Bourque wins Red Garrett Award

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that left wing Rene Bourque of the Norfolk Admirals has been named the winner of the Dudley “Red” Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding rookie for the 2004-05 season, as voted by AHL players and media in each of the league’s 28 member cities.

Bourque, a 23-year-old native of Lac La Biche, Alta., is currently second among AHL rookies with a franchise-record 33 goals and 60 points in 75 games with Norfolk this season. Bourque represented the Admirals at the 2005 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic, where he won the Hardest Shot event at the annual Skills Competition with a blast of 99.8 mph, and scored a goal for the Canadian team in the AHL All-Star Game. Bourque earned a spot on the 2004-05 AHL All-Rookie Team last week, and was named the Reebok AHL Rookie of the Month for January.

Bourque signed as a free agent with the Chicago Blackhawks on July 29, 2004, following four seasons at the University of Wisconsin (2000-04), where he led the Badgers in scoring in his junior and senior seasons. He scored a goal in his professional debut with Norfolk on Oct. 16 at Hershey, and has registered seven multiple-goal games for the Admirals this year, including his first career hat trick on Jan. 28 vs. Springfield.

This award, which was first presented by the AHL in 1947, honors the late Dudley “Red” Garrett, a promising young player who lost his life during World War II while serving in the Royal Canadian Navy. Garrett split his only pro season, 1942-43, between the AHL’s Providence Reds and the NHL’s New York Rangers. Previous winners of the Garrett Award include Terry Sawchuk (1949), Wally Hergesheimer (1951), Bill Sweeney (1958), Roger Crozier (1964), Gerry Desjardins (1968), Rick Middleton (1974), Darryl Sutter (1980), Pelle Lindbergh (1981), Steve Thomas (1985), Ron Hextall (1986), Brett Hull (1987), Donald Audette (1990), Felix Potvin (1992), Darcy Tucker (1996), Daniel Briere (1998), Mika Noronen (2000), Tyler Arnason (2002), Darren Haydar (2003) and Wade Dubielewicz (2004).

In operation since 1936, the AHL continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. This season, nearly 6.4 million fans – an all-time league record – have attended AHL games to date, and 16 clubs will continue to vie for the league’s coveted championship trophy when the 2005 Calder Cup Playoffs get underway next week.