Mavrik Bourque, Logan Stankoven Earn AHL Monthly Honors

Stankoven, foreground, with Bourque (Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars)

The American Hockey League announced this afternoon that both Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven have been selected as winners for the league's November honors. Bourque is the AHL's Player of the Month for November. Stankoven earned Rookie of the Month honors.

Bourque is tied for the league lead in points at 25, and Stankoven sits just one point behind him at 24, alone in third place. Among rookies, Stankoven has the clear lead.

It's an incredible testament to the work that the Stars have done in the month of November that two players were selected from the same team. It's an incredibly rare feat overall and usually reserved for team's that are on a rocket ship, proverbially.

For my part, this is probably only the beginning of the award hardware for both players. Due to the lack of callups expected this season, both Bourque and Stankoven could be in Cedar Park all season. If they continue the blistering pace they've set, they'll be in line for end-of-season awards as well.

Calling my shot here that Mavrik Bourque is a serious contender for league MVP and Logan Stankoven is on his way to Rookie of the Year.

Here's the excerpted release: 

The American Hockey League announced today that Texas Stars forwards Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven and Abbotsford Canucks goaltender Arturs Silovs have been selected as the league’s award winners for November.

Bourque, the AHL Player of the Month, totaled 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in 10 games in November, helping the Stars to a 7-2-1-0 record and the lead in the AHL’s Central Division.

Bourque began the month with a three-point night at Iowa on Nov. 4, scoring once and adding two assists in a 4-0 Texas victory. He added a goal and an assist against the Wild the following afternoon, and gave the Stars a standings point with his game-tying goal in the final minute of regulation against Milwaukee on Nov. 11. Bourque notched a goal and an assist in a 7-4 win over Grand Rapids on Nov. 18, and his two third-period assists helped propel Texas to a 4-1 win in Colorado on Nov. 24. Finally, Bourque registered the first four-point game of his pro career, dishing out four assists in a 6-5 overtime win at San Diego on Nov. 29.

Entering December with a seven-game scoring streak, Bourque is tied for first in the AHL in assists (18) and points (25) over 17 games for the Stars. The 21-year-old native of Plessisville, Que., totaled 20 goals and 47 points as a rookie in 2022-23, and has compiled 28 goals and 49 assists for 77 points in 93 career AHL games with Texas. Bourque was a first-round selection (30th overall) by the Dallas Stars in the 2020 NHL Draft.

Stankoven, the AHL Rookie of the Month, scored eight goals and totaled 15 points in 10 games for the Stars during November.

Stankoven bookended his month with a pair of three-point efforts, beginning with a goal and two assists in a 4-0 win at Iowa on Nov. 4. He later scored goals in five consecutive games, beginning with a 6-4 win over Milwaukee on Nov. 10. Stankoven tallied a goal and an assist in a 7-4 victory over Grand Rapids on Nov. 18, and scored twice in the third period of a 4-1 win at Colorado on Nov. 24 before contributing a goal and two assists in Texas’s 6-5 win at San Diego to finish the month.

Dallas’s second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, Stankoven leads all AHL rookies and is tied for the overall league lead with 13 goals, and is first among rookies and third overall with 24 points in 17 games this season. The 20-year-old native of Kamloops, B.C., was a Canadian Hockey League First Team All-Star in 2022-23 and was named the CHL’s Player of the Year in 2021-22.