Bangor Daily News veteran Larry Mahoney has been named the Maine Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

Mahoney also won the award in 1981 and ’82. Members from the Maine chapter of the NSSA vote on the award.

Mahoney, who covers a wide range of sports for the NEWS on the pro, college and high school levels, is perhaps best known to readers for his coverage of college hockey.

“Larry is one of the most knowledgeable writers about college hockey in the country. This award affirms that,” NEWS sports editor Joe McLaughlin said. “He works tirelessly on his beat and digs for every little tidbit of information.”

Along with his daily beat on college hockey, Mahoney also produces a Saturday column, “Touching Base,” which is a potpourri of topics dealing with Maine sports.

Mahoney, a 1972 Bangor High grad, played football and baseball for the Rams. He and his wife, Sally, have two sons, Michael, 19, and Andrew, 16.

Also gaining an award from the NSSA is Dan Hannigan, who has been named the Maine Sportscaster of the Year.

Hannigan is the voice of University of Maine hockey for Bangor radio station WZON (620 AM). He also hosts a daily talk show for WZON, “HangTime.”

Hannigan has been doing play-by-play for Maine hockey games since Oct. 1995 and is a former sports director for WVII-TV of Bangor.

The NSSA also named Bob Costas of NBC and Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe as its national sportscaster and sportwriter of the year, respectively.