Petovello Garners CCHA's Terry Flanagan Memorial Award

DETROIT, Mich. – Senior forward Kevin Petovello of the Alaska Nanooks was presented with the Terry Flanagan Memorial Award at the CCHA Awards banquet Thursday night at Detroit's historic Fox Theatre.

The honor was bestowed on Alaska's 2010-11 team captain in recognition of his perseverance, dedication and courage while overcoming severe adversity. Petovello suffered severe structural damage to his knee midway through the 2010-11 campaign, including torn medial and anterior collateral ligaments, yet decided to postpone reconstructive surgery until after his senior season.

“This is a very distinguished honor for Kevin to receive,” said Alaska head coach Dallas Ferguson. “Not many players play through the injury that Kevin did this season. It speaks volumes about who is as a young man and how much he cared for his teammates and the Alaska Hockey program.”

Despite the injury, Petovello missed only three games for the Nanooks and doubled his point totals from last season, finishing third in scoring on the team. In 35 appearances this year, he tallied 11 goals and 12 assists, bringing his four-year totals to 20-30—50 in 127 career games.

"It was tough to not contribute to my full potential but I owe a great deal of thanks to the support of my coaching staff," said Petovello in his acceptance speech. "They continued to believe in me and placed me in important situations to be a major part of the team. My teammates gave me strength and courage as they never questioned my ability to compete through the good and the bad. It was because of them that I was able to come to the rink with a positive attitude everyday and continue to lead."

"The person of my greatest appreciation is our team strength and conditioning coach and (athletic) trainer Mike Curtin. He never once allowed me to think that finishing the year was impossible. He spent countless hours with me strengthening my knee to where I could play again. It's people like Mike that deserve recognition here tonight. A man who is committed to the success of his program and will put his heart and soul into the team, which is the kind of man Terry Flanagan was."

With five multi-point performances during the 2010-11 season he doubled his career mark to 10. He played roles in Alaska teams that lifted the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup for the second straight year last month, won the Kendall Hockey Classic and the Brice Alaska Goal rush two times each and made the trip to the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history last March in Worcester, Mass.

“I am extremely proud of Kevin and feel very fortunate to have coached such a fine young man," Ferguson added.

Petovello was one of three Alaska skaters recognized at the league's awards ceremony. Senior defenseman Bryant Molle was recognized as the Nanooks' CCHA Scholar Athlete honoree and junior goalie Scott Greenham collected hardware as the team's Perani Cup point champion and a Second Team All-CCHA selection.

He is the second Nanook to garner the award that was named in honor of the Bowling Green assistant coach who passed away in 1991 from cancer. Former Alaska forward Aaron Voros garnered the award as a junior in 2004 after missing most of his sophomore year (2002-03) for diagnosis and surgery on a bone tumor, which was found to be benign and removed.

Thursday's festivities also included the naming of the 2011 RBC CCHA Player of the Year (Miami's Andy Miele) and the CCHA Coach of the Year (Notre Dame's bench boss Jeff Jackson).

Here is a complete list of the 2010-11 CCHA Awards Winners:

RBC Player of the Year: Andy Miele, Miami
Coach of the Year: Jeff Jackson, Notre Dame
Rookie of the Year: T.J. Tynan, Notre Dame
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Carter Camper, Miami
Terry Flanaga: Kevin Petovello, Alaska
Ilitch Humanitarian: Trevor Nill, Michigan State
Best Offensive Defenseman: Torey Krug, Michigan State
Best Defensive Defenseman: Sean Lorenz, Notre Dame
Best Defensive Forward: Carl Hagelin, Michigan

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