The end of S38 in the VHL didn't bring much excitement in playoff races as those were decided long ago, but there were a few interesting races going on in the background. Let's take a look at the race for the Scott Boulet Trophy, awarded to the player deemed the best two-way forward in the VHL.
It doesn't get much closer than this, there are three guys that can take this award home easily. In face if any of these guys would have had a season like this last year, they would have easily taken it in my opinion. Those three players are Karsten Olsen of the Seattle Bears, Thomas Landry of the Davos Dynamo and Brennan McQueen of the Riga Reign.
So what I often ask myself is, how do you judge who is the best two-way forward? Is it simply points and hits taken into account? Or is there more involved?
Let's say we do take a look at points and hits only, let's compare:
Karsten Olsen - 51G - 48A - 99P - 367 HITS
Thomas Landry - 42G - 67A - 109P - 331 HITS
Brennan McQueen - 49G - 58P - 107P - 342 HITS
As you can see these three all had outstanding seasons. How does one decide what's more valuable, 40 more hits or 10 more points? Or in between, 25 more hits but 8 less points. How can you honestly decide which is better? I really don't know how people vote. I'd say when it's this close you have to look into secondary stats. One VHL expert said some of the secondary stats were +/- and hits taken.
Karsten Olsen - +33 - 234 HTT
Thomas Landry - +48 - 209 HTT
Brennan McQueen - +60 - 129 HTT
I know most people say take +/- with a grain of salt but these were all on winning, playoff teams that scored around the same. So do you value it more or still take it with a grain of salt and say it doesn't tell much about defensive play? Then hits taken, do people take that into account? I'm just going by what one person said, I don't really know.
As shown it's hard to gauge how good defensively someone is in a sim. So when it's this close do you look further into offensive stats to take the clear winner? How about powerplay points? P/20 to see who does the most with their time on ice? Game winning goals? Maybe even star power I just really don't know.
I'd hate to be in the chair to pick just one of these guys to win the award, you have the defenseman turned all-star forward, the quiet guy who always has solid seasons and the reigning Boulet winner. All three should be rewarded on fantastic seasons.
So tell me, what do you guys think?
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