Victor

And the winner of the S37 Scotty Campbell Trophy is.... TUOMAS TUKIO! And he wins it anyway, 9 votes with Bagelface claiming the 1. That's three awards in one great season for Tuomas Tukio, certainly increasing his chances of a Hall of Fame induction in the near future. That ends the awards ceremony. Bye!

In the past, that Slobo win would guarantee Tukio the Campbell in about 9 cases out of 10. Of course, that was when the Slobo trophy was MVP voted by the players but that is not the case any more. Instead, Tukio, whose excellence in goal made up for Quebec's inexplicably terrible goal-scoring, will have to do battle with Vasteras' Eggly Bagelface yet again. Niklas Lindberg is on the ballot as Toronto's top scorer but is by far an outsider in a season dominated by strong netminding. BAGELFACE, Eggly - 37-19-8, .931SV%, 1.87GAA, 7SO, 1753SA LINDBERG, Niklas - 72GP, 41G, 73A, 114P, +50, 80PIM, 136HIT, 62.06FO%, 9GWG TUKIO, Tuomas - 43-19-1, .930SV%, 1.82GAA, 13SO, 1681SA

In the meantime, Brett Slobodzian Trophy voting has closed for Season 37. With a come-from-behind victory, the Most Outstanding Player has been deemed to be Tuomas Tukio with his excellent goaltending performance. Top scorer Odin Tordahl finishes three votes behind Tukio's 18 in the runner-up position.

This was nail-bitingly close, just like the the Continental Cup finals.... REMY LEBEAU sweeps the voting and wins the S37 Daisuke Kanou Trophy! I already dedicated an article about his place in history but here's his congratulations in the present.

Now then, onto the MVPs. As they won the Continental Cup in a near-record 10 games, it's logical to see the goalie and top scorer of the Toronto Legion on the ballot. The lack of a clear leader proved to be the undoing of the HC Davos Dynamo, so the remaining two spots go to the joint top scorers from the conference finals, veteran centers Osborne and Taylor. LEBEAU, Remy - 8-2-0, .943SV%, 1.62GAA, 2SO, 300SA OSBORNE, Ethan - 13GP, 7G, 12A, 19P, +4, 15PIM, 13HIT, 58.32FO% TAYLOR, Kameron - 13GP, 5G, 14A, 19P, +4, 59PIM, 35HIT, 57.20FO% ZHUMBAYEV, Anatoli - 10GP, 7G, 6A, 13P, +7, 9PIM, 21HIT, 2GWG

This sets up us nicely for some sim awards. In an offensively weak season, one could argue those who got more points actually are more noteworthy than in other seasons due to improved defences. Odin Tordahl and Conner Low of the New York Americans almost carried their team to the playoff with the most points (115) for the former and most assists (79) for the latter. Tordahl adds an award to his cabinet for the second straight season while Low wins two for the second year running, a truly remarkable feat for a sophomore. #connerlowtho The league's leading goal-scorer in Season 37 was Kameron Taylor who led the way for Cologne before being traded to Riga and turning them into cup contender. The end result: a first offensive award after years of anticipation with 54 goals.

And the winner of the S37 Sterling Labatte Trophy is.... CONNER LOW! I could pretend it was close but it really wasn't. A 10-vote sweep for the Americans captain who is on track for greatness. Like, Scotty Campbell-level greatness. Or I suppose Sterling Labatte. #connerlowtho

If the Sterling Labatte Trophy ballot seems familiar it's because it is largely a carbon copy of Season 36. Rookie sensation Conner Low keeps dazzling and avoided the sophomore slump with an even better season which makes him the odds-on favourite for the Labatte. His main opponent is Malcom Spud, galvanised by a trade to cup contending Riga, where he already triumphed in Season 33. Alexander Valiq goes out with another ballot appearance and can be congratulated on a solid career, mainly with the Meute. LOW, Conner - 72GP, 27G, 79A, 106P, +28, 201PIM, 292HIT, 141SB, 2GWG SPUD, Malcom / - 72GP, 25G, 72A, 97P, +20, 93PIM, 135HIT, 175SB, 5GWG VALIQ, Alexander - 72GP, 18G, 55A, 73P, +25, 159PIM, 221HIT, 122SB, 5GWG

And the winner of the S37 Aidan Shaw Trophy is.... TUOMAS TUKIO! The bounceback season is officially a success as Tukio at last wins an Aidan Shaw, joining S31 rivals Skylar Rift and of course LeBeau. 7 votes to Bagelface's 3 sealed the deal.

Remy LeBeau may have dazzled in the playoffs but the reigning Aidan Shaw Trophy winner seemed to be saving up his energy in the regular season. This opened the door for S36 breakthrough goalie Eggly Bagelface, now a key component of a playoff team in Vasteras, and Tuomas Tukio, for whom a change of scenery also meant a superb bounce-back season. The stats between the two are very close. BAGELFACE, Eggly - 37-19-8, .931SV%, 1.87GAA, 7SO, 1753SA LEBEAU, Remy - 42-19-3, .924SV%, 2.03GAA, 9SO, 1732SA TUKIO, Tuomas - 43-19-1, .930SV%, 1.82GAA, 13SO, 1681SA

And the winner of the S37 Scott Boulet Trophy is.... BRENNAN MCQUEEN! That hits/hits taken ratio was too much to turn down and Riga's captain wins his first award by the slightest of margins with 6 votes beating out Tordahl's 4. It's an excellent result in an sophomore season and with better offensive output McQueen has the potential to match David Smalling's career path.

Two of the nominees for Top Leader, including the winner, and last season's top two-way forward are up for the Scott Boulet Trophy. By the looks of it, it's a battle between offence and hits, as we have the league's top scorer against two of its best hitters, but with lesser points totals. An atypical ballot and the result should be an interesting insight into GMs' opinions. LANDRY, Thomas - 72GP, 41G, 47A, 88P, +27, 162PIM, 307HIT, 193HTT, 7GWG MCQUEEN, Brennan - 72GP, 35G, 49A, 84P, +13, 169PIM, 390HIT, 115HTT, 3GWG TORDAHL, Odin - 72GP, 51G, 64A, 115P, +40, 148PIM, 221HIT, 210HTT, 11GWG

And the winner of the S37 Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy is.... TOM SLAUGHTER! It could have been a tie had Brookside not received a solitary vote! Instead, Slaughter wins with 5 votes and Fjorsstrom has to settle for second place. Regardless, bright futures are ahead of this trio.

It was extremely difficult to make a 3-player ballot for this season's "Stolzy" ballot. Rookies were hard to come by in Season 37 which was dominated by the ridiculously talented top draft prospects Tom Slaughter and Slaeter Fjorsstrom. They are joined by Calgary's Martin Brookside on the ballot. BROOKSIDE, Martin - 5-39-3, .919SV%, 4.15GAA, 1SO FJORSSTROM, Slaeter - 72GP, 8G, 64A, 72P, +41, 46PIM, 75HIT, 118SB, 3GWG SLAUGTHER, Tom - 72GP, 22G, 54A, 76P, +43, 7PIM, 56.60FO%, 6GWG

And the winner, no, winners of the S37 David Knight Trophy is.... TYLER EDGAR & MIKE SZATKOWSKI! A split straight down the middle is the result, with 5 votes apiece for Toronto and Riga's men in charge.

Meanwhile, the top GM ballot (David Knight Trophy) is errily similar to the VHLM one. We've got the two finalists from Toronto and Davos, each with minor adjustments to their S36 rosters and ultimately a rematch in the finals, and the upstart Riga Reign's Mike Szatkowski, whose S36 core got a major boost with the trade for Kameron Taylor and Malcom Spud, isntantly making Riga a serious cup contender. Tyler Edgar Victor Alfredsson Mike Szatkowski

And the winner of the S37 Grimm Jonsson Trophy is.... THOMAS LANDRY! The HC Davos Dynamo captain adds a second trophy to his cabinet with 5 votes for LeBeau's 4, who was the first goalie captain to win the Continental Cup. Riga captain McQueen took the remaining vote but it is Landry who becomes the new constant of Jonsson Trophy voting.

This season I did not screw up with the public voting of the Grimm Jonsson Trophy and the final ballot is chosen by you, the people. Granted, a 4-way tie is still very much possible between member of the 3 longest-surviving playoff teams. GOW III, Robert LANDRY, Thomas LEBEAU, Remy MCQUEEN, Brennan

And the winner of the S37 Mikka Virkkunen Trophy is.... SERGEY BROVALENKO! "Brovy" avenges both the recent cup finals loss and last season's close loss in the vote for this award, by winning a trophy in his final season with 8 votes to Salmon's 2. Brovalenko turned out to be more than decent.

Meanwhile, some usual suspects for the coveted Mikka Virkkunen Trophy, with last season's finalists Sergey Brovalenko and Chico Salmon joined by rookie Tom Slaughter. You'll struggle to find any difference in the level of pussification of this elite trio. BROVALENKO, Sergey - 72GP, 42G, 62A, 104P, +25, 0PIM, 3HIT, 63.60FO%, 8GWG SALMON, Chico - 72GP, 38G, 44A, 72P, +13, 0PIM, 9HIT, 6GWG SLAUGTHER, Tom - 72GP, 22G, 54A, 76P, +43, 7PIM, 0HIT, 56.60FO%, 6GWG

And the winner of the S37 Dustin Funk Trophy is.... DAVID COLLIER! It was close. Collier takes the award with 4 votes to Tukio's 3, Szatkowski's 2 and Blade's 1. He will have to deliver more of the same as the veteran presence on Cologne for the remainder of his career.

So then, onto the main attraction: it's time for some VHL awards! The Dustin Funk Trophy, the newest trophy of the VHL and VHLM can be predictable or anything but. This season it's the latter. With two goalies and two forwards who completely turned around their fortunes from Season 36, the ballot couldn't even find space for Willem Janssen's break-through season. It's pretty impressive. BLADE, Mikey - 72GP, 29G, 36A, 65P, +18, 22PIM, 75HIT, 4GWG - Season 36 BLADE, Mikey - 72GP, 45G, 55A, 100P, +34, 22PIM, 73HIT, 10GWG - Season 37 COLLIER, David - 72GP, 29G, 32A, 61P, +31, 46PIM, 136HIT, 1GWG - Season 36 COLLIER, David - 72GP, 46G, 53A, 99P, +3, 94PIM, 251HIT, 10GWG - Season 37 SZATKOWSKI JR., Mike - 14-49-1, .909SV%, 3.62GAA, 1SO, 2515SA - Season 36 SZATKOWSKI JR., Mike - 40-20-4, .920SV%, 2.44GAA, 3SO, 1963SA - Season 37 TUKIO, Tuomas - 39-21-4, .921SV%, 2.35GAA, 4SO, 1915SA - Season 36 TUKIO, Tuomas - 43-19-1, .930SV%, 1.82GAA, 13SO, 1681SA - Season 37

And we're ready to return! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM

I see we're losing viewers quite quickly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPudE8nDog0

We've definitely reached an all-time low with this improvised intermission. But there's always room for optimism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtKADQnjQmc