DAWSON AND ROGERS WIN 2019-20 LEAGUE AWARDS
Hellyer And Rogers Named To All-Pro Teams
Oakville, ON – The Toronto Rock had two players take home NLL Awards on Tuesday night as the league announced the annual winners of post-season hardware across their social channels.
To almost no one’s surprise, Rock Captain Challen Rogers won his second consecutive Transition Player of the Year Award. The Coquitlam, BC native’s game continues to evolve. He’s one of the top defenders on the club, pushes the ball and makes plays in transition and can step in and make a defence sweat while he takes a shift on offence. Rock Head Coach Matt Sawyer has also shown tremendous confidence in Rogers by regularly deploying him on the power play. There is a very strong likelihood that a few more of these awards will sit on Rogers’ mantle before his career is done.
Also taking home an individual honour, in just his first year with the Rock, was Dan Dawson. The final voting had Dawson tied with former Rock and current Georgia Swarm goalie Mike Poulin, so the two will share the Teammate of the Year Award. The 19-year NLL veteran from Oakville, ON made a big impact on his teammates from the moment he arrived in Toronto after signing as an Unrestricted Free Agent in the summer of 2019. His Rock teammates voted to nominate him for the league award.
“It’s an honour to be named teammate of the year,” said Dawson. “This is a game you can’t play on your own. Your teammates are your family, they will test you, always have your back and make you better. I only try to stand with them as much as they stand by me.”
Rock superstar forward Rob Hellyer was nominated for MVP and Jamie Dawick was nominated for GM of the Year, however both finished as runners-up.
Rogers was also selected as an NLL 1st Team All-Pro for the second year in a row while Hellyer was named to the NLL 2nd Team All-Pro.
The complete list of 2019-20 NLL Awards winners are as follows:
Most Valuable Player: Shayne Jackson, Georgia
Rookie of the Year: Tyson Gibson, New York
Sportsmanship Award: Lyle Thompson, Georgia
Defensive Player of the Year: Graeme Hossack, Halifax
Transition Player of the Year: Challen Rogers, Toronto
Goaltender of the Year: Doug Jamieson, New England
Teammate of the Year: Dan Dawson, Toronto, AND Mike Poulin, Georgia (t)
Les Bartley Award Coach of the Year: Paul Day, Philadelphia
General Manager of the Year: Paul Day, Philadelphia
Tom Borrelli Award Media Member of the Year: Craig Rybczynski, Rochester
Executive of the Year: John Catalano, Halifax
Additionally, the 2019-20 NLL All-Pro and All-Rookie Teams have been announced. The teams are comprised of the top vote getters for the season awards.
All-Pro First Team:
Doug Jamieson, New England, Goaltender
Graeme Hossack, Halifax, Defence
Kyle Rubisch, Saskatchewan, Defence
Challen Rogers, Toronto, Transition
Shayne Jackson, Georgia, Forward
Callum Crawford, New England, Forward
All-Pro Second Team:
Dillon Ward, Colorado, Goaltender
Robert Hope, Colorado, Defence
Dan MacRae, New York, Defence
Kiel Matisz, Philadelphia, Transition
Rob Hellyer, Toronto, Forward
Cody Jamieson, Halifax, Forward
All-Rookie Team:
Tyson Gibson, New York, Forward
Andrew Kew, New England, Forward
Connor Fields, San Diego, Forward
Clarke Peterson, Halifax, Forward
Ryland Rees, Rochester, Transition
Joe Nardella, New England, Defence
