The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) has announces the winner of the Red Tilson Triophy - awarded to the OHL's Most Outstanding Player of the Year as voted by the writers and broadcasters that cover the league.
Buffalo Sabres prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen of the Sudbury Wolves is the 2018-19 recipient - becoming the sixth goaltender to win the award and the first member of the Wolves to be honoured in 40 years. The Finnish netminder is also the first European import player to be recognized.
"I am so honoured to have been named the Red Tilson Award winner," Luukkonen said. "There are so many great players in the OHL who could have won this award and I am humbled to have been chosen."
Luukkonen — who was also the recipient of the OHL's Goaltender of the Year Award — backstopped the Wolves to their most successful regular season since 1994-95. He is tied for the league lead with 38 wins and six shutouts while posting the OHL's third best goals-against-average with a mark of 2.50 and the best save percentage at .920.
The Red Tilson Trophy is the most prestigious individual award presented by the Ontario Hockey League. First presented in 1945, the trophy is named in honour of Albert "Red" Tilson, who was killed in action in Europe during World War II. Tilson was the OHA scoring champion for the 1942-43 season after scoring 19 goals and 38 assists for 57 points in 22 games with the Oshawa Generals.
The Red Tilson Trophy winner is the OHL's nominee for Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year presented at the CHL Awards Ceremony on Saturday May 25 during the 2019 Memorial Cup presented by Kia which takes place in Halifax. Luukkonen will be formally presented with the Red Tilson Trophy at the OHL's Awards Ceremony on Wednesday June 5 at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.