Victor

Now, before the coveted Scotty Campbell Trophy, a few awards decided by the sim and league members. We've got the Mike Szatkowski and Kevin Brooks Trophies won by Michal Wozniak (and Szatkowski is his agent) with an outstanding season. 154 points is the most since Kevin Brooks back in Season 10, who alongside Mike Szatkowski is the only one to get as many apart from Brett Slobodzian and Scotty Campbell. Any surprise they have all these trophies named after them? 72 goals wasn't as good as Tukka Reikkinen in S27 (78) but that's the only season separating Wozniak from Szatkowski (74 in S8). 96 assists isn't an uncommon sight but still an impressive one as Clark Marcellin played his part in Calgary's offensive extravaganza. He goes out on a high with two awards and joins an elite group of two-time Mikita/Beketov Trophy winners. As for the Brett Slobodzian Trophy, is it any discussion who the most outstanding player of S35 was? The VHL doesn't think so, giving Michal Wozniak 35 of 39 votes. It may not be a fair comparison since for so long the award went to MVP, not MOP, but those 35 votes are the most by any Slobo Trophy winner ever.

And the winner of the S35 Daisuke Kanou Trophy is.... SKYLAR RIFT! He won the one named after Shaw, he won the one named after Kanou. Pretty much the perfect goaltending season for Two-Face, who gets 7 votes to teammate Kellinger's 3. This is another opportunity to congratulate Quebec but I did write an article about how they're supposed to be hated. They're damn impressive though.

animated gif? wet water?

We're into MVP territory now. No non-finalists feature in the VHL as Xin Xie Xiao's heroics aren't so easily matched in the big leagues, but Kameron Taylor did feature on the preliminary ballot as he led an underdog Cologne Express to Game 6 against the Helsinki Titans, in fact finishing second in playoff scoring to follow semi-finalist Chico Salmon. Taylor did have the best point-per-game pace. KELLINGER, Wesley 13GP, 7G, 10A, 17P, +7, 0PIM, 2GWG, 57.40FO% SULLIVAN, Ryan 12GP, 6G, 10A, 16P, -2, 26PIM, 56HIT, 26SB RIFT, Skylar 8-4-1, .933SV%, 1.98GAA, 1SO, 389SA However, it's all Quebec and Helsinki here. A forward, a defenceman, a goalie. Hockey utopia. You could make a strong case for any of the trio. And isn't it cute how they're Skype friends?

And win it he has! The winner of the S35 Sterling Labatte Trophy is CLARK MARCELLIN! Ryan Sullivan's quest to match Daniel Braxton's 4 Labattes comes to an unsuccessful end but hey, at least he won a cup. Marcellin would have swept this but his own agent, GM Jason Glasser, gave a solitary vote to Sullivan. A class act through and through. With Sullivan and Marcellin now both retired, surely now is the time for Niklas Valiq to strike ahead of the new generation.

From a close award statistically to one where there is really no need for driving up the drama. In just two seasons as a defenceman after being constantly overshadowed as the top two-way forward by one David Smalling, Calgary's Clark Marcellin immediately threatened Ryan Sullivan's monopoly of the Sterling Labatte Trophy. MARCELLIN, Clark - 72GP 21G 96A 117P +48 206PIM 277HIT 150HTT 182SB 1GWG VALIQ, Niklas - 72GP 14G 78A 92P +70 132PIM 214HIT 119HTT 123SB 2GWG SULLIVAN, Ryan - 72GP 21G 65A 86P +32 113PIM 241HIT 123HTT 100SB 7GWG In both their last seasons' he seems to have done everything to win it.

He's actually staying as manager until the end of 2014-15 according to BBC. After just two games!

And the winner of the S35 Aidan Shaw Trophy is.... SKYLAR RIFT! Well, someone just got an advantage in the S31 goalies' rivalry. Previously, LeBeau had the stats, while Rift and Tukio had a cup each. Now, Rift is making things happen in the regular season and the playoffs and has two cup rings to boot! 7 votes secured his first Shaw, 2 going to the retiring and probably first-ballot Hall of Famer (alongside Rybak) Labatte, and 1 to LeBeau.

We are witnessing a golden goaltending generation, similar to the likes of the great S18 netminders. Remy LeBeau, Tuomas Tukio, Skylar Rift are all from the same 'draft' class and are now in their prime. RIFT, Skylar - 47-13-3 .926SV% 1.95GAA 10SO 1672SA LEBEAU, Remy - 40-19-5 .923SV% 1.98GAA 8SO 1652SA LABATTE, Alexander - 44-15-5 .922SV% 2.10GAA 13SO 1738SA Interestingly, S35's GAA leader Tukio doesn't feature on the ballot, proving the significance of save percentage. Instead, veteran Alexander Labatte could stop those meddling S31 kids and match Aidan Shaw's (the trophy's namesake) record of 4 top goalie honours. He is of course on the outside track here.

And the winner of the S35 Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy is.... DAVEY JONES! Shocker! Although, Smyl did take one vote, stopped an expected sweep. Congratulations to Davey Jones and good luck in your career, another first-gen great this looks like. May the haters no longer say Cologne is a one-man team.

Davey Jones is in attendance tonight and for good reason - he has an award for which he has a case as strong as any other. A strong debut is not essential to a legendary career but it's always a good start. Doesn't hurt to be an All-Star after just one season in the VHL either. JONES, Davey - 72GP 44G 42A 86P +26 42PIM 120HIT 53.78FO% 6GWG GALLO, Matteo - 72GP 32G 45A 77P -3 18PIM 8GWG SMYL, Steven - 28-32-4 .906SV% 2.64GAA 5SO 1822SA MOHER, Lennox - 35-26-3 .904SV% 2.68GAA 4SO 1789SA Is this even an argument? Alas, stranger things have happened.

And the winner of the S35 Scott Boulet Trophy is.... VOLODYMYR RYBAK! Oh so close! Larsson gets 4 votes but Rybak gets the other 6, as the second half of his career not only included five straight 50-goal, 120-point seasons but also an improved defensive game. The fellow retiree adds another trophy to his already strong case for a first-ballot Hall of Fame induction while Larsson ends his career in some disappointment. Nevertheless, a great player, and a two-time cup winner.

Last season, David Smalling made history by setting an all-time hits record and winning a record 5th Scott Boulet Trophy as the league's best, and possibly greatest ever, two-way forward. He is now retired and though Miles Larsson just missed out on the hits record, he'd love to take the trophy he lived and played for into retirement. WOZNIAK, Michal - 72GP 72G 82A 154P +75 73PIM 187HIT 313HTT 44SB 66.18FO% 13GWG RYBAK, Volodymyr - 72GP 64G 73A 137P +62 94PIM 260HIT 271HTT 65SB 9GWG TAYLOR, Kameron - 72GP 57G 55A 112P +53 98PIM 206HIT 269HTT 18SB 64.05FO% 7GWG LARSSON, Miles - 72GP 44G 51P 95P +64 118PIM 335HIT 158HTT 39SB 4GWG But before that, he needs to fight off players with more points, who better exemplified the offensive way out of the two ways. Those hits look damn nice though...

And the winner of the S35 David Knight Trophy is.... PAVEL KORADEK! It's not a rare sight for the cup-winning team's GM to win but doesn't mean it's undeserved. Pavel Koradek made VHL history by leading an expansion team to the cup and his trade for Miles Larsson might have well pushed it over. He also conformed to the age-old adage of 'fuck defence, we have two Valiqs' and 'trade ALL the draft picks'. As a result, that's 6 votes to Alfredsson's 3 (I swear, I didn't vote for myself) and Kendrick's 1.

A similar team line-up comes in for a completely different award, top GM. Last season, it was split between two prior winners, Jason Glasser and Mitch Higgins. Glasser didn't pull off any miracles in S35 but Higgins is back for more after a defeat in the finals. Pavel Koradek Joey Kendrick Victor Alfredsson Mitch Higgins What am I doing here? Well you see, the whole league is rigged in my favour. As for the deserving candidates, we've got the two finalists and another former winner back in his Helsinki Titans days, now having built a strong expansion team. With Quebec here too, go expansion! All four GMs made key moves to improve their teams before S35 for S35 and beyond.

And the winner of the S35 Grimm Jonsson Trophy is.... KAMERON TAYLOR! Another narrow victory as past runner-up Taylor claims it over veteran Osborne with 5 votes to 4. Larsson took a vote with him into retirement but this is not the award he craves.

A rushed trophy this season was the Grimm Jonsson Trophy for the captains and alternates for S35 were not known until the end. However, leadership is always obvious (just ask Jaroslav Oslig) and the rightful candidates feature on the ballot. LARSSON, Miles TAYLOR, Kameron OSBORNE, Ethan ZHUMBAYEV, Anatoli Larsson matched a record by wearing the C for a 6th season, even after joining a new team. Taylor is the heart and soul of the Cologne Express and led them to their first playoff victories. Osborne is a long-time Titan leader and 3-time winner of this award while teammate Zhumbayev is his heir apparent in Helsinki.

so you could win a percentage of that as well?

And the winner of the S35 Mikka Virkkunen Trophy is.... JAKUB KJELLBERG! It was close. 6 votes to 4 did the trick, but Jakub Kjellberg took it over Wesley Kellinger. The two centers had different offensive outputs but Kjellberg, managed by now resigned but long-time Toronto GM Sandro Desaulniers, had 9 less PIM.

The Mikka Virkkunen Trophy, known colloquially as the 'Pussy Award' has been monopolised in recent seasons by Phil Rafter, Ethan Osborne, and Yuri Grigorenko. Yet Rafter is now retired while the latter two took a few penalties too many in S35. KELLINGER, Wesley - 72GP 32G 68A 100P +65 12PIM 46HIT 61.15FO% 9GWG VALIQ, Tomas - 72GP 21G 62A 83P +45 12PIM 32HIT 55.57FO% 3GWG KJELLBERG, Jakub - 72GP 27G 41A 68P +52 4PIM 22HIT 54.17FO% 6GWG The vote thus goes down between three players whose members have not stayed out of forum fights but who themselves have been as law-abiding citizens as any. Who will win their first Virkkunen Trophy?

And the winner of the S35 Dustin Funk Trophy is.... MICHAL WOZNIAK! No surprises here. Wozniak was never a terrible player but he was never this good. Few players ever were this good. He was recognised with 8 out of 10 votes. Salmon and Inko split the remaining two.

Dustin Funk never won an individual award but had a new award named after him. If you go to the Hall of Fame, a short blurb will detail why. It's at the very bottom of the VHL awards but it's not any less significant for it. Either of the four candidates would hope to get it. WOZNIAK, Michal - 72GP 42G 38A 80P +34 43PIM 66HIT 63.99FO% 6GWG - Season 34 WOZNIAK, Michal - 72GP 72G 82A 154P +75 73PIM 187HIT 66.18FO% 13GWG - Season 35 SALMON, Chico - 72GP 18G 46A 64P +61 8PIM 19HIT 6GWG - Season 34 SALMON, Chico - 72GP 56G 75A 131P +68 38PIM 63HIT 13GWG - Season 35 CLIFFORD, Doug - 72GP 21G 34A 55P +38 52PIM 111HIT 3GWG - Season 34 CLIFFORD, Doug - 72GP 38G 54A 92P +39 105PIM 231HIT 4GWG - Season 35 INKO, Cody - 72GP 5G 24A 29P +25 35PIM 23HIT 124SB 2GWG - Season 34 INKO, Cody - 72GP 19G 53A 72P +35 57PIM 87HIT 126SB 5GWG - Season 35 It's been an interesting season in that there are the usual sophomores rebounding off absolutely horrific seasons to begin establishing themselves as VHL stars. But there was also the offensive explosion in Calgary which caused some already respectable players to have insanely good seasons. Only once previously since the establishment of the trophy did someone score 70+ goals and have 150+ points. Tukka Reikkinen added the Funk to his trophy cabinet in S27. Will Wozniak start a trend here or will someone else meteoric rise prove more eye-catching.

VHL awards. The peak of any VHL career. The dream of any VHL player. The reward for wasting so much time and putting into a non-existent character on a sim league. What's more important to members? The Continental Cup or the individual honours? The lucky and spoiled ones (like me) get both. But if you had to choose, which way would you go? It depends on the member but also on perception. The majority might openly state that team accomplishments come first but how many of them would be lying? Finding a balance is key to the enjoyment of each and every VHLer.

We are almost ready to return! Just refreshing those vocal cords.

That does it for the VHLM. We're taking a quick break because the VHL awards need to be written up... But don't go! STZ shall entertain you in the meantime with GIFs from across the globe.