PETERBOROUGH, ON - The Canadian Hockey League announced yesterday that Peterborough Petes' forward Matt Puempel is the recipient of the Canadian Hockey League Rookie of the Year award for the most outstanding rookie player in the entire Canadian Hockey League.

Puempel, a 17-year-old from Essex, ON, was selected by the Petes with the sixth overall pick in the 2009 OHL Priority Selection and led all OHL rookies in scoring with 64 points in 59 games with a rookie and team-high 33 goals with 31 assists.  His 64 points placed him 39th overall in league scoring and was the only rookie listed in the OHL’s top-80 scorers.  This season, Puempel also competed as a member of Team Ontario winning silver at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.  Also considered for the award was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Red Deer Rebels, and Petr Straka of the Rimouski Oceanic.

Also in attendance at the Awards Banquet last night was Petes' forward Ryan Spooner who was nominated for the Sportsman of the Year award but lost out to Jason Bast of the Moose Jaw Warriors.