Mitchell at practice in early 2013 – Photo: D. Sheehan
By Paul Armbruster • KingsNewsDaily.com •
When British Columbia’s 47th annual Athlete of the Year awards are handed out at the River Rock Show Theater on March 7th, the award known as ‘Best of BC‘ will be given to the Kings own Willie Mitchell. The Port McNeill native received a record number of votes to take the top prize for most outstanding BC professional or amateur athlete in 2012. One previous winner includes former Avs Captain Joe Sakic who won the award 3 times. It is unknown at this time if Willie will be present to receive the award.
In a statement, the Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development Bill Bennett said, “Willie Mitchell is a homegrown B.C. success story. He’s a small-town boy who worked long and hard to make it to the NHL, and since then, has done our province proud with his many achievements, including winning the Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings last year. He is an inspiration to all British Columbians, and I congratulate him on this well-deserved award.”
*Stick tap to reader Christine for providing the link to this story.
MT“@sportbc: 7629 of you voted and decided that @willie_mitch33is your Best of BC winner for 2012!” Honoured to win. Thxs to all who voted!
— Willie Mitchell (@Willie_Mitch33) February 28, 2013
Award Show Promotional Video
Yay congrats to Willie! I hope this brings him some inspiration to get back into the line up (I know his knee bugs him so I wish him a speedy recovery. Just wish the Hockey Gods would cooperate, though our defense is starting to pull themselves together…)
Good for Mitchell! I think he wants AND needs his knee at 100% operating efficiency to perform the job HIS way. I’m ok with him waiting until HE FEELS he’s ready. He’s earned it!
He deserves all the accolades he receives! He’s that good! The kids will just have to hold the fort until he’s ready to go.