The Central Hockey League has today announced the recipients of both the Player of the Month and Goaltender of the Month for December, 2002. Both award winners come from the CHLs Northeast Division, with Don Parsons of the Memphis RiverKings receiving CHL Player of the Month honors, and Shawn Silver of the Indianapolis Ice selected as the Vaughn CHL Goaltender of the Month.
Parsons is enjoying yet another outstanding season as the key cog for the defending champion RiverKings, and dominated offensively in the month of December by scoring 27 points in 14 games. His tremendous play has the Boston native atop the CHL scoring race with a league-leading 27 goals and 53 points. Last season, Parsons earned CHL Most Valuable Player honors in both the regular season and playoffs after leading the CHL with 54 goals during the regular season and 27 points in post-season play. Parsons is the first RiverKing selected as an award recipient this season, and has also been named as a member of the starting line-up for the Northern Conference in the upcoming Dodge CHL 2003 All-Star Game, slated for January 23rd in Oklahoma City.
The Indianapolis Ice have shown a remarkable resurgence this season under new Head Coach Ken McRae, and netminder Shawn Silver has been superb in leading the club to their first place standing in the Northeast Division. The Ice were particularly impressive away from home in December, winning 7 of 10 road games. Silver has already been named CHL Goaltender of the Week three times this season, and posted a CHL-leading 8 goaltending wins in December. The Thunder Bay natives remarkable month has moved him into second spot in the two most critical goaltending categories, with a goals against average of 1.79, and a save percentage of 93.5. Silvers 14 wins are fourth most in the CHL, and he is a strong candidate to be added to the Northern Conference Dodge All-Star squad.