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Sturos chosen MVP of 40th-anniversary season

Nanaimo’s BCHL team closed the book on 2012-13 last week with an awards presentations at Malaspina Theatre at Vancouver Island University.
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Brenden Forbes

The Nanaimo Clippers were able to make their 40th-anniversary season last into May before it finally came to an end.

The city’s B.C. Hockey League team closed the book on 2012-13 last week with an awards presentation at Malaspina Theatre at Vancouver Island University.

Reid Sturos was named the Clippers’ Most Valuable Player for this past season. His 57 points were tied for second most on the team and he led the Clips with eight game-winning goals.

Brenden Forbes was selected as this year’s winner of the Lisa McPherson Award for heart, courage and dedication after coming back from injury to contribute at playoff time.

The other major award winner this year is Austin Dick, Rookie of the Year. The defenceman played in all 56 regular-season games and all 10 playoff games.

Sturos got two other awards in addition to MVP, as he was the Best Two-Way Player and also received the Jason Gow Memorial Award as most exciting player.

Kyle Kramer received an armload of hardware, as he was chosen Most Inspirational Player, voted Most Popular Player and earned the Scholastic Player of the Year award, too.

Greg Fraser was another multiple winner, as his name was etched on both the team's Leading Scorer trophy and the Unsung Hero award.

Josh Bryan was chosen Top Defenceman, fellow blueliner Chris Rygus was tabbed as Most Improved Player, and Trevor Fitzgerald won the Coaches' Award.

Also at the awards ceremony, the Clippers honoured their six graduating juniors: Forbes, Sturos, Fitzgerald, Kramer, Fraser and Brock Maschmeyer.

Mike Vandekamp, Clippers coach, said it’s always tough to see the 20-year-olds go.

“And this year in our case, it’s probably as tough as ever, to be honest, because we’ve got six real quality kids there. Unbelievable kids,” he said. “As an organization, as a team, you need to have your older guys be your go-to people both on and off the ice and I think we’ve really been blessed with that this year.”

sports@nanaimobulletin.com