Alexis Lafreniere of Saint-Eustache, Quebec made junior hockey history on Wednesday as he became only the second player ever to win two consecutive most outstanding player awards in the Canadian Hockey League. Lafreniere joins Canadian Olympic gold medalist Sidney Crosby of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia as the only two players ever to win the David Branch Player of the Year Award in back-to-back seasons. Interestingly, Crosby and Lafreniere not only each played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, but the Rimouski Oceanic as well.
Lafreniere was second in the Canadian Hockey League in assists (77), and points (112) during the 2019-20 regular season. He only trailed Marco Rossi of Feldkirch, Austria in each category. Rossi had 81 assists and 120 points. In addition to 112 points, Lafreniere had 35 goals, 50 penalty minutes, was a +41 with five power play goals and five game winning goals.
Crosby, who won the gold medal for Canada at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, won the CHL Player of the Year Awards in 2003-04 and again in 2004-05. Other notable Canadian CHL award winners in 2019-20 were Noel Hoefenmayer of North York, Ontario (Ottawa 67’s, top defenseman), Shane Wright of Burlington, Ontario (Kingston Frontenacs, top rookie), and Andre Tourigny of Nicolet, Quebec (Ottawa 67’s, top coach).
