When considering candidates for the Alexander Valiq Trophy, most simply look at who has the most points. Sure maybe someone who is close in points but well ahead in goals might have a strong argument (and there's definitely a candidate like that this season), but maybe there's some other criteria worth looking at. Let's dive in head first at our top 6 point-scoring defenders.
Erik Summers, Helsinki, 10 G, 63 A, 73 P, +25
Hulk Hogan, Seattle, 8 G, 63 A, 71 P, +10
Cinnamon Block, Prague, 12 G, 57 A, 69 P, +19
Roque Davis, HC Davos, 25 G, 44 A, 69 P, -18
Lance Flowers, New York, 13 G, 55 A, 68 P, +10
Lincoln Tate, Riga, 16 G, 51 A, 67 P, +5
At first glance, you see Erik Summers with 73 points and a +25 and think, "Well, this seems like an easy choice." Not so fast! Of these 6 players, only four of them led their team in scoring this season: Summers, Block, Davis, and Tate. Summers was 6 points ahead of Erik Draven, Tate 9 points ahead of Patrik Tallinder, Block a whopping 15 points ahead of Alex Pearson, and Davis a ridiculous 20 points ahead of Andrej Petrovic (who also was a defender). Between the huge lead in goals and this huge discrepancy between his scoring and the rest of his team, you would think Roque Davis would be a shoe-in for this award. However, there's one more thing to consider: team success. With a -18 (admittedly best on his team if you don't count the traded Pat Svoboda) and a team that was last in the VHL by a significant margin, is it really fair to say that he was the best offensive defender? When you're second on your team in shots, it's hard to argue you really are still a defender at all. On the other hand, Block played for a team that was a tiebreaker away from being the number one seed in the European conference. Her +19 also led the team and was second just to Summers amongst defenders. Plus, she had more assists alone than anyone else on her team even had points, and just about everyone getting regular playing time on the team was out shooting her to boot. Prague's offense often ran through her, and the results are in the pudding. Davis's numbers are eye-popping on a team that had nothing else to do but feed him the puck; Block's came on a team that's making their first serious playoff push in team history. I'm not sure if team success really makes a lot of difference on an individual award, but I can guarantee Block's contributions were much more vital to Prague than Davis's were to Davos.
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