPA greater than 3.0.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – Left wing-center James Neal, who scored 18 goals with 26 assists for 44 points in 67 games.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER - Right wing Dan Collins, who scored 25 goals with 21 assists for 46 points in 68 games.

LABATT'S BLUE COLLAR PLAYER of THE YEAR – Rookie Cory Tanaka, who scored 10 goals with 11 assists for 21 points in 67 games.

ALICE IAFRATE AWARD (Overage Player of the Year) - Tim Sestito, who scored a career-high 14 goals with 18 assists for 32 points in 67 games.

WHALERS' BOOSTER CLUB PLAYER of the YEAR: Tim Sestito.

WHALERS' BOOSTER CLUB GRINDER of the YEAR: Cory Tanaka.

WHALERS' BOOSTER CLUB SCHOLASTIC PLAYER of the YEAR: John Vigilante.

MOVING UP: With the Whalers' season completed, Sestito, Mitchell, Jonas Fiedler and Knight are all making their pro debuts this spring. Sestito signed the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League and Mitchell with the St. John's Maple Leafs of the AHL. Both played last weekend with Sestito scoring a goal in two games, while Mitchell was scoreless in one game. Fiedler will make his professional debut this weekend with the Florida Everblades of the East Coast Hockey League, while Knight signed with the Greenville Grrrowl of the ECHL.