Kelowna Rockets hand out the hardware

KELOWNA – The Kelowna Rockets honoured a trio of graduating 20-year-olds and named five year veteran Tyson Baillie as its team MVP on Sunday, March 20, at the annual Rockets Awards Banquet.

Baillie, who spent five seasons and 375 total games played in a Rockets jersey, also picked up the team’s top scorer award after posting 95 points during the 2015-16 WHL regular season.

Baillie, Whistle and Cole Linaker were honoured by the Rockets as players who are closing out their junior hockey careers.

Linaker was given the Hollis Peirce Award as the team’s Top Defensive Forward for the third straight year.

Defensemen Joe Gatenby and Cal Foote each were honoured twice with team awards. Gatenby was named Top Defenceman and also won the team’s Plus Minus Award, finishing the season at plus-31.

Foote was named Rookie of the Year after a season where he posted 36 points and was plus-16 in playing in all but one of the team’s 72 games

Veteran Rocket Rourke Chartier was named the team’s Most Sportsmanlike Player for the third year running while Tomas Soustal was Most Improved, Justin Kirkland was named the Unsung Hero and Riley Stadel the Humanitarian Award for his work in the community.

The Rockets open the WHL Playoffs this weekend against Kamloops, hosting the Blazers Friday and Saturday nights at Prospera Place.