Charlottetown, P.E.I. – A trio of Calgary Dinos men's hockey team members were recognized on the sport's biggest stage Wednesday night, headlined by head coach Mark Howell being named the recipient of the Father George Kehoe Memorial Award as the Fox40 U SPORTS Coach of the Year, announced at the annual All-Canadian Banquet.

In addition to Howell's major award, Riley Stotts and Noah King were both named Second Team All-Canadians Wednesday night during the awards presentation.

For Howell, this was an award that was well deserved after a historic season leading the Dinos. The Calgary bench boss led his team on a run during the regular season that saw them finish the year on a record-breaking 23-game win streak and a 25-3 overall record – smashing the program record for wins in a year.

The Dinos were ranked No. 1 in the country every week since the calendar turned to 2023 and carrier that regular-season success into the playoffs – winning the Canada West Championship for the first time since 1996.

After being named the CW Coach of the Year for the third time in his career (2011, 2014, 2023) last month, this marks the second U SPORTS Coach of the Year honour for Howell, also being named the national top coach back in 2011.

"I think when you win and award like this, you always look back at your team and everything else that has gone into your path as a coach," Howell said Wednesday night. "This has been quite season, for sure, and I can't thank my coaches enough. Sean Robertson, Brad Werenka, Alex Jozsa and Brad Kirkwood – they've had an incredible impact on this team. But more than anybody else – our players. The 25 guys we have on this team. They've showed up every day, they've been extremely coachable and they've been a tremendous group of guys to coach every day. So to you guys, thank you very much."

Meanwhile, Stotts and King both added accolades to their resumes after leading the Dinos during this historic season.

Stotts finished the regular season ranked third in the nation in assists with 26, while also adding 10 goals for 37 total points during the regular season. The second year added another two goals and five assists thus far in the playoffs and heads into nationals with a total of 12 goals, 32 assists and 44 points.

King has been leader from the backline for the Dinos from day one. The captain of this year's squad helped Calgary allow the least goals in all of Canada West this season, while also contributing on the offensive end with eight goals and 24 assists – with one goal and five helpers coming in postseason play.

Both were also named Canada West First Team All-Stars earlier this year and this marks the first time a pair of Dinos have earned All-Canadian status in the same season since 2006.

The Dinos open their University Cup run Friday with a 4 p.m. MT game against the host UPEI Panthers.

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