DMaximus

With the game on the line, one shot, who would you rather have taking it, Iggy or Curry?

This is a question I get a lot as the General Manager of the World. It has haunted me for many years, and has left me sleepless for many nights. I have waited all this time for my turn to make this selection, and now, as the aliens hurtle towards Earth, I, Jacob Carson am left to make the final decision.

Of everyone on the entire Earth, open shot, the fate of the universe on the line, the Martians have the death beam pointed at earth, you better hit it, I WANT:

 
From the United States of America, Center, Napoleon Dynamite of the Los Angeles Stars!
 
From the United States of America, Center, Mo Probert, most recently of the Malmo Nighthawks!
 
From the United States Minor Outlying Islands, Winger, Landon Wolanin of the Helsinki Titans!
 
From Canada, Winger, Larry Abass Jr, most recently of the Riga Reign!
 
From Canada, Winger, Vincent Laroche-Gagnier of the D.C. Dragons!
 
From Canada, Winger, Sadie St-Louis, most recently of the Riga Reign!
 
From South Africa, Defender, Hammar Voss, most recently of the Helsinki Titans!
 
From Australia, Defender, Callum Murray, most recently of the Los Angeles Stars!
 
From Saint Kitts and Nevis, Defender, Deron Nesbitt of the London United!
 
From Japan, Defender, Ryuji Sakamoto of the D.C. Dragons!
 
From Australia, Goaltender, Lachlan Summers of HC Davos Dynamo!

From Bhutan, Goaltender, Clueless Wallob, of the Seattle Bears!
 
 These players have ice water in their veins, these players are those types of players, high leverage moment, fate of the universe on the line, I want – open shot, not go get it, I want these players taking that shot for me.

So you’re not the shooters those other teams are, but what I’m saying is, when it matters most, you’re the dudes I think doesn’t care about that moment. Same guys, like ice water in your veins, what is your response?

Some would call me crazy. Some might even laugh. But if you were to put me on ESPN on a random Friday night, quite like this random Tuesday afternoon, this is the answer I would give you.
 
We have top level talent at all positions, and with international cooperation, we have the team that is best suited to take on any alien threat, and as such is also conveniently the best suited to take on all of the individual regions of the world in a short but intense ice hockey tournament.
 
So perhaps this announcement is better suited to announce that these are the members of the team that will be taking on Team Canada, Team USA, Team Eastern Europe, Team Western Europe, and Team Nordic in the upcoming S90 World Cup!

Everyone from around the world will be tuning in for this amazing tournament… soon! We await the announcement of a few more teams, despite knowing that Team World has the ultimate advantage over all of them.
 
Jacob Carson, General Manager of the World
 
 

HOLY HOLY WE GOT A GOALIE @DMaximus

Seattle Weaving Through Off-Season, Find Their Guy
 
SEATTLE - If it's one thing the Seattle Bears are good at other than winning, it's having fun, successful off-seasons. Maybe we're tooting our own horn here a little but, but they do seem to always find a way to make the most out of situations in the off-season. Last season, how many trades did they make? They made 9. Those trades were massive and absolutely critical to the success that Seattle had last season. Sure, they lost out to a New York team that got red hot, found momentum and then fell flat to a seasoned Wolves team. They did have a strong regular season though and once again showed the league they're still one of the best and have been doing it now for almost 25 seasons consistently. This off-season it seems to be the same status quo for the Seattle Bears organization as they quickly got to work, working the DM lines on Discord and even throwing back to some Forum offers for old time sake. The Seattle Bears have so far made 4 (5...) trades this off-season, but there's strong rumours out there that they're not finished quite yet! Before we get to that, let's take a look at the moves they've made so far.
 
 TO SEATTLE
(S87) Logan Foley
S90 MAL 2nd
S90 NYA 2nd
 
TO MALMO
(S85) Daniel Weaver
 
BREAKDOWN: 
Tough deal to make because Daniel Weaver is a good player and good member @ThePerfectNut. I've had them on the team before and we were fortunate enough to win together. I know what you get when they're on your team. They're typically consistent earners, good players, loyal/fun members of the locker room and always help the team find a way to win. I would have loved to have kept them, but that's the business sometimes. We end up picking up two 2nd round picks in a solid draft. We can use these to draft or as trade chips to gather other assets and moves. Logan Foley was the player sent along in the deal and while I didn't have a huge amount of knowledge on the player, I knew a small bit about the member @WildfireMicro. So far they've been a very good, active member of the Seattle team and we like what we've seen.  
 
 TO SEATTLE
(S88) Boolie Bucholz 
S90 SEA 4th
 
 TO CALGARY
Halvar Torbjorn
 
BREAKDOWN: 
Simple trade. @Rayzor_7 stepped down from running things in Helsinki. Things seemed a little negative and down, so I swopped in hoping to bring aboard a good VHL bud and make them enjoy what they can with the VHL. Their player is okay. They need to earn. They can do better. It doesn't take long. They're a valuable member to the team and have been added to the council for Seattle. Hopefully being part of that can keep the fire alive!
 
 TO SEATTLE
Karl Pedersen
 
 TO CALGARY
S92 SEA 4th
Ilya Bryzgalov
 
BREAKDOWN: 
We had two options this off-season. I really wanted to retool and gather some draft picks/youth, while also contending. The plan was to move some of our more valuable pieces for picks, then bringing in a little bit older and/or cheaper through trade or FA. However, trade talks were slowing down and kind of paused between Moscow @Spartan as he had something going on is what we'll say! This kind of forced my hand.. the longer you wait, the longer you play with fire in the off-season. It can pay off, but the risk gets bigger. Especially on off-seasons like this.. when it started there was TONS of chatter.. but not too much for trades.. things kind of got jammed as lots waited for finances, depreciation and the lottery. Well, boom! Log jam seems to be freed as we head into draft day! Expect huge moves that day too imo. I still REALLY wanted to contend.. so we went out and tried to get Pedersen.. Was hopeful but I heard likely not which is alright. 
 
 TO SEATTLE
Clueless Wallob
S90 MOS 3rd
S90 MOS 4th
 
 TO MOSCOW
Karl Pedersen
12th Overall
BREAKDOWN: 
Despite being told it was going to be await, it wasn't too long after the deal above with Calgary triggered Spartan to message me. I think within the hour we had a done deal! Was kinda messy because of the waiting and then man, I got sloppy at the end.. but that's all good! Was decent talks and while it was hard to let go of 12th overall, it was a fair deal. We're really happy adding an elite, legendary goalie like @DMaximus and super thrilled to be adding them to our bears family and locker room. Been a massive fan of the agency for a long time and I'm so happy we get to add them to my tenure history!

My VHL Award Ballot For Season 89
‘
 
For those that have gotten to know me over the years, you might know that I have never minded explaining my reasoning when it comes to who I voted for.  I have always believed there should be a fairly high amount of transparency in the league when it comes to what the Blues/BOD discuss and what the rest of the league sees.  And I have always felt that this should stretch to awards as well.  The Hall of Fame and the Awards show are two of the most important things I get to have an influence on, and that has always been one of my favourite things about being a member of the Board of Governors.  
 
‘So I decided to put together an article on who I voted for in the Season 89 Awards and explain a little bit about my reasoning.  I’m not necessarily going to go too in-depth with each of these awards, as some of them are pretty self-explanatory, but I will make sure to at least justify my pick with each one.  So without further ado, going in opposite order of status, lets get to my picks.
 
DAVID KNIGHT TROPHY (TOP GM) - Euron Leonidas (MOS - Spartan)

I have to be honest when I say that I have always hated voting for this award.  It’s always been fairly arbitrary to me and is always the one that seems to have the most variance in options being discussed.  Thus I have always believed a one-to-one comparison with the previous year's team, the moves you made during that season and the previous off-season and overall team success are the three contributing factors to decide on who takes home the David Knight Trophy.  This is an award I have been fortunate to take home six times when I was a General Manager, but since then it has been Bana that has taken over as the league’s most successful and decorated in its long history.  And once again, he was a candidate in this one.
 
The two candidates I was really looking at were Blake Campbell (SEA) and Euron Leonidas (MOS).  There were a few other names discussed that really put together excellent campaigns like Frank Chadwick (VAN), Zack Gagnon (LA) and Benjamin Zeptenbergs (RIG).  Ultimately though, I leaned to Euron Leonidas on this one. In what is a narrow vote for me I felt that Moscow saw a bit more of an upheaval in the depth department after they signed seven unsigned free agents and also made a major move that helped propel them to the best record in the league.  This is always a tough one but that’s ultimately the choice I went with.
 
DUSTIN FUNK TROPHY (MOST IMPROVED) - Brian Kowalski (RIG - Wheaties)

This one is honestly one that I originally thought seemed like a bit of a runaway but was swayed by a few other members in the league towards potentially looking at another player instead.  Brian Kowalski was the player I saw immediately as he was a frequent name in these awards and improved by 56 points, going from a decent offensive player to an absolutely dominant player that was arguably the league’s best player this season.  However, my eyes turned to Nikolas Kauppi who broke out and went from a 39 point player to an 87 point talent.  He originally had a bit of a down second year after a solid rookie year but exploded for 25 more goals with a career high of 40 and then added 47 assists to go along with a bit more physicality.  He was a member of Prague for both season’s but did see an increase in minutes and responsibility which definitely could have had an impact on why the difference was so vast.  Nevertheless, his season was tremendously impressive.  

Ultimately, I went with Brian Kowalski though.  His career high in points was 54 and he had been coming off a very similar campaign where he recorded 52 points and a career high in hits of 226.  Kowalski was switching teams from Davos to Riga, which is the most brought up criticism of his season in the Board of Governors.  Nevertheless he would jump 56 points and had by far his best blocked shot season with 233, which was an increase of 105 over the previous one.  Also, while he did switch teams, they were similarly successful with Davos finishing with 93 points in Season 88 and Riga ending up with 92 points in Season 89.  Get ready to read his name a lot by the way.  
 
CHRISTIAN STOLZSCHWEIGER TROPHY (TOP ROOKIE) - Jasper Davis (NYA - Josh)

This is the award that I first ever won when my first active player, Michael Angelo, took it home in Season 20.  It’s been one that can come and go when it comes to having much competition, and has often been dominated by goaltenders of late.  While the Board of Governors did discuss the solid season Merome Dilson had in Calgary, it ultimately ended up being someone else that I felt had the best overall season.
 
Jasper Davis made his debut in New York after a tremendous season in the VHLE for Geneva, and despite the addition of multiple veterans that were going to eat their piece of the pie, he still excelled.  Davis finished with 30 goals and 62 points while also being an occasional physical presence up front on their second line.  That kind of impact despite the team improving and keeping him down on that second line, earns himself the win for me when it comes to the Stolzy.
 
SCOTT BOULET TROPHY (TOP TWO-WAY FORWARD) - John Jameson (PRG - Frank)

This award celebrates the best well-rounded forward in the league looking at their defensive accomplishments, their physicality and of course their offensive accolades.  Ronan Lavelle, Sirdsvaldis Miglaskems and John Jameson were the names that got the most conversation.  All three scored 50 goals and all three had at least 200 hits with Lavelle having the most points but least amount of hits, Miglaskems having the least amount of points but most number of hits and Jameson finishing second in both categories.  
 
I sided with Jameson in the end who had only one less point than Lavelle but had an impressive 243 hits and a solid 39 blocked shots to go along with it.  He had the best plus/minus of the three and was easily one of the most valuable players in the league this season with 25 more points than anyone else on his roster.  
 
JAKE WYLDE TROPHY (TOP DEFENSIVE DEFENSEMAN) - Brian Kowalski (RIG - Wheaties)

We already covered that Brian Kowalski had quite an impressive season that included a monstrous 108 points from the backend.  When it comes to the Jake Wylde Trophy though, the focus is on some of the other attributes in a player.  Hammar Voss and Brian Payne definitely played at an impressive level defensively and physically, but the focus actually came around to a familiar name.
 
To me this kinda has to go to Brian Kowalski.  Not only did he have that tremendous offensive season but he showed incredible feistiness and physicality with 218 hits and was another goalie for the Reign with a ridiculous 233 blocked shots.  He just filled the stat sheet in pretty much every way this year and unfortunately for some of these other great defenders, Kowalski continues to get a lot of shine.
 
ALEXANDER VALIQ TROPHY (TOP OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMAN) - Brian Kowalski (RIG - Wheaties)

This really was a debate between two players in Brian Kowalski and Hammar Voss who both had incredible offensive seasons that saw the two players finish just two points apart.  The argument for Kowalski is that he led in points and had by far the most goals with 23.  Meanwhile, Voss has the argument of utilisation as he was not double-shifted on the PP like Kowalski was and played less minutes overall.
 
I ultimately went with Brian Kowalski again as while the offensive performance was narrow, I felt his goal total could not be ignored.  With eight more goals than Voss and being the leading scorer of their team (while Lavelle led for Moscow over Voss) I felt Brian Kowalski once again had the best case.  Hate to be a broken record though and do wish I had a little more variation, but he just simply earned it. 
 
STERLING LABATTE TROPHY (TOP DEFENSEMAN) - Brian Kowalski (RIG - Wheaties)

The illustrious trophy that has seen many famous names from Sterling Labatte himself to Daniel Braxton to Conner Low to Hammar Voss last year, win it and etch their name in league history as the best defenseman in a single season.  Sometimes it can definitely be an interesting debate but in other cases, like this one, there is really only one name that is getting considered.
 
I don’t think it should be surprising at all to see Brian Kowalski get my vote here as he was my choice for both the Wylde and Valiq Trophies that decide the top defensive and offensive defenders in the league.  So obviously he is my clear choice for Top Defenseman overall after putting up more points and blocked shots than Hammar Voss, Brian Payne and Jake Thunder while also continuing to be a tremendously physical presence with over 200 hits too.  Brian Kowalski with the clear sweep for me defensively and with my Most Improved win on top of that.
 
AIDAN SHAW TROPHY (TOP GOALIE) - Clueless Wallob (MOS - DMaximus)

Likewise to the Labatte Trophy, the Aidan Shaw Trophy crowns the best player at a single position as we look at those who tend the nets in what is usually a one-sided vote that usually goes towards the leader in save percentage in the past.  That being said, while I didn’t find this one to be a hard one to vote on, my choice had a definitively better Save Percentage, GAA and even more wins than both Ash Sparks and Jesse Teno, who are two others that got some consideration.
 
This has to go to Clueless Wallob for me though.  A league-best .937 save percentage and a tremendous 2.31 GAA and 45 wins to pair with it, made him my easy choice after a dominant season for what was the best team in the entire league during the regular season. If Ronan Lavelle didn’t have such an amazing season, I think he would have had more consideration for the Scotty Campbell Trophy as League MVP, but nevertheless Wallob was the MVP of the goalies in my book.
 
DAISUKE KANOU TROPHY (PLAYOFF MVP) - Lachlan Summers (DAV - kirbithan)

I recently wrote an article on this debate and I will link my thoughts HERE so that you can read through some of my considerations.  I do think this is clearly between Lachlan Summers and Jake Thunder, and regardless of who wins what will be, in my opinion, a very close vote, this will be a tremendous feather in the cap to both of these players.
 
However, while Thunder was the driving force earlier on in the playoffs, Summers had a remarkable four final games of the series that saw every win that Davos had on route to their Continental Cup victory.  Over the course of those four wins, Summers faced just shy of 44 shots per game, and finished with a 1.75 GAA and an astounding .960 save percentage over that stretch.  He stonewalled Vancouver in those four games and played like the deserving Playoff MVP in my book.
 
SCOTTY CAMPBELL TROPHY (MVP) - John Jameson (PRG - Frank)

The award that everyone dreams of winning, at least when it comes to individual accomplishments, as this award deems the Most Valuable Player in the league, named after the “Wayne Gretzky of the VHL” in Scotty Campbell.  This one is always difficult to vote on and is almost always a close vote as several candidates are usually considered.  This one was a little different though as the Board of Governors narrowed it down to two players.  Wallob and Lavelle, both of the Moscow Menace, were seemingly eliminated from the vote given that they played on both teams.  Kowalski did get some talk but had some other players that had excellent seasons on that Riga Reign squad with The Frenchman not being too far back at least.
 
Jesse Teno, meanwhile, had an anemic offense with only one player recording 70 points on the team and despite that, the London United finished with a solid above-average record that saw them make the playoffs, and it was Teno they owed that to.  He recorded a .933 save percentage and fantastic 2.38 GAA to go along with 33 strong wins.  However, he was not my choice.
 
John Jameson.was my definitive choice for the Most Valuable Player as he finished 25 points ahead of anyone else on his team. A team that finished with a strong 38-26-8 record was led by the Irish forward who finished with the second most points (just one back of Lavelle), the second most goals (tied with Miglaskems) and the sixth most assists just to add a cherry on top.  You could go a couple ways here and maybe there are others that I missed, but I have John Jameson as my Scotty Campbell Trophy and League MVP.
 
—--
 
And with that, I hope you all enjoyed reading about who I voted for to win each league award.  Who did you agree with? Who do you think I got wrong? I would love to hear everyone’s opinions so feel free to share and give me your picks on who should take home the individual hardware this season.
 
Members Mentioned: @Spartan  @Banackock @Frank @InstantRockstar @hedgehog337 @Wheaties @Tetricide @Josh @MexicanCow123 @Arce @FrostBeard @BOOM @Scurvy @Jericho @Smarch @sterling @DMaximus  @DarkSpyro @aimkin @Thunder @kirbithan @OrbitingDeath
 
***Also, I am sorry if I get any of these wrong for who I actually voted for.  I voted a few days back and am in no condition to completely remember right now! Pretty sure I got it right though.***
 
2000+ Words (Claiming Week 1 of 4)

Happy Birthday VHL!

Sorry about that. 
F - Yaroslav Bogatyrev
 

This is certainly a trade and a half that I didn't remotely expect to happen a few days ago  
 
Appreciate the chats @Acydburn, glad we could get you on Prague while giving everyone what they wanted....cap space, contending pieces, positional needs, etc.
 
It wasn't fun to trade away @Insypher away the first time, not any easier the second time. You're always welcome in the LR and I hope you stick around. Always a thrill chatting Pens with you ❤️. Enjoy Prague, great people there (except Sam).
 
Super thrilled to bring @AW13 back after Lexi Glass was great for us back in the early 80's. Excited to bring my other exceptional teammates from last season @DMaximus  and @Jason kranz on board as well. Love the makeup of this team and the talent we have now!

Thanks for the trade @Spartan
 
@Jason kranz my all time steal of the draft, thank you for everything you did for Prague sorry we never finished those runs. 
@DMaximus  thanks for sticking by Prague and being our backstop. I'm sorry we couldn't get you that cup
@AW13 Thanks for hanging around us, sorry we couldn't get you that cup last season.
 
@Insypher Welcome to the gang!
@Acydburn Welcome to Prague.. I hope you hate it.

GOOD EVENING VHL! Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.
 
As many of you may know from the times I've mentioned it in my articles, I joined our lovely little community back in S65, with my first player coming in the S66 draft class. I've focused a few articles on things surrounding that time of mine in the league, from my first-ever mock draft featuring my own rookie class to two of my Hall of Not Bad articles about players who were stars in my rookie season to countless amounts of media created on the current state of things over my first career as a whole. What I've never done, though, is a look back at what made S66 as great as it was. At the time, it was almost unheard of that an article such as this one featuring a full lineup would be possible to take from any single class, and though we've seen more impressive classes since, this was one of the first that ever lived up to our modern standard. I'm hoping that some members who weren't around to see these players will recognize a few names--and even if not, learn a few things. 
 
Let's take a look at my best possible 6-4-2 lineup entirely from S66, and hope that it's as fun for you as it is for me.
 
 
**denotes HoF player
 
 
FORWARDS
 
Julius Freeman**
@rjfryman | 2nd overall | Vancouver Wolves
 
Freeman shocked a few pundits by going second overall as a first-gen player, but lived up to the pick well enough to be named the best player of the class in my longest article ever. Though this could be seen as a somewhat controversial pick (as it's very close between Freeman and our next player), Freeman would lead the league in goals three times and provide an important piece of the puzzle for Vancouver in S67, when the team would break a long championship drought and finally give @Beaviss a Cup as GM. 
 
Jet Jaguar**
@gorlab | 10th overall | Moscow Menace
 
Jaguar is the other co-contender for best in show, and it is close--leading the league in points in S70 in a season that would take a groundbreaking Moscow team to the Cup, he would also make the Hall of Fame on the first ballot with a career that, like Freeman's, would add a scary two-way dimension later on. Jaguar's career is perfectly indicative of how times have changed--a new player might never see this as impressive, but his career-high 97 points in S70 was amazing for S70, and those fortunate enough to experience a full career from gorlab generally didn't regret it. Jaguar's mark on the league would be left mainly in Moscow, but also for a season and a half on my Davos teams, and with 645 points at the end, certainly amounted to one of the defining careers of the dead puck era.
 
Hunter Hearst Helmsley**
@Beaviss | 1st overall | Riga Reign
 
At the time one of the best earners ever, and at the time of the draft one of the most hyped prospects ever, it was always taken as a given that HHH would be something special. So much so, in fact, that this eventual HoFer's not-entirely-unimpressive early career with the Reign was often written off as a failure. Upon movement to Beav's own team in Vancouver, though, HHH would take off, becoming one of the league's best on both ends of the ice for the bulk of his career. He would never win a championship, but put up an especially defining S71 in which he led the league in points (88) and win the league's top two-way forward award. Also, though a shade under our other two in points, he's the only one here to break 100, with 113 put up in a final season spent in Warsaw. 
 
Mikko Aaltonen
@GRZ | 4th overall | Riga Reign
 
Aaltonen's once max-earning agent had some people worried after dropping into welfare+ territory after a while (in fact, I remembered completely falsely that Aaltonen was a post-draft inactive bust), but it turned out that this was nothing to worry about as this was where the player's earning would remain fairly consistently. One might expect a 4th-overall player to have a higher ceiling, but the floor is always entirely inactive, no matter the pick, and this wasn't the case here. Moving to DC after just two seasons, Aaltonen would be cursed with mostly bad teams and mostly negative +/- ratings throughout a full VHL career, but managed to break 500 points on the way to becoming one of the most underrated players that this class had to offer.
 
Mat Tocco
@Matmenzinger | 31st overall | Moscow Menace
 
In some old drafts, finding a player who was active enough to make it at even 10th overall could be a challenge, but Tocco at #31 would put up 435 points and earn exactly 1000 TPE in an 8-season career spent mostly with Moscow. Yet another player with a strong S73 (93 points), I'd also put Tocco in the "underrated" category as a low-1st-high-2nd-liner on a handful of decent teams and a S70 championship winner.
 
Codrick Past
@Kylrad | 13th overall | HC Davos Dynamo
 
Starting out on defense, Past did the opposite of many others on this list by being drafted to not-Riga and moving to Riga later on. Mostly a quiet welfare earner, Past would be consistent enough to contribute to two championship teams and would even put up an 88-point season in S73. In total, Past would put up 377 points and live up to the expectations of an early 2nd-rounder for a whole career.
 
 
DEFENSE
 
Apollo Hackett
@Renomitsu | 16th overall | Riga Reign
 
Riga is heavily involved in this article, and this pick is no exception--Hackett is the first Riga pick here to actually stay with Riga for a whole (in this case 7-season) career. Though never winning an individual award, I remember that he was at least nominated for something at some point, and he ended up winning a Cup in S72 as part of a scary combo with eventual HoFer Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen. Curiously, this crazy-good dead-puck-era draft class doesn't have a single HoFer on defense (reeeeeeeeee) but Hackett was instantly recognizable in his time and was the closest anyone got.
 
Charlie Paddywagon
@DMaximus  | 6th overall | HC Davos Dynamo
 
Another top first-gen earner in the S66 class, Paddywagon would go on to break 1450 TPE between two teams--first Davos, then Calgary, and then back to Davos for his last season, becoming the third player on this list to play for a team I managed. Though never anything close to a goal-scorer (his career high, 11, was achieved three different times), and never a player who showed up on leaderboards, I like to think that a player of this caliber TPE-wise was good enough to show up off the stat sheet. At least, I hope so, because our next player was also a hot first-gen and an underachieving defenseman who happened to play for Davos in S73...
 
Jerry Garcia
@Gustav  | 7th overall | Malmo Nighthawks
 
...yep, that's me. There's actually room for debate on where Garcia goes on this list, and I say as much between him and Paddywagon in this article where I establish that (at the time) he was easily the worst player to ever hit 1500 TPE. Because of that designation, though, I think he gets put down in third. It's also hard to evaluate Jerry because he had a couple good seasons at forward in Davos (!) but it feels a bit unfair to compare offensive stats in that respect. In total, Jerry would put up 420 points (coincidence?) and at least had his name brought up enough by me to be recognizable--though not much else.
 
Dean Clarke
@Kyle | 51st overall | Moscow Menace
 
It's super interesting to think that a veteran member of the league, who's gone 1st overall in the distant past, would drop to #51--and then proceed to make a mildly successful career out of it--but here we are. Clarke got off to a very slow start with a season spent in the minors and another that amounted to 8 points, but he would block at least 100 shots in all but one season and would be part of Moscow's Cup team in S70. In all, Clarke put up 7 seasons with Moscow and was a quality component to their run of success.
 
 
GOALERS
 
Owen May
@FacebookFighter | 11th overall | Moscow Menace
 
Look, another Moscow pick! Unfortunately, this draft wasn't able to produce a top-level goaltender, but May was one who showed a great deal of promise up until the draft hit. He would go inactive a season or so after, but served as Moscow's first-ever starter and helped the team tough out three seasons before moving elsewhere. For an inactive player, May would enjoy an impressive amount of action, starting for both Toronto and Prague through S70 before regression hit and he was relegated to backup roles. Somehow, he would make it a full 8 seasons on VHL rosters, gathering 124 wins and a SV% of .908.
 
Kolur Bjoernsson
@jblock3 | 49th overall | Helsinki Titans
 
Another inactive player who found a place as a journeyman, Bjoernsson was exclusively a backup and was entirely unimpressive on the stat sheet. That said, there's one interesting thing I'd like to bring up--he was a part of 6 different organizations and only ended up with one team for more than one season once. So yes, he didn't do much, but he brought "at least we don't have a bot" to many different places and likely handed a win or two to a team who needed one.
 
 
Hopefully this wasn't just interesting for me! It was special to be part of the S66 class, and if you weren't there, I wish you could have been. 
 
1,657 words | 3 weeks

22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S87
Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring the highs and lows of S87! Thank you to everyone that reads this.
 
These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors.
 
For each award, I list the winners from the last 5 seasons. If you want to check out the award winners from every season, use this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sAZtX3bxVpPTIsKe1rSRVOenH1-iyWzbQEdR9ZvYOdU/edit?usp=sharing
 
I also document the “all-time” record for each category. Of course, by that I mean all-time for the existence of these awards, not all-time, all-time. Clear? Ok, good. Let’s get things underway!
 
 
The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
Helsinki claimed the top 6 spots in this category, but Reid Johnson led them all with a -49. Repeat winner Daniel Clarke @Danzoshowed some improvement, ending 33rd worst with a -16.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed -156
 
Last 5 Pylon Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
+ / -
S87
Reid Johnson
-49
S86
Daniel Clarke
-55
S85
Daniel Clarke
-65
S84
Ryan Li
-60
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
-66
 
 
 
The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Todd Cooke @KRZY 
 
Todd Cooke wins the award outright by being the only player to record the league low 2 PIM, while playing 2,138 minutes. After a couple of seasons of some higher PIM totals winning this award, it’s nice to get back to lower PIM. Here’s hoping for a 0 PIM next season.
 
All-time record: S81 - Brendan Telker - 0 PIM, 2211 Minutes Played
 
Last 5 Gandhi Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
Minutes Played
S87
Todd Cooke
2
2138
S86
Mason Jones
6
2175
S85
Girts Galvins
6
2153
S84
Florida Man
2
1880
S83
Mason Jones
2
2146
 
 
 
The Major2 Award (most major penalties) - Zaza Colors @McWolf 
 
Zaza Colors went major penalty happy this season, recording more PIM in majors this season than their total PIM from any previous season. Their 10 major penalties is enough to claim this award.
 
All-time Record: S77 – Randy Marsh - 14 Majors
 
Previous Major2 Award Winners:
Season
Player
Major Penalties
S87
Zaza Colors
10
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
10
S85
Vinny Detroit
12
S84
Cadmael Ixazaluoh
9
S83
Brian Payne
11
 
 
 
The Timex Award (received most hits) – Leandro Goncalves @leandrofg 
 
Leandro Goncalves was hit exactly 300 times during the season. It seems like a lot of hits and I’m sure Leandro would agree, but it’s actually the lowest winning total since Anthony Matthews won with 274 hits received in S72.
 
All-time Record: S82 – Bogdan Trunov - 408 Hits taken
 
Last 5 Timex Award Winners:
Season
Player
Hits Taken
S87
Leandro Goncalves
300
S86
Perry Laperriere
337
S85
Perry Laperriere
339
S84
Duncan Idaho
316
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
346
 
 
 
The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
For the second straight season Brendan Marner wins this award by being the only player in the league to record over 600 shots. Their 622 shots are 40 more than the next closest player, Ronan Lavelle @Arce .
 
All-time record: S82 – Jerome Reinhart - 713 Shots on goal
 
Last 5 John Wayne Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots on Goal
S87
Brendan Marner
622
S86
Brendan Marner
602
S85
Zaza Colors
566
S84
Duncan Idaho
621
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
692
 
 
 
The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Ronan may have finished 2nd in shots on goal, but they finished 1st in having their shots blocked with a total of 170 of their shots blocked.
 
All-time record:  S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 204 Own shots blocked
 
Last 5 HtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Own Shots Blocked
S87
Ronan Lavelle
170
S86
Landon Wolanin
171
S85
Alex Johnston
168
S84
Alex Johnston
187
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
189
 
 
 
The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Lavelle wins this award with 450 shots missed, barely beating Brendan Marner in both this and the previous category.
 
All-time record: S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 532 Shots missed
 
Last 5 CHtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Missed
S87
Ronan Lavelle
450
S86
Brendan Marner
436
S85
Zaza Colors
406
S84
Baby Bob
415
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
509
 
 
 
The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Bo Johansson @Shindigs 
 
Bo knows blocking shots. As proved by their performance this season where they blocked 210 shots.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed - 460 Shots blocked
 
Last 5 New Shin Pads Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Blocked
S87
Bo Johansson
210
S86
James Marino
243
S85
Deron Nesbitt
222
S84
Jaromir Lemiuex
268
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
261
 
 
The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - Scoish Velociraptor Maloish @youloser1337 
 
Scoish showed they are a different animal by playing 2,441 total minutes.
 
All-time record: S82 – Chicken Wing – 2,512 Minutes played
 
Last 5 Tired Legs Award Winners:
Season
Player
Minutes Played
S87
Scoish Velociraptor Maloish
2441
S86
James Marino
2422
S85
Florida Man
2221
S84
Jerome Reinhart
2400
S83
Rhys Trenton
2374
 
 
 
The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
Back-to-back wins for Brendan Marner. Maybe we’re discovering a secret to their success, powerplay minutes. They spent 404 minutes on the powerplay, where they recorded 39 points.
 
All-time record: S79 - Muffbeav - 454 power play minutes
 
Last 5 Snap! Award Winners:
Season
Player
PP Minutes
S87
Brendan Marner
404
S86
Brendan Marner
335
S85
Bo Johansson
344
S84
Napoleon Dynamite
369
S83
Battre Sandstrom
339
 
 
 
The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Babushka @BrutalBoost 
 
Babushka and Biggie Cheese @a_Ferk both tied with 337 minutes on the penalty kill. Babushka wins the award based on the tiebreaker of playing less total minutes, meaning a larger percentage of their minutes on the ice were spent killing penalties.
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov - 447 penalty kill minutes
              
Last 5 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:
Season
Player
PK Minutes
S87
Babushka
337
S86
Doug Matchett
336
S85
Hari Singh Nalwa
317
S84
Deron Nesbitt
335
S83
Zeedayno Chara
340
 
 
 
The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Daniel Janser wins this award for the second consecutive season. Their 60.34% face-off win percentage is a slight dip from the mark they set last season, but still a great total.
 
All-time record: S74 - Brock Louth - 63.72% face-offs won
               
Last 5 Sean Archer Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Daniel Janser
60.34%
S86
Daniel Janser
62.90%
S85
N/A
  S84
Paul Atreides
61.22%
S83
Zeedayno Chara
63.17%
 
 
 
The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Nic McMuffin @Ente2997
 
Nic McMuffin may need to change their breakfast strategy. The had a league worst 32.22 winning percentage on their faceoffs.  
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov – 29.60% face-offs won.
               
Last 5 Castor Troy Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Nic McMuffin
32.22%
S86
William Futch
34.87%
S85
N/A
  S84*
Pistol Pete
43.73%
S83
Gregory Bates
31.86%
 
 
The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Daniel Weaver @ThePerfectNut
 
Daniel Weaver won this award outright as they were the only player to score 6 penalty shot goals.
 
All-time record: S86 – Daniel Janser - 9 penalty shot goals
              
Last 5 Triple Deke Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shot Goals
S87
Daniel Weaver
6
S86
Daniel Janser
9
S85
Hammar Voss
6
S84
Zach Kisslinger II
7
S83
Zeedayno Chara
7
 
 
 
The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Ivan Retoslav @eagle_3450 
 
Ivan Retoslav, Ronan Lavelle @Arce , and Zaza Colors @McWolf all tied with 4 fight wins. Retoslav wins it on their tie-breaker thanks to their 4-0-5 fight record, better than Lavelle (4-0-2) and Colors (4-1-5)
 
All-time record: S83 Brian Payne – 7 fights won
              
Last 5 Rocky Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Won
S87
Ivan Retoslav
4
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
5
S85
Vinny Detroit
5
S84
Paul Atreides
4
S83
Brian Payne
7
 
 
 
 
The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Daniel Clarke @Danzo 
 
There was a 4-way tie for this award, all with 3 fights lost. Clarke gets the nod there thanks to their abysmal 0-3-1 fight record.
 
All-time record: S86 – Jason Argos, S74 - Lee Xin, and S69 Rusty Shackleford - 5 fights lost
              
Last 5 Glass Joe Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Lost
S87
Daniel Clarke
3
S86
Jason Argos
5
S85
Henri le Massif
3
S84
Deagun Rust
3
S83
Kyle Glass
3
 
 
 
The Stars Award (most stars won) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Another back-to-back award win for Daniel Janser! This was a close one as both him and Vasile Lamb @dlamb had 26 total stars, but Janser had more 1st stars, so they win the award. Special recognition to Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877who led the league with 12 first stars. And of course a shout out to Art Vandelay @Gustav for leading all goalies with 12 first stars and 22 total stars.
 
All-time record: S76 - Mikko Lahtinen – 34 total stars
              
Last 5 Stars Award Winners:
Season
Player
Total Stars
S87
Daniel Janser
26
S86
Daniel Janser
33
S85
Saku Kotkakoivu
28
S84
Duncan Idaho
33
S83
Zeedayno Chara
31
 
 
 
The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – Brian Payne @Scurvy 
 
Brian Payne received 11 stars this season, none of them were first stars.
 
All-time record: S85 – Hard Markinson - 16 stars
              
Last 5 Bridesmaid Award Winners:
Season
Player
Stars
S87
Brian Payne
11
S86
The Frenchman
9
S85
Hard Markinson
16
S84
Asher Reinhart
13
S83
Tui Sova
12
 
 
The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Ryan Vidot @Enorama
 
Vidot showed they have the physique to carry their team, as they scored 27 more points than the next closest player on the team.
 
All-time record: S82 – Taro Tsujimoto - 52 points more than nearest teammate
          
Last 5 Backpack Award Winners:
Season
Player
Point Difference from nearest teammate
S87
Ryan Vidot
27
S86
Daniel Janser
21
S85
Jerome Reinhart
20
S84
Nico Pearce
32
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
23
 
 
 
The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
This is season 87, so the award goes to the player in 87th place in total points. Congratulations to Reid Johnson! They recorded 51 points this season, good enough for 87th place.
 
Last 5 Anniversary Award Winners:
Season
Player
Points
S87
Reid Johnson
51
S86
Callum Murray
49
S85
Sting Chameleon
51
S84
DB III
51
S83
Robert Wilk
54
 
 
 
 
The Eggshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Xavier Booberry @CowboyinAmerica 
 
Sometimes the puck bounces your way, other times it doesn’t. The later appears to be the case for Xavier Booberry this season. They had 11 OT losses. Tied for the most all-time.
 
All-time record: S87 - Xavier Booberry, S82 - Sirkants Klamasteris, S78 – Calvin Harvey, S75 - Doug Dimmadome, and S71 Jaxx Hextall - 11 OT games lost
 
Previous Eggshell Award Winners:
Season
Player
Overtime Games Lost
S87
Xavier Booberry
11
S86
Ben Dahl
10
S85
Boris Tsezar
8
S84
Cole Pearce
9
S83
David Davis
9
 
 
 
The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Henry Tucker Jr @NSG
 
Tucker Jr may have taken some notes from his father’s playing days. Tucker Jr led all goalies with 12 PIM this season.
 
All-time record: S76 - Doug Dimmadome - 29 PIM
 
Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
S87
Henry Tucker Jr
12
S86
Augustus Kennedy
16
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
12
S84
Oskar Lindbergh
16
S83
Ben Dahl
14
 
 
 
The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Joel Castle @animal74
 
Joel Castle rooked his opponents by stopping 88.5% of the 26 penalty shots he faced. A great showing for the goalie’s first season!
 
All-time record: S86 – Matt Murdock – 100% penalty shots stopped (12 shots faced)
 
Previous Poke Check Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shots Stopped
S87
Joel Castle
88.5%
S86
Matt Murdock
100.0%
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
88.5%
S84
David Davis
80.0%
S83
Dexter Vaughn
80.0%
 
 
 
That wraps it up for this season! Another year, another successful award ceremony! Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! As always, please provide any suggestions, insights, or thoughts in the comments. Thank you all for reading and continuing to make this a successful column!
 

Forever United!

21st Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S86
Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 21st Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring the highs and lows of S86! Thank you to everyone that reads this.
 
These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors.
 
For each award, I list the winners from the last 5 seasons. If you want to check out the award winners from every season, use this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sAZtX3bxVpPTIsKe1rSRVOenH1-iyWzbQEdR9ZvYOdU/edit?usp=sharing
 
I also document the “all-time” record for each category. Of course, by that I mean all-time for the existence of these awards, not all-time, all-time. Clear? Ok, good. Let’s get things underway!
 
 
The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Daniel Clarke @Danzo 
 
For the first time in the history of this award, we have a repeat winner! Daniel Clarke tied with teammate James Marino @Adrest245 with a -55 rating. Clarke takes home the award because they played less minutes than Marino.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed -156
 
Last 5 Pylon Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
+ / -
S86
Daniel Clarke
-55
S85
Daniel Clarke
-65
S84
Ryan Li
-60
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
-66
S82
creed
-156
 
 
 
The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Mason Jones @Masu Chan
 
Mason Jones wins the award for the 2nd time in their career. Thanks in part to what I assume is increased anger across all of the VHL, Jones is able to claim the award with 6 PIM. Johnny Xavier @Johnny_HX also recorded 6 PIM, but Mason Jones played more total minutes.
 
All-time record: S81 - Brendan Telker - 0 PIM, 2211 Minutes Played
 
Last 5 Gandhi Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
Minutes Played
S86
Mason Jones
6
2175
S85
Girts Galvins
6
2153
S84
Florida Man
2
1880
S83
Mason Jones
2
2146
S82
Omi Aberg
2
2132
 
 
 
The Major2 Award (most major penalties) - Jared Carter the 2st @jaredc7
 
Jared Carter the 2st showed the entire league they can successfully count to 10. Their 10 Major penalties was 1nd in the league.
 
All-time Record: S77 – Randy Marsh - 14 Majors
 
Previous Major2 Award Winners:
Season
Player
Major Penalties
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
10
S85
Vinny Detroit
12
S84
Cadmael Ixazaluoh
9
S83
Brian Payne
11
S82
Owen Taylor
12
 
 
 
The Timex Award (received most hits) – Perry Laperriere @KaleebtheMighty
 
Our first repeat winner since Hunter Hearst Helmsley repeated in S70+S71. Perry Laperriere may be made of water because they appear to flow with all these hits they get. The 337 hits they received led the league this year and were 2 shy of their previous season winning total.
 
All-time Record: S82 – Bogdan Trunov - 408 Hits taken
 
Last 5 Timex Award Winners:
Season
Player
Hits Taken
S86
Perry Laperriere
337
S85
Perry Laperriere
339
S84
Duncan Idaho
316
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
346
S82
Bogdan Trunov
408
 
 
 
The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday
 
Marner was the only player to record over 600 shots this season. They totaled 602 shots.
 
All-time record: S82 – Jerome Reinhart - 713 Shots on goal
 
Last 5 John Wayne Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots on Goal
S86
Brendan Marner
602
S85
Zaza Colors
566
S84
Duncan Idaho
621
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
692
S82
Jerome Reinhart
713
 
 
 
The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877
 
Landon Wolanin fired a lot of shots this season, unfortunately for his opponents, many of those shots hit them. Wolanin led the league by having 171 of their shots blocked.
 
All-time record:  S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 204 Own shots blocked
 
Last 5 HtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Own Shots Blocked
S86
Landon Wolanin
171
S85
Alex Johnston
168
S84
Alex Johnston
187
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
189
S82
Taylor Mourning
195
 
 
 
The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Brendan Marner @MetalToday
 
It doesn’t happen every season, but it’s pretty standard fare for the John Wayne winner to win this award. It makes sense, they take a lot of shots, lots of those shots are going to miss. Marner claims this award with 436 shots missed.
 
All-time record: S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 532 Shots missed
 
Last 5 CHtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Missed
S86
Brendan Marner
436
S85
Zaza Colors
406
S84
Baby Bob
415
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
509
S82
Jerome Reinhart
489
 
 
 
The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – James Marino @Adrest245 
 
Congrats to James Marino for winning this award after losing the Pylon Award on a tiebreaker. No need for a tiebreaker here, Marino beat the next closet player, George Sanderson @SpicyGecko, by 29 shots blocked.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed - 460 Shots blocked
 
Last 5 New Shin Pads Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Blocked
S86
James Marino
243
S85
Deron Nesbitt
222
S84
Jaromir Lemiuex
268
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
261
S82
creed
460
 
 
The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - James Marino @Adrest245 
 
Back-to-back award wins for James Marino! Marino played 2,422 minutes, more than anyone else in the VHL.
 
All-time record: S82 – Chicken Wing – 2,512 Minutes played
 
Last 5 Tired Legs Award Winners:
Season
Player
Minutes Played
S86
James Marino
2422
S85
Florida Man
2221
S84
Jerome Reinhart
2400
S83
Rhys Trenton
2374
S82
Chicken Wing
2512
 
 
 
The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday
 
Marner finished 1st in the league with 335 minutes on the powerplay. Their next closest teammate was Vasile Lamb @dlamb who finished 63rd in the league with 246 PP minutes. Did they lock the door to the bench and not allow Marner to get off the ice?
 
All-time record: S79 - Muffbeav - 454 power play minutes
 
Last 5 Snap! Award Winners:
Season
Player
PP Minutes
S86
Brendan Marner
335
S85
Bo Johansson
344
S84
Napoleon Dynamite
369
S83
Battre Sandstrom
339
S82
Tyler Reinhart
397
 
 
 
The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Doug Matchett @jacobaa19 
 
Matchett wins the award with a total of 336 minutes on the penalty kill.
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov - 447 penalty kill minutes
              
Last 5 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:
Season
Player
PK Minutes
S86
Doug Matchett
336
S85
Hari Singh Nalwa
317
S84
Deron Nesbitt
335
S83
Zeedayno Chara
340
S82
Hulk Hogan 2
359
 
 
 
The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
Whatever issues that existed with the Face Off statistics in the index appear to have corrected themselves (or someone did something to fix them, thank you to that person). Congratulations to Daniel Janser for winning this award with a fantastic 62.90% of their 3,342 face-offs won.
 
All-time record: S74 - Brock Louth - 63.72% face-offs won
               
Last 5 Sean Archer Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S86
Daniel Janser
62.90%
S85
N/A
  S84
Paul Atreides
61.22%
S83
Zeedayno Chara
63.17%
S82
Pistil Stamen
62.10%
 
 
 
The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – William Futch @Futch
 
Futch had the rare honor of being traded twice in this season. Was it the poor face-off performance that led to the trades? Futch had a league-worst 34.87% face-off win percentage.
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov – 29.60% face-offs won.
               
Last 5 Castor Troy Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S86
William Futch
34.87%
S85
N/A
  S84*
Pistol Pete
43.73%
S83
Gregory Bates
31.86%
S82
Eeli Rantanen
30.47%
 
 
The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Daniel Janser proved they are the most skilled player in the VHL multiple ways including dazzling penalty shot goals. Not only did Janser lead the league with 9 penalty shot goals this season, they set the all-time record for this award! Amazing!
 
All-time record: S86 – Daniel Janser - 9 penalty shot goals
              
Last 5 Triple Deke Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shot Goals
S86
Daniel Janser
9
S85
Hammar Voss
6
S84
Zach Kisslinger II
7
S83
Zeedayno Chara
7
S82
Baby Bob
4
 
 
 
The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Jared Carter the 2st @jaredc7
 
Jared Carter the 2st is really showing they are one of the top fighters in the league. They were runner-up for this award last season and come right back and win the award this season with 5 fights won.
 
All-time record: S83 Brian Payne – 7 fights won
              
Last 5 Rocky Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Won
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
5
S85
Vinny Detroit
5
S84
Paul Atreides
4
S83
Brian Payne
7
S82
Owen Taylor
4
 
 
 
 
The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Jason Argos @Insypher 
 
Jason Argos argot beat up a lot. They lost 5 fights on the season, which ties the all-time mark.
 
All-time record: S86 – Jason Argos, S74 - Lee Xin, and S69 Rusty Shackleford - 5 fights lost
              
Last 5 Glass Joe Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Lost
S86
Jason Argos
5
S85
Henri le Massif
3
S84
Deagun Rust
3
S83
Kyle Glass
3
S82
Vasile Lamb
2
 
 
 
The Stars Award (most stars won) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
No real surprise here as the top performer in the league also led the league in total number of stars. Janser’s 17 first stars also led the league, along with his award winning 33 total stars. Shoutout to Dusty Wilson @dustywilson22for leading all goalies with 24 total stars.
 
All-time record: S76 - Mikko Lahtinen – 34 total stars
              
Last 5 Stars Award Winners:
Season
Player
Total Stars
S86
Daniel Janser
33
S85
Saku Kotkakoivu
28
S84
Duncan Idaho
33
S83
Zeedayno Chara
31
S82
Taylor Mourning
33
 
 
 
The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – The Frenchman @OrbitingDeath
 
The Frenchman beat Sock Monkey @chikn on the tiebreaker for this award. The Frenchman had 6 2nd starts, one more than Sock Monkey.
 
All-time record: S85 – Hard Markinson - 16 stars
              
Last 5 Bridesmaid Award Winners:
Season
Player
Stars
S86
The Frenchman
9
S85
Hard Markinson
16
S84
Asher Reinhart
13
S83
Tui Sova
12
S82
Gustav Hjalmarsson
9
 
 
The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Another award for Janser their 21 points more than their next teammate was larger than the difference on any other team. It’s tough for teammates to keep up with someone scoring 120 points in a season!
 
All-time record: S82 – Taro Tsujimoto - 52 points more than nearest teammate
          
Last 5 Backpack Award Winners:
Season
Player
Point Difference from nearest teammate
S86
Daniel Janser
21
S85
Jerome Reinhart
20
S84
Nico Pearce
32
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
23
S82
Taro Tsujimoto
52
 
 
 
The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Callum Murray @Berocka 
 
This is season 86, so the award goes to the player in 86th place in total points. Congratulations to Callum Murray! They recorded 49 points this season, good enough for 86th place.
 
Last 5 Anniversary Award Winners:
Season
Player
Points
S86
Callum Murray
49
S85
Sting Chameleon
51
S84
DB III
51
S83
Robert Wilk
54
S82
Jakub Brozik
71
 
 
 
 
The Eggshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Ben Dahl @Ben 
 
Ben Dahl may go on a ben der after winning this award. Their 10 OT losses was one away from the all time record.
 
All-time record: S82 - Sirkants Klamasteris, S78 – Calvin Harvey, S75 - Doug Dimmadome, and S71 Jaxx Hextall - 11 OT games lost
 
Previous Eggshell Award Winners:
Season
Player
Overtime Games Lost
S86
Ben Dahl
10
S85
Boris Tsezar
8
S84
Cole Pearce
9
S83
David Davis
9
S82
Sirkants Klamasteris
11
 
 
 
The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Augustus Kennedy @InstantRockstar 
 
Augustus used his glove to slap the faces of many opponents. In total, they recorded a league high 16 PIM.
 
All-time record: S76 - Doug Dimmadome - 29 PIM
 
Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
S86
Augustus Kennedy
16
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
12
S84
Oskar Lindbergh
16
S83
Ben Dahl
14
S82
Thadius Sales
18
 
 
 
The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Matt Murdock @Acydburn 
 
I’m not sure how Murdock does it, but he seems to be completely in tune with the puck and everything around him. He stops penalty shots so well, he could probably do it blindfolded. Not only did Murdock pull off the amazing feat of stopping every penalty shot they faced this season, they also set the all-time record by facing more shots (12 in total) than the previous record of 10.
 
All-time record: S86 – Matt Murdock – 100% penalty shots stopped (12 shots faced)
 
Previous Poke Check Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shots Stopped
S86
Matt Murdock
100.0%
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
88.5%
S84
David Davis
80.0%
S83
Dexter Vaughn
80.0%
S82
Tater Tot
88.2%
 
 
 
That wraps it up for this season! Another year, another successful award ceremony! Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! As always, please provide any suggestions, insights, or thoughts in the comments. Thank you all for reading and continuing to make this a successful column!
 

22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S87
Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring the highs and lows of S87! Thank you to everyone that reads this.
 
These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors.
 
For each award, I list the winners from the last 5 seasons. If you want to check out the award winners from every season, use this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sAZtX3bxVpPTIsKe1rSRVOenH1-iyWzbQEdR9ZvYOdU/edit?usp=sharing
 
I also document the “all-time” record for each category. Of course, by that I mean all-time for the existence of these awards, not all-time, all-time. Clear? Ok, good. Let’s get things underway!
 
 
The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
Helsinki claimed the top 6 spots in this category, but Reid Johnson led them all with a -49. Repeat winner Daniel Clarke @Danzoshowed some improvement, ending 33rd worst with a -16.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed -156
 
Last 5 Pylon Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
+ / -
S87
Reid Johnson
-49
S86
Daniel Clarke
-55
S85
Daniel Clarke
-65
S84
Ryan Li
-60
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
-66
 
 
 
The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Todd Cooke @KRZY 
 
Todd Cooke wins the award outright by being the only player to record the league low 2 PIM, while playing 2,138 minutes. After a couple of seasons of some higher PIM totals winning this award, it’s nice to get back to lower PIM. Here’s hoping for a 0 PIM next season.
 
All-time record: S81 - Brendan Telker - 0 PIM, 2211 Minutes Played
 
Last 5 Gandhi Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
Minutes Played
S87
Todd Cooke
2
2138
S86
Mason Jones
6
2175
S85
Girts Galvins
6
2153
S84
Florida Man
2
1880
S83
Mason Jones
2
2146
 
 
 
The Major2 Award (most major penalties) - Zaza Colors @McWolf 
 
Zaza Colors went major penalty happy this season, recording more PIM in majors this season than their total PIM from any previous season. Their 10 major penalties is enough to claim this award.
 
All-time Record: S77 – Randy Marsh - 14 Majors
 
Previous Major2 Award Winners:
Season
Player
Major Penalties
S87
Zaza Colors
10
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
10
S85
Vinny Detroit
12
S84
Cadmael Ixazaluoh
9
S83
Brian Payne
11
 
 
 
The Timex Award (received most hits) – Leandro Goncalves @leandrofg 
 
Leandro Goncalves was hit exactly 300 times during the season. It seems like a lot of hits and I’m sure Leandro would agree, but it’s actually the lowest winning total since Anthony Matthews won with 274 hits received in S72.
 
All-time Record: S82 – Bogdan Trunov - 408 Hits taken
 
Last 5 Timex Award Winners:
Season
Player
Hits Taken
S87
Leandro Goncalves
300
S86
Perry Laperriere
337
S85
Perry Laperriere
339
S84
Duncan Idaho
316
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
346
 
 
 
The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
For the second straight season Brendan Marner wins this award by being the only player in the league to record over 600 shots. Their 622 shots are 40 more than the next closest player, Ronan Lavelle @Arce .
 
All-time record: S82 – Jerome Reinhart - 713 Shots on goal
 
Last 5 John Wayne Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots on Goal
S87
Brendan Marner
622
S86
Brendan Marner
602
S85
Zaza Colors
566
S84
Duncan Idaho
621
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
692
 
 
 
The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Ronan may have finished 2nd in shots on goal, but they finished 1st in having their shots blocked with a total of 170 of their shots blocked.
 
All-time record:  S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 204 Own shots blocked
 
Last 5 HtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Own Shots Blocked
S87
Ronan Lavelle
170
S86
Landon Wolanin
171
S85
Alex Johnston
168
S84
Alex Johnston
187
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
189
 
 
 
The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Lavelle wins this award with 450 shots missed, barely beating Brendan Marner in both this and the previous category.
 
All-time record: S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 532 Shots missed
 
Last 5 CHtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Missed
S87
Ronan Lavelle
450
S86
Brendan Marner
436
S85
Zaza Colors
406
S84
Baby Bob
415
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
509
 
 
 
The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Bo Johansson @Shindigs 
 
Bo knows blocking shots. As proved by their performance this season where they blocked 210 shots.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed - 460 Shots blocked
 
Last 5 New Shin Pads Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Blocked
S87
Bo Johansson
210
S86
James Marino
243
S85
Deron Nesbitt
222
S84
Jaromir Lemiuex
268
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
261
 
 
The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - Scoish Velociraptor Maloish @youloser1337 
 
Scoish showed they are a different animal by playing 2,441 total minutes.
 
All-time record: S82 – Chicken Wing – 2,512 Minutes played
 
Last 5 Tired Legs Award Winners:
Season
Player
Minutes Played
S87
Scoish Velociraptor Maloish
2441
S86
James Marino
2422
S85
Florida Man
2221
S84
Jerome Reinhart
2400
S83
Rhys Trenton
2374
 
 
 
The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
Back-to-back wins for Brendan Marner. Maybe we’re discovering a secret to their success, powerplay minutes. They spent 404 minutes on the powerplay, where they recorded 39 points.
 
All-time record: S79 - Muffbeav - 454 power play minutes
 
Last 5 Snap! Award Winners:
Season
Player
PP Minutes
S87
Brendan Marner
404
S86
Brendan Marner
335
S85
Bo Johansson
344
S84
Napoleon Dynamite
369
S83
Battre Sandstrom
339
 
 
 
The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Babushka @BrutalBoost 
 
Babushka and Biggie Cheese @a_Ferk both tied with 337 minutes on the penalty kill. Babushka wins the award based on the tiebreaker of playing less total minutes, meaning a larger percentage of their minutes on the ice were spent killing penalties.
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov - 447 penalty kill minutes
              
Last 5 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:
Season
Player
PK Minutes
S87
Babushka
337
S86
Doug Matchett
336
S85
Hari Singh Nalwa
317
S84
Deron Nesbitt
335
S83
Zeedayno Chara
340
 
 
 
The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Daniel Janser wins this award for the second consecutive season. Their 60.34% face-off win percentage is a slight dip from the mark they set last season, but still a great total.
 
All-time record: S74 - Brock Louth - 63.72% face-offs won
               
Last 5 Sean Archer Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Daniel Janser
60.34%
S86
Daniel Janser
62.90%
S85
N/A
  S84
Paul Atreides
61.22%
S83
Zeedayno Chara
63.17%
 
 
 
The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Nic McMuffin @Ente2997
 
Nic McMuffin may need to change their breakfast strategy. The had a league worst 32.22 winning percentage on their faceoffs.  
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov – 29.60% face-offs won.
               
Last 5 Castor Troy Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Nic McMuffin
32.22%
S86
William Futch
34.87%
S85
N/A
  S84*
Pistol Pete
43.73%
S83
Gregory Bates
31.86%
 
 
The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Daniel Weaver @ThePerfectNut
 
Daniel Weaver won this award outright as they were the only player to score 6 penalty shot goals.
 
All-time record: S86 – Daniel Janser - 9 penalty shot goals
              
Last 5 Triple Deke Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shot Goals
S87
Daniel Weaver
6
S86
Daniel Janser
9
S85
Hammar Voss
6
S84
Zach Kisslinger II
7
S83
Zeedayno Chara
7
 
 
 
The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Ivan Retoslav @eagle_3450 
 
Ivan Retoslav, Ronan Lavelle @Arce , and Zaza Colors @McWolf all tied with 4 fight wins. Retoslav wins it on their tie-breaker thanks to their 4-0-5 fight record, better than Lavelle (4-0-2) and Colors (4-1-5)
 
All-time record: S83 Brian Payne – 7 fights won
              
Last 5 Rocky Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Won
S87
Ivan Retoslav
4
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
5
S85
Vinny Detroit
5
S84
Paul Atreides
4
S83
Brian Payne
7
 
 
 
 
The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Daniel Clarke @Danzo 
 
There was a 4-way tie for this award, all with 3 fights lost. Clarke gets the nod there thanks to their abysmal 0-3-1 fight record.
 
All-time record: S86 – Jason Argos, S74 - Lee Xin, and S69 Rusty Shackleford - 5 fights lost
              
Last 5 Glass Joe Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Lost
S87
Daniel Clarke
3
S86
Jason Argos
5
S85
Henri le Massif
3
S84
Deagun Rust
3
S83
Kyle Glass
3
 
 
 
The Stars Award (most stars won) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Another back-to-back award win for Daniel Janser! This was a close one as both him and Vasile Lamb @dlamb had 26 total stars, but Janser had more 1st stars, so they win the award. Special recognition to Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877who led the league with 12 first stars. And of course a shout out to Art Vandelay @Gustav for leading all goalies with 12 first stars and 22 total stars.
 
All-time record: S76 - Mikko Lahtinen – 34 total stars
              
Last 5 Stars Award Winners:
Season
Player
Total Stars
S87
Daniel Janser
26
S86
Daniel Janser
33
S85
Saku Kotkakoivu
28
S84
Duncan Idaho
33
S83
Zeedayno Chara
31
 
 
 
The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – Brian Payne @Scurvy 
 
Brian Payne received 11 stars this season, none of them were first stars.
 
All-time record: S85 – Hard Markinson - 16 stars
              
Last 5 Bridesmaid Award Winners:
Season
Player
Stars
S87
Brian Payne
11
S86
The Frenchman
9
S85
Hard Markinson
16
S84
Asher Reinhart
13
S83
Tui Sova
12
 
 
The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Ryan Vidot @Enorama
 
Vidot showed they have the physique to carry their team, as they scored 27 more points than the next closest player on the team.
 
All-time record: S82 – Taro Tsujimoto - 52 points more than nearest teammate
          
Last 5 Backpack Award Winners:
Season
Player
Point Difference from nearest teammate
S87
Ryan Vidot
27
S86
Daniel Janser
21
S85
Jerome Reinhart
20
S84
Nico Pearce
32
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
23
 
 
 
The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
This is season 87, so the award goes to the player in 87th place in total points. Congratulations to Reid Johnson! They recorded 51 points this season, good enough for 87th place.
 
Last 5 Anniversary Award Winners:
Season
Player
Points
S87
Reid Johnson
51
S86
Callum Murray
49
S85
Sting Chameleon
51
S84
DB III
51
S83
Robert Wilk
54
 
 
 
 
The Eggshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Xavier Booberry @CowboyinAmerica 
 
Sometimes the puck bounces your way, other times it doesn’t. The later appears to be the case for Xavier Booberry this season. They had 11 OT losses. Tied for the most all-time.
 
All-time record: S87 - Xavier Booberry, S82 - Sirkants Klamasteris, S78 – Calvin Harvey, S75 - Doug Dimmadome, and S71 Jaxx Hextall - 11 OT games lost
 
Previous Eggshell Award Winners:
Season
Player
Overtime Games Lost
S87
Xavier Booberry
11
S86
Ben Dahl
10
S85
Boris Tsezar
8
S84
Cole Pearce
9
S83
David Davis
9
 
 
 
The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Henry Tucker Jr @NSG
 
Tucker Jr may have taken some notes from his father’s playing days. Tucker Jr led all goalies with 12 PIM this season.
 
All-time record: S76 - Doug Dimmadome - 29 PIM
 
Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
S87
Henry Tucker Jr
12
S86
Augustus Kennedy
16
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
12
S84
Oskar Lindbergh
16
S83
Ben Dahl
14
 
 
 
The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Joel Castle @animal74
 
Joel Castle rooked his opponents by stopping 88.5% of the 26 penalty shots he faced. A great showing for the goalie’s first season!
 
All-time record: S86 – Matt Murdock – 100% penalty shots stopped (12 shots faced)
 
Previous Poke Check Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shots Stopped
S87
Joel Castle
88.5%
S86
Matt Murdock
100.0%
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
88.5%
S84
David Davis
80.0%
S83
Dexter Vaughn
80.0%
 
 
 
That wraps it up for this season! Another year, another successful award ceremony! Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! As always, please provide any suggestions, insights, or thoughts in the comments. Thank you all for reading and continuing to make this a successful column!
 

Idk if I should be happy or upset at these rewards...😂

Omg I did it! I made it in the awards!

Proud to win the Poke Check Award! Thanks!

I’ll take the Gandhi!! I’m actually proud of that !

22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S87
Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring the highs and lows of S87! Thank you to everyone that reads this.
 
These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors.
 
For each award, I list the winners from the last 5 seasons. If you want to check out the award winners from every season, use this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sAZtX3bxVpPTIsKe1rSRVOenH1-iyWzbQEdR9ZvYOdU/edit?usp=sharing
 
I also document the “all-time” record for each category. Of course, by that I mean all-time for the existence of these awards, not all-time, all-time. Clear? Ok, good. Let’s get things underway!
 
 
The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
Helsinki claimed the top 6 spots in this category, but Reid Johnson led them all with a -49. Repeat winner Daniel Clarke @Danzoshowed some improvement, ending 33rd worst with a -16.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed -156
 
Last 5 Pylon Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
+ / -
S87
Reid Johnson
-49
S86
Daniel Clarke
-55
S85
Daniel Clarke
-65
S84
Ryan Li
-60
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
-66
 
 
 
The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Todd Cooke @KRZY 
 
Todd Cooke wins the award outright by being the only player to record the league low 2 PIM, while playing 2,138 minutes. After a couple of seasons of some higher PIM totals winning this award, it’s nice to get back to lower PIM. Here’s hoping for a 0 PIM next season.
 
All-time record: S81 - Brendan Telker - 0 PIM, 2211 Minutes Played
 
Last 5 Gandhi Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
Minutes Played
S87
Todd Cooke
2
2138
S86
Mason Jones
6
2175
S85
Girts Galvins
6
2153
S84
Florida Man
2
1880
S83
Mason Jones
2
2146
 
 
 
The Major2 Award (most major penalties) - Zaza Colors @McWolf 
 
Zaza Colors went major penalty happy this season, recording more PIM in majors this season than their total PIM from any previous season. Their 10 major penalties is enough to claim this award.
 
All-time Record: S77 – Randy Marsh - 14 Majors
 
Previous Major2 Award Winners:
Season
Player
Major Penalties
S87
Zaza Colors
10
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
10
S85
Vinny Detroit
12
S84
Cadmael Ixazaluoh
9
S83
Brian Payne
11
 
 
 
The Timex Award (received most hits) – Leandro Goncalves @leandrofg 
 
Leandro Goncalves was hit exactly 300 times during the season. It seems like a lot of hits and I’m sure Leandro would agree, but it’s actually the lowest winning total since Anthony Matthews won with 274 hits received in S72.
 
All-time Record: S82 – Bogdan Trunov - 408 Hits taken
 
Last 5 Timex Award Winners:
Season
Player
Hits Taken
S87
Leandro Goncalves
300
S86
Perry Laperriere
337
S85
Perry Laperriere
339
S84
Duncan Idaho
316
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
346
 
 
 
The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
For the second straight season Brendan Marner wins this award by being the only player in the league to record over 600 shots. Their 622 shots are 40 more than the next closest player, Ronan Lavelle @Arce .
 
All-time record: S82 – Jerome Reinhart - 713 Shots on goal
 
Last 5 John Wayne Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots on Goal
S87
Brendan Marner
622
S86
Brendan Marner
602
S85
Zaza Colors
566
S84
Duncan Idaho
621
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
692
 
 
 
The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Ronan may have finished 2nd in shots on goal, but they finished 1st in having their shots blocked with a total of 170 of their shots blocked.
 
All-time record:  S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 204 Own shots blocked
 
Last 5 HtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Own Shots Blocked
S87
Ronan Lavelle
170
S86
Landon Wolanin
171
S85
Alex Johnston
168
S84
Alex Johnston
187
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
189
 
 
 
The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Lavelle wins this award with 450 shots missed, barely beating Brendan Marner in both this and the previous category.
 
All-time record: S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 532 Shots missed
 
Last 5 CHtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Missed
S87
Ronan Lavelle
450
S86
Brendan Marner
436
S85
Zaza Colors
406
S84
Baby Bob
415
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
509
 
 
 
The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Bo Johansson @Shindigs 
 
Bo knows blocking shots. As proved by their performance this season where they blocked 210 shots.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed - 460 Shots blocked
 
Last 5 New Shin Pads Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Blocked
S87
Bo Johansson
210
S86
James Marino
243
S85
Deron Nesbitt
222
S84
Jaromir Lemiuex
268
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
261
 
 
The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - Scoish Velociraptor Maloish @youloser1337 
 
Scoish showed they are a different animal by playing 2,441 total minutes.
 
All-time record: S82 – Chicken Wing – 2,512 Minutes played
 
Last 5 Tired Legs Award Winners:
Season
Player
Minutes Played
S87
Scoish Velociraptor Maloish
2441
S86
James Marino
2422
S85
Florida Man
2221
S84
Jerome Reinhart
2400
S83
Rhys Trenton
2374
 
 
 
The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
Back-to-back wins for Brendan Marner. Maybe we’re discovering a secret to their success, powerplay minutes. They spent 404 minutes on the powerplay, where they recorded 39 points.
 
All-time record: S79 - Muffbeav - 454 power play minutes
 
Last 5 Snap! Award Winners:
Season
Player
PP Minutes
S87
Brendan Marner
404
S86
Brendan Marner
335
S85
Bo Johansson
344
S84
Napoleon Dynamite
369
S83
Battre Sandstrom
339
 
 
 
The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Babushka @BrutalBoost 
 
Babushka and Biggie Cheese @a_Ferk both tied with 337 minutes on the penalty kill. Babushka wins the award based on the tiebreaker of playing less total minutes, meaning a larger percentage of their minutes on the ice were spent killing penalties.
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov - 447 penalty kill minutes
              
Last 5 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:
Season
Player
PK Minutes
S87
Babushka
337
S86
Doug Matchett
336
S85
Hari Singh Nalwa
317
S84
Deron Nesbitt
335
S83
Zeedayno Chara
340
 
 
 
The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Daniel Janser wins this award for the second consecutive season. Their 60.34% face-off win percentage is a slight dip from the mark they set last season, but still a great total.
 
All-time record: S74 - Brock Louth - 63.72% face-offs won
               
Last 5 Sean Archer Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Daniel Janser
60.34%
S86
Daniel Janser
62.90%
S85
N/A
  S84
Paul Atreides
61.22%
S83
Zeedayno Chara
63.17%
 
 
 
The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Nic McMuffin @Ente2997
 
Nic McMuffin may need to change their breakfast strategy. The had a league worst 32.22 winning percentage on their faceoffs.  
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov – 29.60% face-offs won.
               
Last 5 Castor Troy Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Nic McMuffin
32.22%
S86
William Futch
34.87%
S85
N/A
  S84*
Pistol Pete
43.73%
S83
Gregory Bates
31.86%
 
 
The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Daniel Weaver @ThePerfectNut
 
Daniel Weaver won this award outright as they were the only player to score 6 penalty shot goals.
 
All-time record: S86 – Daniel Janser - 9 penalty shot goals
              
Last 5 Triple Deke Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shot Goals
S87
Daniel Weaver
6
S86
Daniel Janser
9
S85
Hammar Voss
6
S84
Zach Kisslinger II
7
S83
Zeedayno Chara
7
 
 
 
The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Ivan Retoslav @eagle_3450 
 
Ivan Retoslav, Ronan Lavelle @Arce , and Zaza Colors @McWolf all tied with 4 fight wins. Retoslav wins it on their tie-breaker thanks to their 4-0-5 fight record, better than Lavelle (4-0-2) and Colors (4-1-5)
 
All-time record: S83 Brian Payne – 7 fights won
              
Last 5 Rocky Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Won
S87
Ivan Retoslav
4
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
5
S85
Vinny Detroit
5
S84
Paul Atreides
4
S83
Brian Payne
7
 
 
 
 
The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Daniel Clarke @Danzo 
 
There was a 4-way tie for this award, all with 3 fights lost. Clarke gets the nod there thanks to their abysmal 0-3-1 fight record.
 
All-time record: S86 – Jason Argos, S74 - Lee Xin, and S69 Rusty Shackleford - 5 fights lost
              
Last 5 Glass Joe Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Lost
S87
Daniel Clarke
3
S86
Jason Argos
5
S85
Henri le Massif
3
S84
Deagun Rust
3
S83
Kyle Glass
3
 
 
 
The Stars Award (most stars won) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Another back-to-back award win for Daniel Janser! This was a close one as both him and Vasile Lamb @dlamb had 26 total stars, but Janser had more 1st stars, so they win the award. Special recognition to Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877who led the league with 12 first stars. And of course a shout out to Art Vandelay @Gustav for leading all goalies with 12 first stars and 22 total stars.
 
All-time record: S76 - Mikko Lahtinen – 34 total stars
              
Last 5 Stars Award Winners:
Season
Player
Total Stars
S87
Daniel Janser
26
S86
Daniel Janser
33
S85
Saku Kotkakoivu
28
S84
Duncan Idaho
33
S83
Zeedayno Chara
31
 
 
 
The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – Brian Payne @Scurvy 
 
Brian Payne received 11 stars this season, none of them were first stars.
 
All-time record: S85 – Hard Markinson - 16 stars
              
Last 5 Bridesmaid Award Winners:
Season
Player
Stars
S87
Brian Payne
11
S86
The Frenchman
9
S85
Hard Markinson
16
S84
Asher Reinhart
13
S83
Tui Sova
12
 
 
The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Ryan Vidot @Enorama
 
Vidot showed they have the physique to carry their team, as they scored 27 more points than the next closest player on the team.
 
All-time record: S82 – Taro Tsujimoto - 52 points more than nearest teammate
          
Last 5 Backpack Award Winners:
Season
Player
Point Difference from nearest teammate
S87
Ryan Vidot
27
S86
Daniel Janser
21
S85
Jerome Reinhart
20
S84
Nico Pearce
32
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
23
 
 
 
The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
This is season 87, so the award goes to the player in 87th place in total points. Congratulations to Reid Johnson! They recorded 51 points this season, good enough for 87th place.
 
Last 5 Anniversary Award Winners:
Season
Player
Points
S87
Reid Johnson
51
S86
Callum Murray
49
S85
Sting Chameleon
51
S84
DB III
51
S83
Robert Wilk
54
 
 
 
 
The Eggshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Xavier Booberry @CowboyinAmerica 
 
Sometimes the puck bounces your way, other times it doesn’t. The later appears to be the case for Xavier Booberry this season. They had 11 OT losses. Tied for the most all-time.
 
All-time record: S87 - Xavier Booberry, S82 - Sirkants Klamasteris, S78 – Calvin Harvey, S75 - Doug Dimmadome, and S71 Jaxx Hextall - 11 OT games lost
 
Previous Eggshell Award Winners:
Season
Player
Overtime Games Lost
S87
Xavier Booberry
11
S86
Ben Dahl
10
S85
Boris Tsezar
8
S84
Cole Pearce
9
S83
David Davis
9
 
 
 
The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Henry Tucker Jr @NSG
 
Tucker Jr may have taken some notes from his father’s playing days. Tucker Jr led all goalies with 12 PIM this season.
 
All-time record: S76 - Doug Dimmadome - 29 PIM
 
Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
S87
Henry Tucker Jr
12
S86
Augustus Kennedy
16
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
12
S84
Oskar Lindbergh
16
S83
Ben Dahl
14
 
 
 
The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Joel Castle @animal74
 
Joel Castle rooked his opponents by stopping 88.5% of the 26 penalty shots he faced. A great showing for the goalie’s first season!
 
All-time record: S86 – Matt Murdock – 100% penalty shots stopped (12 shots faced)
 
Previous Poke Check Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shots Stopped
S87
Joel Castle
88.5%
S86
Matt Murdock
100.0%
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
88.5%
S84
David Davis
80.0%
S83
Dexter Vaughn
80.0%
 
 
 
That wraps it up for this season! Another year, another successful award ceremony! Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! As always, please provide any suggestions, insights, or thoughts in the comments. Thank you all for reading and continuing to make this a successful column!
 

22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S87
Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring the highs and lows of S87! Thank you to everyone that reads this.
 
These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors.
 
For each award, I list the winners from the last 5 seasons. If you want to check out the award winners from every season, use this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sAZtX3bxVpPTIsKe1rSRVOenH1-iyWzbQEdR9ZvYOdU/edit?usp=sharing
 
I also document the “all-time” record for each category. Of course, by that I mean all-time for the existence of these awards, not all-time, all-time. Clear? Ok, good. Let’s get things underway!
 
 
The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
Helsinki claimed the top 6 spots in this category, but Reid Johnson led them all with a -49. Repeat winner Daniel Clarke @Danzoshowed some improvement, ending 33rd worst with a -16.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed -156
 
Last 5 Pylon Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
+ / -
S87
Reid Johnson
-49
S86
Daniel Clarke
-55
S85
Daniel Clarke
-65
S84
Ryan Li
-60
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
-66
 
 
 
The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Todd Cooke @KRZY 
 
Todd Cooke wins the award outright by being the only player to record the league low 2 PIM, while playing 2,138 minutes. After a couple of seasons of some higher PIM totals winning this award, it’s nice to get back to lower PIM. Here’s hoping for a 0 PIM next season.
 
All-time record: S81 - Brendan Telker - 0 PIM, 2211 Minutes Played
 
Last 5 Gandhi Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
Minutes Played
S87
Todd Cooke
2
2138
S86
Mason Jones
6
2175
S85
Girts Galvins
6
2153
S84
Florida Man
2
1880
S83
Mason Jones
2
2146
 
 
 
The Major2 Award (most major penalties) - Zaza Colors @McWolf 
 
Zaza Colors went major penalty happy this season, recording more PIM in majors this season than their total PIM from any previous season. Their 10 major penalties is enough to claim this award.
 
All-time Record: S77 – Randy Marsh - 14 Majors
 
Previous Major2 Award Winners:
Season
Player
Major Penalties
S87
Zaza Colors
10
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
10
S85
Vinny Detroit
12
S84
Cadmael Ixazaluoh
9
S83
Brian Payne
11
 
 
 
The Timex Award (received most hits) – Leandro Goncalves @leandrofg 
 
Leandro Goncalves was hit exactly 300 times during the season. It seems like a lot of hits and I’m sure Leandro would agree, but it’s actually the lowest winning total since Anthony Matthews won with 274 hits received in S72.
 
All-time Record: S82 – Bogdan Trunov - 408 Hits taken
 
Last 5 Timex Award Winners:
Season
Player
Hits Taken
S87
Leandro Goncalves
300
S86
Perry Laperriere
337
S85
Perry Laperriere
339
S84
Duncan Idaho
316
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
346
 
 
 
The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
For the second straight season Brendan Marner wins this award by being the only player in the league to record over 600 shots. Their 622 shots are 40 more than the next closest player, Ronan Lavelle @Arce .
 
All-time record: S82 – Jerome Reinhart - 713 Shots on goal
 
Last 5 John Wayne Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots on Goal
S87
Brendan Marner
622
S86
Brendan Marner
602
S85
Zaza Colors
566
S84
Duncan Idaho
621
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
692
 
 
 
The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Ronan may have finished 2nd in shots on goal, but they finished 1st in having their shots blocked with a total of 170 of their shots blocked.
 
All-time record:  S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 204 Own shots blocked
 
Last 5 HtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Own Shots Blocked
S87
Ronan Lavelle
170
S86
Landon Wolanin
171
S85
Alex Johnston
168
S84
Alex Johnston
187
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
189
 
 
 
The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Lavelle wins this award with 450 shots missed, barely beating Brendan Marner in both this and the previous category.
 
All-time record: S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 532 Shots missed
 
Last 5 CHtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Missed
S87
Ronan Lavelle
450
S86
Brendan Marner
436
S85
Zaza Colors
406
S84
Baby Bob
415
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
509
 
 
 
The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Bo Johansson @Shindigs 
 
Bo knows blocking shots. As proved by their performance this season where they blocked 210 shots.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed - 460 Shots blocked
 
Last 5 New Shin Pads Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Blocked
S87
Bo Johansson
210
S86
James Marino
243
S85
Deron Nesbitt
222
S84
Jaromir Lemiuex
268
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
261
 
 
The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - Scoish Velociraptor Maloish @youloser1337 
 
Scoish showed they are a different animal by playing 2,441 total minutes.
 
All-time record: S82 – Chicken Wing – 2,512 Minutes played
 
Last 5 Tired Legs Award Winners:
Season
Player
Minutes Played
S87
Scoish Velociraptor Maloish
2441
S86
James Marino
2422
S85
Florida Man
2221
S84
Jerome Reinhart
2400
S83
Rhys Trenton
2374
 
 
 
The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
Back-to-back wins for Brendan Marner. Maybe we’re discovering a secret to their success, powerplay minutes. They spent 404 minutes on the powerplay, where they recorded 39 points.
 
All-time record: S79 - Muffbeav - 454 power play minutes
 
Last 5 Snap! Award Winners:
Season
Player
PP Minutes
S87
Brendan Marner
404
S86
Brendan Marner
335
S85
Bo Johansson
344
S84
Napoleon Dynamite
369
S83
Battre Sandstrom
339
 
 
 
The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Babushka @BrutalBoost 
 
Babushka and Biggie Cheese @a_Ferk both tied with 337 minutes on the penalty kill. Babushka wins the award based on the tiebreaker of playing less total minutes, meaning a larger percentage of their minutes on the ice were spent killing penalties.
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov - 447 penalty kill minutes
              
Last 5 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:
Season
Player
PK Minutes
S87
Babushka
337
S86
Doug Matchett
336
S85
Hari Singh Nalwa
317
S84
Deron Nesbitt
335
S83
Zeedayno Chara
340
 
 
 
The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Daniel Janser wins this award for the second consecutive season. Their 60.34% face-off win percentage is a slight dip from the mark they set last season, but still a great total.
 
All-time record: S74 - Brock Louth - 63.72% face-offs won
               
Last 5 Sean Archer Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Daniel Janser
60.34%
S86
Daniel Janser
62.90%
S85
N/A
  S84
Paul Atreides
61.22%
S83
Zeedayno Chara
63.17%
 
 
 
The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Nic McMuffin @Ente2997
 
Nic McMuffin may need to change their breakfast strategy. The had a league worst 32.22 winning percentage on their faceoffs.  
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov – 29.60% face-offs won.
               
Last 5 Castor Troy Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Nic McMuffin
32.22%
S86
William Futch
34.87%
S85
N/A
  S84*
Pistol Pete
43.73%
S83
Gregory Bates
31.86%
 
 
The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Daniel Weaver @ThePerfectNut
 
Daniel Weaver won this award outright as they were the only player to score 6 penalty shot goals.
 
All-time record: S86 – Daniel Janser - 9 penalty shot goals
              
Last 5 Triple Deke Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shot Goals
S87
Daniel Weaver
6
S86
Daniel Janser
9
S85
Hammar Voss
6
S84
Zach Kisslinger II
7
S83
Zeedayno Chara
7
 
 
 
The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Ivan Retoslav @eagle_3450 
 
Ivan Retoslav, Ronan Lavelle @Arce , and Zaza Colors @McWolf all tied with 4 fight wins. Retoslav wins it on their tie-breaker thanks to their 4-0-5 fight record, better than Lavelle (4-0-2) and Colors (4-1-5)
 
All-time record: S83 Brian Payne – 7 fights won
              
Last 5 Rocky Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Won
S87
Ivan Retoslav
4
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
5
S85
Vinny Detroit
5
S84
Paul Atreides
4
S83
Brian Payne
7
 
 
 
 
The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Daniel Clarke @Danzo 
 
There was a 4-way tie for this award, all with 3 fights lost. Clarke gets the nod there thanks to their abysmal 0-3-1 fight record.
 
All-time record: S86 – Jason Argos, S74 - Lee Xin, and S69 Rusty Shackleford - 5 fights lost
              
Last 5 Glass Joe Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Lost
S87
Daniel Clarke
3
S86
Jason Argos
5
S85
Henri le Massif
3
S84
Deagun Rust
3
S83
Kyle Glass
3
 
 
 
The Stars Award (most stars won) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Another back-to-back award win for Daniel Janser! This was a close one as both him and Vasile Lamb @dlamb had 26 total stars, but Janser had more 1st stars, so they win the award. Special recognition to Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877who led the league with 12 first stars. And of course a shout out to Art Vandelay @Gustav for leading all goalies with 12 first stars and 22 total stars.
 
All-time record: S76 - Mikko Lahtinen – 34 total stars
              
Last 5 Stars Award Winners:
Season
Player
Total Stars
S87
Daniel Janser
26
S86
Daniel Janser
33
S85
Saku Kotkakoivu
28
S84
Duncan Idaho
33
S83
Zeedayno Chara
31
 
 
 
The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – Brian Payne @Scurvy 
 
Brian Payne received 11 stars this season, none of them were first stars.
 
All-time record: S85 – Hard Markinson - 16 stars
              
Last 5 Bridesmaid Award Winners:
Season
Player
Stars
S87
Brian Payne
11
S86
The Frenchman
9
S85
Hard Markinson
16
S84
Asher Reinhart
13
S83
Tui Sova
12
 
 
The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Ryan Vidot @Enorama
 
Vidot showed they have the physique to carry their team, as they scored 27 more points than the next closest player on the team.
 
All-time record: S82 – Taro Tsujimoto - 52 points more than nearest teammate
          
Last 5 Backpack Award Winners:
Season
Player
Point Difference from nearest teammate
S87
Ryan Vidot
27
S86
Daniel Janser
21
S85
Jerome Reinhart
20
S84
Nico Pearce
32
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
23
 
 
 
The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
This is season 87, so the award goes to the player in 87th place in total points. Congratulations to Reid Johnson! They recorded 51 points this season, good enough for 87th place.
 
Last 5 Anniversary Award Winners:
Season
Player
Points
S87
Reid Johnson
51
S86
Callum Murray
49
S85
Sting Chameleon
51
S84
DB III
51
S83
Robert Wilk
54
 
 
 
 
The Eggshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Xavier Booberry @CowboyinAmerica 
 
Sometimes the puck bounces your way, other times it doesn’t. The later appears to be the case for Xavier Booberry this season. They had 11 OT losses. Tied for the most all-time.
 
All-time record: S87 - Xavier Booberry, S82 - Sirkants Klamasteris, S78 – Calvin Harvey, S75 - Doug Dimmadome, and S71 Jaxx Hextall - 11 OT games lost
 
Previous Eggshell Award Winners:
Season
Player
Overtime Games Lost
S87
Xavier Booberry
11
S86
Ben Dahl
10
S85
Boris Tsezar
8
S84
Cole Pearce
9
S83
David Davis
9
 
 
 
The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Henry Tucker Jr @NSG
 
Tucker Jr may have taken some notes from his father’s playing days. Tucker Jr led all goalies with 12 PIM this season.
 
All-time record: S76 - Doug Dimmadome - 29 PIM
 
Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
S87
Henry Tucker Jr
12
S86
Augustus Kennedy
16
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
12
S84
Oskar Lindbergh
16
S83
Ben Dahl
14
 
 
 
The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Joel Castle @animal74
 
Joel Castle rooked his opponents by stopping 88.5% of the 26 penalty shots he faced. A great showing for the goalie’s first season!
 
All-time record: S86 – Matt Murdock – 100% penalty shots stopped (12 shots faced)
 
Previous Poke Check Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shots Stopped
S87
Joel Castle
88.5%
S86
Matt Murdock
100.0%
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
88.5%
S84
David Davis
80.0%
S83
Dexter Vaughn
80.0%
 
 
 
That wraps it up for this season! Another year, another successful award ceremony! Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! As always, please provide any suggestions, insights, or thoughts in the comments. Thank you all for reading and continuing to make this a successful column!
 

22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S87
Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring the highs and lows of S87! Thank you to everyone that reads this.
 
These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors.
 
For each award, I list the winners from the last 5 seasons. If you want to check out the award winners from every season, use this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sAZtX3bxVpPTIsKe1rSRVOenH1-iyWzbQEdR9ZvYOdU/edit?usp=sharing
 
I also document the “all-time” record for each category. Of course, by that I mean all-time for the existence of these awards, not all-time, all-time. Clear? Ok, good. Let’s get things underway!
 
 
The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
Helsinki claimed the top 6 spots in this category, but Reid Johnson led them all with a -49. Repeat winner Daniel Clarke @Danzoshowed some improvement, ending 33rd worst with a -16.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed -156
 
Last 5 Pylon Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
+ / -
S87
Reid Johnson
-49
S86
Daniel Clarke
-55
S85
Daniel Clarke
-65
S84
Ryan Li
-60
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
-66
 
 
 
The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Todd Cooke @KRZY 
 
Todd Cooke wins the award outright by being the only player to record the league low 2 PIM, while playing 2,138 minutes. After a couple of seasons of some higher PIM totals winning this award, it’s nice to get back to lower PIM. Here’s hoping for a 0 PIM next season.
 
All-time record: S81 - Brendan Telker - 0 PIM, 2211 Minutes Played
 
Last 5 Gandhi Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
Minutes Played
S87
Todd Cooke
2
2138
S86
Mason Jones
6
2175
S85
Girts Galvins
6
2153
S84
Florida Man
2
1880
S83
Mason Jones
2
2146
 
 
 
The Major2 Award (most major penalties) - Zaza Colors @McWolf 
 
Zaza Colors went major penalty happy this season, recording more PIM in majors this season than their total PIM from any previous season. Their 10 major penalties is enough to claim this award.
 
All-time Record: S77 – Randy Marsh - 14 Majors
 
Previous Major2 Award Winners:
Season
Player
Major Penalties
S87
Zaza Colors
10
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
10
S85
Vinny Detroit
12
S84
Cadmael Ixazaluoh
9
S83
Brian Payne
11
 
 
 
The Timex Award (received most hits) – Leandro Goncalves @leandrofg 
 
Leandro Goncalves was hit exactly 300 times during the season. It seems like a lot of hits and I’m sure Leandro would agree, but it’s actually the lowest winning total since Anthony Matthews won with 274 hits received in S72.
 
All-time Record: S82 – Bogdan Trunov - 408 Hits taken
 
Last 5 Timex Award Winners:
Season
Player
Hits Taken
S87
Leandro Goncalves
300
S86
Perry Laperriere
337
S85
Perry Laperriere
339
S84
Duncan Idaho
316
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
346
 
 
 
The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
For the second straight season Brendan Marner wins this award by being the only player in the league to record over 600 shots. Their 622 shots are 40 more than the next closest player, Ronan Lavelle @Arce .
 
All-time record: S82 – Jerome Reinhart - 713 Shots on goal
 
Last 5 John Wayne Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots on Goal
S87
Brendan Marner
622
S86
Brendan Marner
602
S85
Zaza Colors
566
S84
Duncan Idaho
621
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
692
 
 
 
The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Ronan may have finished 2nd in shots on goal, but they finished 1st in having their shots blocked with a total of 170 of their shots blocked.
 
All-time record:  S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 204 Own shots blocked
 
Last 5 HtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Own Shots Blocked
S87
Ronan Lavelle
170
S86
Landon Wolanin
171
S85
Alex Johnston
168
S84
Alex Johnston
187
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
189
 
 
 
The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Lavelle wins this award with 450 shots missed, barely beating Brendan Marner in both this and the previous category.
 
All-time record: S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 532 Shots missed
 
Last 5 CHtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Missed
S87
Ronan Lavelle
450
S86
Brendan Marner
436
S85
Zaza Colors
406
S84
Baby Bob
415
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
509
 
 
 
The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Bo Johansson @Shindigs 
 
Bo knows blocking shots. As proved by their performance this season where they blocked 210 shots.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed - 460 Shots blocked
 
Last 5 New Shin Pads Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Blocked
S87
Bo Johansson
210
S86
James Marino
243
S85
Deron Nesbitt
222
S84
Jaromir Lemiuex
268
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
261
 
 
The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - Scoish Velociraptor Maloish @youloser1337 
 
Scoish showed they are a different animal by playing 2,441 total minutes.
 
All-time record: S82 – Chicken Wing – 2,512 Minutes played
 
Last 5 Tired Legs Award Winners:
Season
Player
Minutes Played
S87
Scoish Velociraptor Maloish
2441
S86
James Marino
2422
S85
Florida Man
2221
S84
Jerome Reinhart
2400
S83
Rhys Trenton
2374
 
 
 
The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
Back-to-back wins for Brendan Marner. Maybe we’re discovering a secret to their success, powerplay minutes. They spent 404 minutes on the powerplay, where they recorded 39 points.
 
All-time record: S79 - Muffbeav - 454 power play minutes
 
Last 5 Snap! Award Winners:
Season
Player
PP Minutes
S87
Brendan Marner
404
S86
Brendan Marner
335
S85
Bo Johansson
344
S84
Napoleon Dynamite
369
S83
Battre Sandstrom
339
 
 
 
The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Babushka @BrutalBoost 
 
Babushka and Biggie Cheese @a_Ferk both tied with 337 minutes on the penalty kill. Babushka wins the award based on the tiebreaker of playing less total minutes, meaning a larger percentage of their minutes on the ice were spent killing penalties.
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov - 447 penalty kill minutes
              
Last 5 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:
Season
Player
PK Minutes
S87
Babushka
337
S86
Doug Matchett
336
S85
Hari Singh Nalwa
317
S84
Deron Nesbitt
335
S83
Zeedayno Chara
340
 
 
 
The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Daniel Janser wins this award for the second consecutive season. Their 60.34% face-off win percentage is a slight dip from the mark they set last season, but still a great total.
 
All-time record: S74 - Brock Louth - 63.72% face-offs won
               
Last 5 Sean Archer Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Daniel Janser
60.34%
S86
Daniel Janser
62.90%
S85
N/A
  S84
Paul Atreides
61.22%
S83
Zeedayno Chara
63.17%
 
 
 
The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Nic McMuffin @Ente2997
 
Nic McMuffin may need to change their breakfast strategy. The had a league worst 32.22 winning percentage on their faceoffs.  
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov – 29.60% face-offs won.
               
Last 5 Castor Troy Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Nic McMuffin
32.22%
S86
William Futch
34.87%
S85
N/A
  S84*
Pistol Pete
43.73%
S83
Gregory Bates
31.86%
 
 
The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Daniel Weaver @ThePerfectNut
 
Daniel Weaver won this award outright as they were the only player to score 6 penalty shot goals.
 
All-time record: S86 – Daniel Janser - 9 penalty shot goals
              
Last 5 Triple Deke Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shot Goals
S87
Daniel Weaver
6
S86
Daniel Janser
9
S85
Hammar Voss
6
S84
Zach Kisslinger II
7
S83
Zeedayno Chara
7
 
 
 
The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Ivan Retoslav @eagle_3450 
 
Ivan Retoslav, Ronan Lavelle @Arce , and Zaza Colors @McWolf all tied with 4 fight wins. Retoslav wins it on their tie-breaker thanks to their 4-0-5 fight record, better than Lavelle (4-0-2) and Colors (4-1-5)
 
All-time record: S83 Brian Payne – 7 fights won
              
Last 5 Rocky Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Won
S87
Ivan Retoslav
4
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
5
S85
Vinny Detroit
5
S84
Paul Atreides
4
S83
Brian Payne
7
 
 
 
 
The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Daniel Clarke @Danzo 
 
There was a 4-way tie for this award, all with 3 fights lost. Clarke gets the nod there thanks to their abysmal 0-3-1 fight record.
 
All-time record: S86 – Jason Argos, S74 - Lee Xin, and S69 Rusty Shackleford - 5 fights lost
              
Last 5 Glass Joe Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Lost
S87
Daniel Clarke
3
S86
Jason Argos
5
S85
Henri le Massif
3
S84
Deagun Rust
3
S83
Kyle Glass
3
 
 
 
The Stars Award (most stars won) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Another back-to-back award win for Daniel Janser! This was a close one as both him and Vasile Lamb @dlamb had 26 total stars, but Janser had more 1st stars, so they win the award. Special recognition to Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877who led the league with 12 first stars. And of course a shout out to Art Vandelay @Gustav for leading all goalies with 12 first stars and 22 total stars.
 
All-time record: S76 - Mikko Lahtinen – 34 total stars
              
Last 5 Stars Award Winners:
Season
Player
Total Stars
S87
Daniel Janser
26
S86
Daniel Janser
33
S85
Saku Kotkakoivu
28
S84
Duncan Idaho
33
S83
Zeedayno Chara
31
 
 
 
The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – Brian Payne @Scurvy 
 
Brian Payne received 11 stars this season, none of them were first stars.
 
All-time record: S85 – Hard Markinson - 16 stars
              
Last 5 Bridesmaid Award Winners:
Season
Player
Stars
S87
Brian Payne
11
S86
The Frenchman
9
S85
Hard Markinson
16
S84
Asher Reinhart
13
S83
Tui Sova
12
 
 
The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Ryan Vidot @Enorama
 
Vidot showed they have the physique to carry their team, as they scored 27 more points than the next closest player on the team.
 
All-time record: S82 – Taro Tsujimoto - 52 points more than nearest teammate
          
Last 5 Backpack Award Winners:
Season
Player
Point Difference from nearest teammate
S87
Ryan Vidot
27
S86
Daniel Janser
21
S85
Jerome Reinhart
20
S84
Nico Pearce
32
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
23
 
 
 
The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
This is season 87, so the award goes to the player in 87th place in total points. Congratulations to Reid Johnson! They recorded 51 points this season, good enough for 87th place.
 
Last 5 Anniversary Award Winners:
Season
Player
Points
S87
Reid Johnson
51
S86
Callum Murray
49
S85
Sting Chameleon
51
S84
DB III
51
S83
Robert Wilk
54
 
 
 
 
The Eggshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Xavier Booberry @CowboyinAmerica 
 
Sometimes the puck bounces your way, other times it doesn’t. The later appears to be the case for Xavier Booberry this season. They had 11 OT losses. Tied for the most all-time.
 
All-time record: S87 - Xavier Booberry, S82 - Sirkants Klamasteris, S78 – Calvin Harvey, S75 - Doug Dimmadome, and S71 Jaxx Hextall - 11 OT games lost
 
Previous Eggshell Award Winners:
Season
Player
Overtime Games Lost
S87
Xavier Booberry
11
S86
Ben Dahl
10
S85
Boris Tsezar
8
S84
Cole Pearce
9
S83
David Davis
9
 
 
 
The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Henry Tucker Jr @NSG
 
Tucker Jr may have taken some notes from his father’s playing days. Tucker Jr led all goalies with 12 PIM this season.
 
All-time record: S76 - Doug Dimmadome - 29 PIM
 
Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
S87
Henry Tucker Jr
12
S86
Augustus Kennedy
16
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
12
S84
Oskar Lindbergh
16
S83
Ben Dahl
14
 
 
 
The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Joel Castle @animal74
 
Joel Castle rooked his opponents by stopping 88.5% of the 26 penalty shots he faced. A great showing for the goalie’s first season!
 
All-time record: S86 – Matt Murdock – 100% penalty shots stopped (12 shots faced)
 
Previous Poke Check Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shots Stopped
S87
Joel Castle
88.5%
S86
Matt Murdock
100.0%
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
88.5%
S84
David Davis
80.0%
S83
Dexter Vaughn
80.0%
 
 
 
That wraps it up for this season! Another year, another successful award ceremony! Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! As always, please provide any suggestions, insights, or thoughts in the comments. Thank you all for reading and continuing to make this a successful column!
 

22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S87
Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring the highs and lows of S87! Thank you to everyone that reads this.
 
These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors.
 
For each award, I list the winners from the last 5 seasons. If you want to check out the award winners from every season, use this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sAZtX3bxVpPTIsKe1rSRVOenH1-iyWzbQEdR9ZvYOdU/edit?usp=sharing
 
I also document the “all-time” record for each category. Of course, by that I mean all-time for the existence of these awards, not all-time, all-time. Clear? Ok, good. Let’s get things underway!
 
 
The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
Helsinki claimed the top 6 spots in this category, but Reid Johnson led them all with a -49. Repeat winner Daniel Clarke @Danzoshowed some improvement, ending 33rd worst with a -16.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed -156
 
Last 5 Pylon Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
+ / -
S87
Reid Johnson
-49
S86
Daniel Clarke
-55
S85
Daniel Clarke
-65
S84
Ryan Li
-60
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
-66
 
 
 
The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Todd Cooke @KRZY 
 
Todd Cooke wins the award outright by being the only player to record the league low 2 PIM, while playing 2,138 minutes. After a couple of seasons of some higher PIM totals winning this award, it’s nice to get back to lower PIM. Here’s hoping for a 0 PIM next season.
 
All-time record: S81 - Brendan Telker - 0 PIM, 2211 Minutes Played
 
Last 5 Gandhi Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
Minutes Played
S87
Todd Cooke
2
2138
S86
Mason Jones
6
2175
S85
Girts Galvins
6
2153
S84
Florida Man
2
1880
S83
Mason Jones
2
2146
 
 
 
The Major2 Award (most major penalties) - Zaza Colors @McWolf 
 
Zaza Colors went major penalty happy this season, recording more PIM in majors this season than their total PIM from any previous season. Their 10 major penalties is enough to claim this award.
 
All-time Record: S77 – Randy Marsh - 14 Majors
 
Previous Major2 Award Winners:
Season
Player
Major Penalties
S87
Zaza Colors
10
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
10
S85
Vinny Detroit
12
S84
Cadmael Ixazaluoh
9
S83
Brian Payne
11
 
 
 
The Timex Award (received most hits) – Leandro Goncalves @leandrofg 
 
Leandro Goncalves was hit exactly 300 times during the season. It seems like a lot of hits and I’m sure Leandro would agree, but it’s actually the lowest winning total since Anthony Matthews won with 274 hits received in S72.
 
All-time Record: S82 – Bogdan Trunov - 408 Hits taken
 
Last 5 Timex Award Winners:
Season
Player
Hits Taken
S87
Leandro Goncalves
300
S86
Perry Laperriere
337
S85
Perry Laperriere
339
S84
Duncan Idaho
316
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
346
 
 
 
The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
For the second straight season Brendan Marner wins this award by being the only player in the league to record over 600 shots. Their 622 shots are 40 more than the next closest player, Ronan Lavelle @Arce .
 
All-time record: S82 – Jerome Reinhart - 713 Shots on goal
 
Last 5 John Wayne Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots on Goal
S87
Brendan Marner
622
S86
Brendan Marner
602
S85
Zaza Colors
566
S84
Duncan Idaho
621
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
692
 
 
 
The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Ronan may have finished 2nd in shots on goal, but they finished 1st in having their shots blocked with a total of 170 of their shots blocked.
 
All-time record:  S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 204 Own shots blocked
 
Last 5 HtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Own Shots Blocked
S87
Ronan Lavelle
170
S86
Landon Wolanin
171
S85
Alex Johnston
168
S84
Alex Johnston
187
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
189
 
 
 
The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Lavelle wins this award with 450 shots missed, barely beating Brendan Marner in both this and the previous category.
 
All-time record: S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 532 Shots missed
 
Last 5 CHtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Missed
S87
Ronan Lavelle
450
S86
Brendan Marner
436
S85
Zaza Colors
406
S84
Baby Bob
415
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
509
 
 
 
The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Bo Johansson @Shindigs 
 
Bo knows blocking shots. As proved by their performance this season where they blocked 210 shots.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed - 460 Shots blocked
 
Last 5 New Shin Pads Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Blocked
S87
Bo Johansson
210
S86
James Marino
243
S85
Deron Nesbitt
222
S84
Jaromir Lemiuex
268
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
261
 
 
The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - Scoish Velociraptor Maloish @youloser1337 
 
Scoish showed they are a different animal by playing 2,441 total minutes.
 
All-time record: S82 – Chicken Wing – 2,512 Minutes played
 
Last 5 Tired Legs Award Winners:
Season
Player
Minutes Played
S87
Scoish Velociraptor Maloish
2441
S86
James Marino
2422
S85
Florida Man
2221
S84
Jerome Reinhart
2400
S83
Rhys Trenton
2374
 
 
 
The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
Back-to-back wins for Brendan Marner. Maybe we’re discovering a secret to their success, powerplay minutes. They spent 404 minutes on the powerplay, where they recorded 39 points.
 
All-time record: S79 - Muffbeav - 454 power play minutes
 
Last 5 Snap! Award Winners:
Season
Player
PP Minutes
S87
Brendan Marner
404
S86
Brendan Marner
335
S85
Bo Johansson
344
S84
Napoleon Dynamite
369
S83
Battre Sandstrom
339
 
 
 
The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Babushka @BrutalBoost 
 
Babushka and Biggie Cheese @a_Ferk both tied with 337 minutes on the penalty kill. Babushka wins the award based on the tiebreaker of playing less total minutes, meaning a larger percentage of their minutes on the ice were spent killing penalties.
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov - 447 penalty kill minutes
              
Last 5 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:
Season
Player
PK Minutes
S87
Babushka
337
S86
Doug Matchett
336
S85
Hari Singh Nalwa
317
S84
Deron Nesbitt
335
S83
Zeedayno Chara
340
 
 
 
The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Daniel Janser wins this award for the second consecutive season. Their 60.34% face-off win percentage is a slight dip from the mark they set last season, but still a great total.
 
All-time record: S74 - Brock Louth - 63.72% face-offs won
               
Last 5 Sean Archer Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Daniel Janser
60.34%
S86
Daniel Janser
62.90%
S85
N/A
  S84
Paul Atreides
61.22%
S83
Zeedayno Chara
63.17%
 
 
 
The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Nic McMuffin @Ente2997
 
Nic McMuffin may need to change their breakfast strategy. The had a league worst 32.22 winning percentage on their faceoffs.  
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov – 29.60% face-offs won.
               
Last 5 Castor Troy Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Nic McMuffin
32.22%
S86
William Futch
34.87%
S85
N/A
  S84*
Pistol Pete
43.73%
S83
Gregory Bates
31.86%
 
 
The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Daniel Weaver @ThePerfectNut
 
Daniel Weaver won this award outright as they were the only player to score 6 penalty shot goals.
 
All-time record: S86 – Daniel Janser - 9 penalty shot goals
              
Last 5 Triple Deke Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shot Goals
S87
Daniel Weaver
6
S86
Daniel Janser
9
S85
Hammar Voss
6
S84
Zach Kisslinger II
7
S83
Zeedayno Chara
7
 
 
 
The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Ivan Retoslav @eagle_3450 
 
Ivan Retoslav, Ronan Lavelle @Arce , and Zaza Colors @McWolf all tied with 4 fight wins. Retoslav wins it on their tie-breaker thanks to their 4-0-5 fight record, better than Lavelle (4-0-2) and Colors (4-1-5)
 
All-time record: S83 Brian Payne – 7 fights won
              
Last 5 Rocky Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Won
S87
Ivan Retoslav
4
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
5
S85
Vinny Detroit
5
S84
Paul Atreides
4
S83
Brian Payne
7
 
 
 
 
The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Daniel Clarke @Danzo 
 
There was a 4-way tie for this award, all with 3 fights lost. Clarke gets the nod there thanks to their abysmal 0-3-1 fight record.
 
All-time record: S86 – Jason Argos, S74 - Lee Xin, and S69 Rusty Shackleford - 5 fights lost
              
Last 5 Glass Joe Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Lost
S87
Daniel Clarke
3
S86
Jason Argos
5
S85
Henri le Massif
3
S84
Deagun Rust
3
S83
Kyle Glass
3
 
 
 
The Stars Award (most stars won) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Another back-to-back award win for Daniel Janser! This was a close one as both him and Vasile Lamb @dlamb had 26 total stars, but Janser had more 1st stars, so they win the award. Special recognition to Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877who led the league with 12 first stars. And of course a shout out to Art Vandelay @Gustav for leading all goalies with 12 first stars and 22 total stars.
 
All-time record: S76 - Mikko Lahtinen – 34 total stars
              
Last 5 Stars Award Winners:
Season
Player
Total Stars
S87
Daniel Janser
26
S86
Daniel Janser
33
S85
Saku Kotkakoivu
28
S84
Duncan Idaho
33
S83
Zeedayno Chara
31
 
 
 
The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – Brian Payne @Scurvy 
 
Brian Payne received 11 stars this season, none of them were first stars.
 
All-time record: S85 – Hard Markinson - 16 stars
              
Last 5 Bridesmaid Award Winners:
Season
Player
Stars
S87
Brian Payne
11
S86
The Frenchman
9
S85
Hard Markinson
16
S84
Asher Reinhart
13
S83
Tui Sova
12
 
 
The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Ryan Vidot @Enorama
 
Vidot showed they have the physique to carry their team, as they scored 27 more points than the next closest player on the team.
 
All-time record: S82 – Taro Tsujimoto - 52 points more than nearest teammate
          
Last 5 Backpack Award Winners:
Season
Player
Point Difference from nearest teammate
S87
Ryan Vidot
27
S86
Daniel Janser
21
S85
Jerome Reinhart
20
S84
Nico Pearce
32
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
23
 
 
 
The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
This is season 87, so the award goes to the player in 87th place in total points. Congratulations to Reid Johnson! They recorded 51 points this season, good enough for 87th place.
 
Last 5 Anniversary Award Winners:
Season
Player
Points
S87
Reid Johnson
51
S86
Callum Murray
49
S85
Sting Chameleon
51
S84
DB III
51
S83
Robert Wilk
54
 
 
 
 
The Eggshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Xavier Booberry @CowboyinAmerica 
 
Sometimes the puck bounces your way, other times it doesn’t. The later appears to be the case for Xavier Booberry this season. They had 11 OT losses. Tied for the most all-time.
 
All-time record: S87 - Xavier Booberry, S82 - Sirkants Klamasteris, S78 – Calvin Harvey, S75 - Doug Dimmadome, and S71 Jaxx Hextall - 11 OT games lost
 
Previous Eggshell Award Winners:
Season
Player
Overtime Games Lost
S87
Xavier Booberry
11
S86
Ben Dahl
10
S85
Boris Tsezar
8
S84
Cole Pearce
9
S83
David Davis
9
 
 
 
The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Henry Tucker Jr @NSG
 
Tucker Jr may have taken some notes from his father’s playing days. Tucker Jr led all goalies with 12 PIM this season.
 
All-time record: S76 - Doug Dimmadome - 29 PIM
 
Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
S87
Henry Tucker Jr
12
S86
Augustus Kennedy
16
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
12
S84
Oskar Lindbergh
16
S83
Ben Dahl
14
 
 
 
The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Joel Castle @animal74
 
Joel Castle rooked his opponents by stopping 88.5% of the 26 penalty shots he faced. A great showing for the goalie’s first season!
 
All-time record: S86 – Matt Murdock – 100% penalty shots stopped (12 shots faced)
 
Previous Poke Check Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shots Stopped
S87
Joel Castle
88.5%
S86
Matt Murdock
100.0%
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
88.5%
S84
David Davis
80.0%
S83
Dexter Vaughn
80.0%
 
 
 
That wraps it up for this season! Another year, another successful award ceremony! Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! As always, please provide any suggestions, insights, or thoughts in the comments. Thank you all for reading and continuing to make this a successful column!
 

22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S87
Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring the highs and lows of S87! Thank you to everyone that reads this.
 
These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors.
 
For each award, I list the winners from the last 5 seasons. If you want to check out the award winners from every season, use this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sAZtX3bxVpPTIsKe1rSRVOenH1-iyWzbQEdR9ZvYOdU/edit?usp=sharing
 
I also document the “all-time” record for each category. Of course, by that I mean all-time for the existence of these awards, not all-time, all-time. Clear? Ok, good. Let’s get things underway!
 
 
The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
Helsinki claimed the top 6 spots in this category, but Reid Johnson led them all with a -49. Repeat winner Daniel Clarke @Danzoshowed some improvement, ending 33rd worst with a -16.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed -156
 
Last 5 Pylon Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
+ / -
S87
Reid Johnson
-49
S86
Daniel Clarke
-55
S85
Daniel Clarke
-65
S84
Ryan Li
-60
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
-66
 
 
 
The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Todd Cooke @KRZY 
 
Todd Cooke wins the award outright by being the only player to record the league low 2 PIM, while playing 2,138 minutes. After a couple of seasons of some higher PIM totals winning this award, it’s nice to get back to lower PIM. Here’s hoping for a 0 PIM next season.
 
All-time record: S81 - Brendan Telker - 0 PIM, 2211 Minutes Played
 
Last 5 Gandhi Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
Minutes Played
S87
Todd Cooke
2
2138
S86
Mason Jones
6
2175
S85
Girts Galvins
6
2153
S84
Florida Man
2
1880
S83
Mason Jones
2
2146
 
 
 
The Major2 Award (most major penalties) - Zaza Colors @McWolf 
 
Zaza Colors went major penalty happy this season, recording more PIM in majors this season than their total PIM from any previous season. Their 10 major penalties is enough to claim this award.
 
All-time Record: S77 – Randy Marsh - 14 Majors
 
Previous Major2 Award Winners:
Season
Player
Major Penalties
S87
Zaza Colors
10
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
10
S85
Vinny Detroit
12
S84
Cadmael Ixazaluoh
9
S83
Brian Payne
11
 
 
 
The Timex Award (received most hits) – Leandro Goncalves @leandrofg 
 
Leandro Goncalves was hit exactly 300 times during the season. It seems like a lot of hits and I’m sure Leandro would agree, but it’s actually the lowest winning total since Anthony Matthews won with 274 hits received in S72.
 
All-time Record: S82 – Bogdan Trunov - 408 Hits taken
 
Last 5 Timex Award Winners:
Season
Player
Hits Taken
S87
Leandro Goncalves
300
S86
Perry Laperriere
337
S85
Perry Laperriere
339
S84
Duncan Idaho
316
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
346
 
 
 
The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
For the second straight season Brendan Marner wins this award by being the only player in the league to record over 600 shots. Their 622 shots are 40 more than the next closest player, Ronan Lavelle @Arce .
 
All-time record: S82 – Jerome Reinhart - 713 Shots on goal
 
Last 5 John Wayne Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots on Goal
S87
Brendan Marner
622
S86
Brendan Marner
602
S85
Zaza Colors
566
S84
Duncan Idaho
621
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
692
 
 
 
The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Ronan may have finished 2nd in shots on goal, but they finished 1st in having their shots blocked with a total of 170 of their shots blocked.
 
All-time record:  S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 204 Own shots blocked
 
Last 5 HtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Own Shots Blocked
S87
Ronan Lavelle
170
S86
Landon Wolanin
171
S85
Alex Johnston
168
S84
Alex Johnston
187
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
189
 
 
 
The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Lavelle wins this award with 450 shots missed, barely beating Brendan Marner in both this and the previous category.
 
All-time record: S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 532 Shots missed
 
Last 5 CHtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Missed
S87
Ronan Lavelle
450
S86
Brendan Marner
436
S85
Zaza Colors
406
S84
Baby Bob
415
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
509
 
 
 
The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Bo Johansson @Shindigs 
 
Bo knows blocking shots. As proved by their performance this season where they blocked 210 shots.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed - 460 Shots blocked
 
Last 5 New Shin Pads Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Blocked
S87
Bo Johansson
210
S86
James Marino
243
S85
Deron Nesbitt
222
S84
Jaromir Lemiuex
268
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
261
 
 
The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - Scoish Velociraptor Maloish @youloser1337 
 
Scoish showed they are a different animal by playing 2,441 total minutes.
 
All-time record: S82 – Chicken Wing – 2,512 Minutes played
 
Last 5 Tired Legs Award Winners:
Season
Player
Minutes Played
S87
Scoish Velociraptor Maloish
2441
S86
James Marino
2422
S85
Florida Man
2221
S84
Jerome Reinhart
2400
S83
Rhys Trenton
2374
 
 
 
The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
Back-to-back wins for Brendan Marner. Maybe we’re discovering a secret to their success, powerplay minutes. They spent 404 minutes on the powerplay, where they recorded 39 points.
 
All-time record: S79 - Muffbeav - 454 power play minutes
 
Last 5 Snap! Award Winners:
Season
Player
PP Minutes
S87
Brendan Marner
404
S86
Brendan Marner
335
S85
Bo Johansson
344
S84
Napoleon Dynamite
369
S83
Battre Sandstrom
339
 
 
 
The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Babushka @BrutalBoost 
 
Babushka and Biggie Cheese @a_Ferk both tied with 337 minutes on the penalty kill. Babushka wins the award based on the tiebreaker of playing less total minutes, meaning a larger percentage of their minutes on the ice were spent killing penalties.
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov - 447 penalty kill minutes
              
Last 5 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:
Season
Player
PK Minutes
S87
Babushka
337
S86
Doug Matchett
336
S85
Hari Singh Nalwa
317
S84
Deron Nesbitt
335
S83
Zeedayno Chara
340
 
 
 
The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Daniel Janser wins this award for the second consecutive season. Their 60.34% face-off win percentage is a slight dip from the mark they set last season, but still a great total.
 
All-time record: S74 - Brock Louth - 63.72% face-offs won
               
Last 5 Sean Archer Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Daniel Janser
60.34%
S86
Daniel Janser
62.90%
S85
N/A
  S84
Paul Atreides
61.22%
S83
Zeedayno Chara
63.17%
 
 
 
The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Nic McMuffin @Ente2997
 
Nic McMuffin may need to change their breakfast strategy. The had a league worst 32.22 winning percentage on their faceoffs.  
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov – 29.60% face-offs won.
               
Last 5 Castor Troy Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Nic McMuffin
32.22%
S86
William Futch
34.87%
S85
N/A
  S84*
Pistol Pete
43.73%
S83
Gregory Bates
31.86%
 
 
The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Daniel Weaver @ThePerfectNut
 
Daniel Weaver won this award outright as they were the only player to score 6 penalty shot goals.
 
All-time record: S86 – Daniel Janser - 9 penalty shot goals
              
Last 5 Triple Deke Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shot Goals
S87
Daniel Weaver
6
S86
Daniel Janser
9
S85
Hammar Voss
6
S84
Zach Kisslinger II
7
S83
Zeedayno Chara
7
 
 
 
The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Ivan Retoslav @eagle_3450 
 
Ivan Retoslav, Ronan Lavelle @Arce , and Zaza Colors @McWolf all tied with 4 fight wins. Retoslav wins it on their tie-breaker thanks to their 4-0-5 fight record, better than Lavelle (4-0-2) and Colors (4-1-5)
 
All-time record: S83 Brian Payne – 7 fights won
              
Last 5 Rocky Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Won
S87
Ivan Retoslav
4
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
5
S85
Vinny Detroit
5
S84
Paul Atreides
4
S83
Brian Payne
7
 
 
 
 
The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Daniel Clarke @Danzo 
 
There was a 4-way tie for this award, all with 3 fights lost. Clarke gets the nod there thanks to their abysmal 0-3-1 fight record.
 
All-time record: S86 – Jason Argos, S74 - Lee Xin, and S69 Rusty Shackleford - 5 fights lost
              
Last 5 Glass Joe Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Lost
S87
Daniel Clarke
3
S86
Jason Argos
5
S85
Henri le Massif
3
S84
Deagun Rust
3
S83
Kyle Glass
3
 
 
 
The Stars Award (most stars won) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Another back-to-back award win for Daniel Janser! This was a close one as both him and Vasile Lamb @dlamb had 26 total stars, but Janser had more 1st stars, so they win the award. Special recognition to Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877who led the league with 12 first stars. And of course a shout out to Art Vandelay @Gustav for leading all goalies with 12 first stars and 22 total stars.
 
All-time record: S76 - Mikko Lahtinen – 34 total stars
              
Last 5 Stars Award Winners:
Season
Player
Total Stars
S87
Daniel Janser
26
S86
Daniel Janser
33
S85
Saku Kotkakoivu
28
S84
Duncan Idaho
33
S83
Zeedayno Chara
31
 
 
 
The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – Brian Payne @Scurvy 
 
Brian Payne received 11 stars this season, none of them were first stars.
 
All-time record: S85 – Hard Markinson - 16 stars
              
Last 5 Bridesmaid Award Winners:
Season
Player
Stars
S87
Brian Payne
11
S86
The Frenchman
9
S85
Hard Markinson
16
S84
Asher Reinhart
13
S83
Tui Sova
12
 
 
The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Ryan Vidot @Enorama
 
Vidot showed they have the physique to carry their team, as they scored 27 more points than the next closest player on the team.
 
All-time record: S82 – Taro Tsujimoto - 52 points more than nearest teammate
          
Last 5 Backpack Award Winners:
Season
Player
Point Difference from nearest teammate
S87
Ryan Vidot
27
S86
Daniel Janser
21
S85
Jerome Reinhart
20
S84
Nico Pearce
32
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
23
 
 
 
The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
This is season 87, so the award goes to the player in 87th place in total points. Congratulations to Reid Johnson! They recorded 51 points this season, good enough for 87th place.
 
Last 5 Anniversary Award Winners:
Season
Player
Points
S87
Reid Johnson
51
S86
Callum Murray
49
S85
Sting Chameleon
51
S84
DB III
51
S83
Robert Wilk
54
 
 
 
 
The Eggshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Xavier Booberry @CowboyinAmerica 
 
Sometimes the puck bounces your way, other times it doesn’t. The later appears to be the case for Xavier Booberry this season. They had 11 OT losses. Tied for the most all-time.
 
All-time record: S87 - Xavier Booberry, S82 - Sirkants Klamasteris, S78 – Calvin Harvey, S75 - Doug Dimmadome, and S71 Jaxx Hextall - 11 OT games lost
 
Previous Eggshell Award Winners:
Season
Player
Overtime Games Lost
S87
Xavier Booberry
11
S86
Ben Dahl
10
S85
Boris Tsezar
8
S84
Cole Pearce
9
S83
David Davis
9
 
 
 
The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Henry Tucker Jr @NSG
 
Tucker Jr may have taken some notes from his father’s playing days. Tucker Jr led all goalies with 12 PIM this season.
 
All-time record: S76 - Doug Dimmadome - 29 PIM
 
Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
S87
Henry Tucker Jr
12
S86
Augustus Kennedy
16
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
12
S84
Oskar Lindbergh
16
S83
Ben Dahl
14
 
 
 
The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Joel Castle @animal74
 
Joel Castle rooked his opponents by stopping 88.5% of the 26 penalty shots he faced. A great showing for the goalie’s first season!
 
All-time record: S86 – Matt Murdock – 100% penalty shots stopped (12 shots faced)
 
Previous Poke Check Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shots Stopped
S87
Joel Castle
88.5%
S86
Matt Murdock
100.0%
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
88.5%
S84
David Davis
80.0%
S83
Dexter Vaughn
80.0%
 
 
 
That wraps it up for this season! Another year, another successful award ceremony! Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! As always, please provide any suggestions, insights, or thoughts in the comments. Thank you all for reading and continuing to make this a successful column!
 

22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S87
Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring the highs and lows of S87! Thank you to everyone that reads this.
 
These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors.
 
For each award, I list the winners from the last 5 seasons. If you want to check out the award winners from every season, use this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sAZtX3bxVpPTIsKe1rSRVOenH1-iyWzbQEdR9ZvYOdU/edit?usp=sharing
 
I also document the “all-time” record for each category. Of course, by that I mean all-time for the existence of these awards, not all-time, all-time. Clear? Ok, good. Let’s get things underway!
 
 
The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
Helsinki claimed the top 6 spots in this category, but Reid Johnson led them all with a -49. Repeat winner Daniel Clarke @Danzoshowed some improvement, ending 33rd worst with a -16.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed -156
 
Last 5 Pylon Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
+ / -
S87
Reid Johnson
-49
S86
Daniel Clarke
-55
S85
Daniel Clarke
-65
S84
Ryan Li
-60
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
-66
 
 
 
The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Todd Cooke @KRZY 
 
Todd Cooke wins the award outright by being the only player to record the league low 2 PIM, while playing 2,138 minutes. After a couple of seasons of some higher PIM totals winning this award, it’s nice to get back to lower PIM. Here’s hoping for a 0 PIM next season.
 
All-time record: S81 - Brendan Telker - 0 PIM, 2211 Minutes Played
 
Last 5 Gandhi Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
Minutes Played
S87
Todd Cooke
2
2138
S86
Mason Jones
6
2175
S85
Girts Galvins
6
2153
S84
Florida Man
2
1880
S83
Mason Jones
2
2146
 
 
 
The Major2 Award (most major penalties) - Zaza Colors @McWolf 
 
Zaza Colors went major penalty happy this season, recording more PIM in majors this season than their total PIM from any previous season. Their 10 major penalties is enough to claim this award.
 
All-time Record: S77 – Randy Marsh - 14 Majors
 
Previous Major2 Award Winners:
Season
Player
Major Penalties
S87
Zaza Colors
10
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
10
S85
Vinny Detroit
12
S84
Cadmael Ixazaluoh
9
S83
Brian Payne
11
 
 
 
The Timex Award (received most hits) – Leandro Goncalves @leandrofg 
 
Leandro Goncalves was hit exactly 300 times during the season. It seems like a lot of hits and I’m sure Leandro would agree, but it’s actually the lowest winning total since Anthony Matthews won with 274 hits received in S72.
 
All-time Record: S82 – Bogdan Trunov - 408 Hits taken
 
Last 5 Timex Award Winners:
Season
Player
Hits Taken
S87
Leandro Goncalves
300
S86
Perry Laperriere
337
S85
Perry Laperriere
339
S84
Duncan Idaho
316
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
346
 
 
 
The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
For the second straight season Brendan Marner wins this award by being the only player in the league to record over 600 shots. Their 622 shots are 40 more than the next closest player, Ronan Lavelle @Arce .
 
All-time record: S82 – Jerome Reinhart - 713 Shots on goal
 
Last 5 John Wayne Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots on Goal
S87
Brendan Marner
622
S86
Brendan Marner
602
S85
Zaza Colors
566
S84
Duncan Idaho
621
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
692
 
 
 
The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Ronan may have finished 2nd in shots on goal, but they finished 1st in having their shots blocked with a total of 170 of their shots blocked.
 
All-time record:  S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 204 Own shots blocked
 
Last 5 HtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Own Shots Blocked
S87
Ronan Lavelle
170
S86
Landon Wolanin
171
S85
Alex Johnston
168
S84
Alex Johnston
187
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
189
 
 
 
The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Lavelle wins this award with 450 shots missed, barely beating Brendan Marner in both this and the previous category.
 
All-time record: S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 532 Shots missed
 
Last 5 CHtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Missed
S87
Ronan Lavelle
450
S86
Brendan Marner
436
S85
Zaza Colors
406
S84
Baby Bob
415
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
509
 
 
 
The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Bo Johansson @Shindigs 
 
Bo knows blocking shots. As proved by their performance this season where they blocked 210 shots.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed - 460 Shots blocked
 
Last 5 New Shin Pads Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Blocked
S87
Bo Johansson
210
S86
James Marino
243
S85
Deron Nesbitt
222
S84
Jaromir Lemiuex
268
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
261
 
 
The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - Scoish Velociraptor Maloish @youloser1337 
 
Scoish showed they are a different animal by playing 2,441 total minutes.
 
All-time record: S82 – Chicken Wing – 2,512 Minutes played
 
Last 5 Tired Legs Award Winners:
Season
Player
Minutes Played
S87
Scoish Velociraptor Maloish
2441
S86
James Marino
2422
S85
Florida Man
2221
S84
Jerome Reinhart
2400
S83
Rhys Trenton
2374
 
 
 
The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
Back-to-back wins for Brendan Marner. Maybe we’re discovering a secret to their success, powerplay minutes. They spent 404 minutes on the powerplay, where they recorded 39 points.
 
All-time record: S79 - Muffbeav - 454 power play minutes
 
Last 5 Snap! Award Winners:
Season
Player
PP Minutes
S87
Brendan Marner
404
S86
Brendan Marner
335
S85
Bo Johansson
344
S84
Napoleon Dynamite
369
S83
Battre Sandstrom
339
 
 
 
The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Babushka @BrutalBoost 
 
Babushka and Biggie Cheese @a_Ferk both tied with 337 minutes on the penalty kill. Babushka wins the award based on the tiebreaker of playing less total minutes, meaning a larger percentage of their minutes on the ice were spent killing penalties.
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov - 447 penalty kill minutes
              
Last 5 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:
Season
Player
PK Minutes
S87
Babushka
337
S86
Doug Matchett
336
S85
Hari Singh Nalwa
317
S84
Deron Nesbitt
335
S83
Zeedayno Chara
340
 
 
 
The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Daniel Janser wins this award for the second consecutive season. Their 60.34% face-off win percentage is a slight dip from the mark they set last season, but still a great total.
 
All-time record: S74 - Brock Louth - 63.72% face-offs won
               
Last 5 Sean Archer Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Daniel Janser
60.34%
S86
Daniel Janser
62.90%
S85
N/A
  S84
Paul Atreides
61.22%
S83
Zeedayno Chara
63.17%
 
 
 
The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Nic McMuffin @Ente2997
 
Nic McMuffin may need to change their breakfast strategy. The had a league worst 32.22 winning percentage on their faceoffs.  
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov – 29.60% face-offs won.
               
Last 5 Castor Troy Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Nic McMuffin
32.22%
S86
William Futch
34.87%
S85
N/A
  S84*
Pistol Pete
43.73%
S83
Gregory Bates
31.86%
 
 
The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Daniel Weaver @ThePerfectNut
 
Daniel Weaver won this award outright as they were the only player to score 6 penalty shot goals.
 
All-time record: S86 – Daniel Janser - 9 penalty shot goals
              
Last 5 Triple Deke Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shot Goals
S87
Daniel Weaver
6
S86
Daniel Janser
9
S85
Hammar Voss
6
S84
Zach Kisslinger II
7
S83
Zeedayno Chara
7
 
 
 
The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Ivan Retoslav @eagle_3450 
 
Ivan Retoslav, Ronan Lavelle @Arce , and Zaza Colors @McWolf all tied with 4 fight wins. Retoslav wins it on their tie-breaker thanks to their 4-0-5 fight record, better than Lavelle (4-0-2) and Colors (4-1-5)
 
All-time record: S83 Brian Payne – 7 fights won
              
Last 5 Rocky Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Won
S87
Ivan Retoslav
4
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
5
S85
Vinny Detroit
5
S84
Paul Atreides
4
S83
Brian Payne
7
 
 
 
 
The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Daniel Clarke @Danzo 
 
There was a 4-way tie for this award, all with 3 fights lost. Clarke gets the nod there thanks to their abysmal 0-3-1 fight record.
 
All-time record: S86 – Jason Argos, S74 - Lee Xin, and S69 Rusty Shackleford - 5 fights lost
              
Last 5 Glass Joe Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Lost
S87
Daniel Clarke
3
S86
Jason Argos
5
S85
Henri le Massif
3
S84
Deagun Rust
3
S83
Kyle Glass
3
 
 
 
The Stars Award (most stars won) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Another back-to-back award win for Daniel Janser! This was a close one as both him and Vasile Lamb @dlamb had 26 total stars, but Janser had more 1st stars, so they win the award. Special recognition to Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877who led the league with 12 first stars. And of course a shout out to Art Vandelay @Gustav for leading all goalies with 12 first stars and 22 total stars.
 
All-time record: S76 - Mikko Lahtinen – 34 total stars
              
Last 5 Stars Award Winners:
Season
Player
Total Stars
S87
Daniel Janser
26
S86
Daniel Janser
33
S85
Saku Kotkakoivu
28
S84
Duncan Idaho
33
S83
Zeedayno Chara
31
 
 
 
The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – Brian Payne @Scurvy 
 
Brian Payne received 11 stars this season, none of them were first stars.
 
All-time record: S85 – Hard Markinson - 16 stars
              
Last 5 Bridesmaid Award Winners:
Season
Player
Stars
S87
Brian Payne
11
S86
The Frenchman
9
S85
Hard Markinson
16
S84
Asher Reinhart
13
S83
Tui Sova
12
 
 
The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Ryan Vidot @Enorama
 
Vidot showed they have the physique to carry their team, as they scored 27 more points than the next closest player on the team.
 
All-time record: S82 – Taro Tsujimoto - 52 points more than nearest teammate
          
Last 5 Backpack Award Winners:
Season
Player
Point Difference from nearest teammate
S87
Ryan Vidot
27
S86
Daniel Janser
21
S85
Jerome Reinhart
20
S84
Nico Pearce
32
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
23
 
 
 
The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
This is season 87, so the award goes to the player in 87th place in total points. Congratulations to Reid Johnson! They recorded 51 points this season, good enough for 87th place.
 
Last 5 Anniversary Award Winners:
Season
Player
Points
S87
Reid Johnson
51
S86
Callum Murray
49
S85
Sting Chameleon
51
S84
DB III
51
S83
Robert Wilk
54
 
 
 
 
The Eggshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Xavier Booberry @CowboyinAmerica 
 
Sometimes the puck bounces your way, other times it doesn’t. The later appears to be the case for Xavier Booberry this season. They had 11 OT losses. Tied for the most all-time.
 
All-time record: S87 - Xavier Booberry, S82 - Sirkants Klamasteris, S78 – Calvin Harvey, S75 - Doug Dimmadome, and S71 Jaxx Hextall - 11 OT games lost
 
Previous Eggshell Award Winners:
Season
Player
Overtime Games Lost
S87
Xavier Booberry
11
S86
Ben Dahl
10
S85
Boris Tsezar
8
S84
Cole Pearce
9
S83
David Davis
9
 
 
 
The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Henry Tucker Jr @NSG
 
Tucker Jr may have taken some notes from his father’s playing days. Tucker Jr led all goalies with 12 PIM this season.
 
All-time record: S76 - Doug Dimmadome - 29 PIM
 
Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
S87
Henry Tucker Jr
12
S86
Augustus Kennedy
16
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
12
S84
Oskar Lindbergh
16
S83
Ben Dahl
14
 
 
 
The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Joel Castle @animal74
 
Joel Castle rooked his opponents by stopping 88.5% of the 26 penalty shots he faced. A great showing for the goalie’s first season!
 
All-time record: S86 – Matt Murdock – 100% penalty shots stopped (12 shots faced)
 
Previous Poke Check Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shots Stopped
S87
Joel Castle
88.5%
S86
Matt Murdock
100.0%
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
88.5%
S84
David Davis
80.0%
S83
Dexter Vaughn
80.0%
 
 
 
That wraps it up for this season! Another year, another successful award ceremony! Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! As always, please provide any suggestions, insights, or thoughts in the comments. Thank you all for reading and continuing to make this a successful column!
 

22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S87
Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring the highs and lows of S87! Thank you to everyone that reads this.
 
These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors.
 
For each award, I list the winners from the last 5 seasons. If you want to check out the award winners from every season, use this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sAZtX3bxVpPTIsKe1rSRVOenH1-iyWzbQEdR9ZvYOdU/edit?usp=sharing
 
I also document the “all-time” record for each category. Of course, by that I mean all-time for the existence of these awards, not all-time, all-time. Clear? Ok, good. Let’s get things underway!
 
 
The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
Helsinki claimed the top 6 spots in this category, but Reid Johnson led them all with a -49. Repeat winner Daniel Clarke @Danzoshowed some improvement, ending 33rd worst with a -16.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed -156
 
Last 5 Pylon Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
+ / -
S87
Reid Johnson
-49
S86
Daniel Clarke
-55
S85
Daniel Clarke
-65
S84
Ryan Li
-60
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
-66
 
 
 
The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Todd Cooke @KRZY 
 
Todd Cooke wins the award outright by being the only player to record the league low 2 PIM, while playing 2,138 minutes. After a couple of seasons of some higher PIM totals winning this award, it’s nice to get back to lower PIM. Here’s hoping for a 0 PIM next season.
 
All-time record: S81 - Brendan Telker - 0 PIM, 2211 Minutes Played
 
Last 5 Gandhi Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
Minutes Played
S87
Todd Cooke
2
2138
S86
Mason Jones
6
2175
S85
Girts Galvins
6
2153
S84
Florida Man
2
1880
S83
Mason Jones
2
2146
 
 
 
The Major2 Award (most major penalties) - Zaza Colors @McWolf 
 
Zaza Colors went major penalty happy this season, recording more PIM in majors this season than their total PIM from any previous season. Their 10 major penalties is enough to claim this award.
 
All-time Record: S77 – Randy Marsh - 14 Majors
 
Previous Major2 Award Winners:
Season
Player
Major Penalties
S87
Zaza Colors
10
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
10
S85
Vinny Detroit
12
S84
Cadmael Ixazaluoh
9
S83
Brian Payne
11
 
 
 
The Timex Award (received most hits) – Leandro Goncalves @leandrofg 
 
Leandro Goncalves was hit exactly 300 times during the season. It seems like a lot of hits and I’m sure Leandro would agree, but it’s actually the lowest winning total since Anthony Matthews won with 274 hits received in S72.
 
All-time Record: S82 – Bogdan Trunov - 408 Hits taken
 
Last 5 Timex Award Winners:
Season
Player
Hits Taken
S87
Leandro Goncalves
300
S86
Perry Laperriere
337
S85
Perry Laperriere
339
S84
Duncan Idaho
316
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
346
 
 
 
The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
For the second straight season Brendan Marner wins this award by being the only player in the league to record over 600 shots. Their 622 shots are 40 more than the next closest player, Ronan Lavelle @Arce .
 
All-time record: S82 – Jerome Reinhart - 713 Shots on goal
 
Last 5 John Wayne Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots on Goal
S87
Brendan Marner
622
S86
Brendan Marner
602
S85
Zaza Colors
566
S84
Duncan Idaho
621
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
692
 
 
 
The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Ronan may have finished 2nd in shots on goal, but they finished 1st in having their shots blocked with a total of 170 of their shots blocked.
 
All-time record:  S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 204 Own shots blocked
 
Last 5 HtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Own Shots Blocked
S87
Ronan Lavelle
170
S86
Landon Wolanin
171
S85
Alex Johnston
168
S84
Alex Johnston
187
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
189
 
 
 
The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Lavelle wins this award with 450 shots missed, barely beating Brendan Marner in both this and the previous category.
 
All-time record: S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 532 Shots missed
 
Last 5 CHtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Missed
S87
Ronan Lavelle
450
S86
Brendan Marner
436
S85
Zaza Colors
406
S84
Baby Bob
415
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
509
 
 
 
The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Bo Johansson @Shindigs 
 
Bo knows blocking shots. As proved by their performance this season where they blocked 210 shots.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed - 460 Shots blocked
 
Last 5 New Shin Pads Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Blocked
S87
Bo Johansson
210
S86
James Marino
243
S85
Deron Nesbitt
222
S84
Jaromir Lemiuex
268
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
261
 
 
The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - Scoish Velociraptor Maloish @youloser1337 
 
Scoish showed they are a different animal by playing 2,441 total minutes.
 
All-time record: S82 – Chicken Wing – 2,512 Minutes played
 
Last 5 Tired Legs Award Winners:
Season
Player
Minutes Played
S87
Scoish Velociraptor Maloish
2441
S86
James Marino
2422
S85
Florida Man
2221
S84
Jerome Reinhart
2400
S83
Rhys Trenton
2374
 
 
 
The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
Back-to-back wins for Brendan Marner. Maybe we’re discovering a secret to their success, powerplay minutes. They spent 404 minutes on the powerplay, where they recorded 39 points.
 
All-time record: S79 - Muffbeav - 454 power play minutes
 
Last 5 Snap! Award Winners:
Season
Player
PP Minutes
S87
Brendan Marner
404
S86
Brendan Marner
335
S85
Bo Johansson
344
S84
Napoleon Dynamite
369
S83
Battre Sandstrom
339
 
 
 
The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Babushka @BrutalBoost 
 
Babushka and Biggie Cheese @a_Ferk both tied with 337 minutes on the penalty kill. Babushka wins the award based on the tiebreaker of playing less total minutes, meaning a larger percentage of their minutes on the ice were spent killing penalties.
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov - 447 penalty kill minutes
              
Last 5 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:
Season
Player
PK Minutes
S87
Babushka
337
S86
Doug Matchett
336
S85
Hari Singh Nalwa
317
S84
Deron Nesbitt
335
S83
Zeedayno Chara
340
 
 
 
The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Daniel Janser wins this award for the second consecutive season. Their 60.34% face-off win percentage is a slight dip from the mark they set last season, but still a great total.
 
All-time record: S74 - Brock Louth - 63.72% face-offs won
               
Last 5 Sean Archer Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Daniel Janser
60.34%
S86
Daniel Janser
62.90%
S85
N/A
  S84
Paul Atreides
61.22%
S83
Zeedayno Chara
63.17%
 
 
 
The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Nic McMuffin @Ente2997
 
Nic McMuffin may need to change their breakfast strategy. The had a league worst 32.22 winning percentage on their faceoffs.  
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov – 29.60% face-offs won.
               
Last 5 Castor Troy Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Nic McMuffin
32.22%
S86
William Futch
34.87%
S85
N/A
  S84*
Pistol Pete
43.73%
S83
Gregory Bates
31.86%
 
 
The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Daniel Weaver @ThePerfectNut
 
Daniel Weaver won this award outright as they were the only player to score 6 penalty shot goals.
 
All-time record: S86 – Daniel Janser - 9 penalty shot goals
              
Last 5 Triple Deke Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shot Goals
S87
Daniel Weaver
6
S86
Daniel Janser
9
S85
Hammar Voss
6
S84
Zach Kisslinger II
7
S83
Zeedayno Chara
7
 
 
 
The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Ivan Retoslav @eagle_3450 
 
Ivan Retoslav, Ronan Lavelle @Arce , and Zaza Colors @McWolf all tied with 4 fight wins. Retoslav wins it on their tie-breaker thanks to their 4-0-5 fight record, better than Lavelle (4-0-2) and Colors (4-1-5)
 
All-time record: S83 Brian Payne – 7 fights won
              
Last 5 Rocky Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Won
S87
Ivan Retoslav
4
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
5
S85
Vinny Detroit
5
S84
Paul Atreides
4
S83
Brian Payne
7
 
 
 
 
The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Daniel Clarke @Danzo 
 
There was a 4-way tie for this award, all with 3 fights lost. Clarke gets the nod there thanks to their abysmal 0-3-1 fight record.
 
All-time record: S86 – Jason Argos, S74 - Lee Xin, and S69 Rusty Shackleford - 5 fights lost
              
Last 5 Glass Joe Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Lost
S87
Daniel Clarke
3
S86
Jason Argos
5
S85
Henri le Massif
3
S84
Deagun Rust
3
S83
Kyle Glass
3
 
 
 
The Stars Award (most stars won) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Another back-to-back award win for Daniel Janser! This was a close one as both him and Vasile Lamb @dlamb had 26 total stars, but Janser had more 1st stars, so they win the award. Special recognition to Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877who led the league with 12 first stars. And of course a shout out to Art Vandelay @Gustav for leading all goalies with 12 first stars and 22 total stars.
 
All-time record: S76 - Mikko Lahtinen – 34 total stars
              
Last 5 Stars Award Winners:
Season
Player
Total Stars
S87
Daniel Janser
26
S86
Daniel Janser
33
S85
Saku Kotkakoivu
28
S84
Duncan Idaho
33
S83
Zeedayno Chara
31
 
 
 
The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – Brian Payne @Scurvy 
 
Brian Payne received 11 stars this season, none of them were first stars.
 
All-time record: S85 – Hard Markinson - 16 stars
              
Last 5 Bridesmaid Award Winners:
Season
Player
Stars
S87
Brian Payne
11
S86
The Frenchman
9
S85
Hard Markinson
16
S84
Asher Reinhart
13
S83
Tui Sova
12
 
 
The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Ryan Vidot @Enorama
 
Vidot showed they have the physique to carry their team, as they scored 27 more points than the next closest player on the team.
 
All-time record: S82 – Taro Tsujimoto - 52 points more than nearest teammate
          
Last 5 Backpack Award Winners:
Season
Player
Point Difference from nearest teammate
S87
Ryan Vidot
27
S86
Daniel Janser
21
S85
Jerome Reinhart
20
S84
Nico Pearce
32
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
23
 
 
 
The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
This is season 87, so the award goes to the player in 87th place in total points. Congratulations to Reid Johnson! They recorded 51 points this season, good enough for 87th place.
 
Last 5 Anniversary Award Winners:
Season
Player
Points
S87
Reid Johnson
51
S86
Callum Murray
49
S85
Sting Chameleon
51
S84
DB III
51
S83
Robert Wilk
54
 
 
 
 
The Eggshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Xavier Booberry @CowboyinAmerica 
 
Sometimes the puck bounces your way, other times it doesn’t. The later appears to be the case for Xavier Booberry this season. They had 11 OT losses. Tied for the most all-time.
 
All-time record: S87 - Xavier Booberry, S82 - Sirkants Klamasteris, S78 – Calvin Harvey, S75 - Doug Dimmadome, and S71 Jaxx Hextall - 11 OT games lost
 
Previous Eggshell Award Winners:
Season
Player
Overtime Games Lost
S87
Xavier Booberry
11
S86
Ben Dahl
10
S85
Boris Tsezar
8
S84
Cole Pearce
9
S83
David Davis
9
 
 
 
The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Henry Tucker Jr @NSG
 
Tucker Jr may have taken some notes from his father’s playing days. Tucker Jr led all goalies with 12 PIM this season.
 
All-time record: S76 - Doug Dimmadome - 29 PIM
 
Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
S87
Henry Tucker Jr
12
S86
Augustus Kennedy
16
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
12
S84
Oskar Lindbergh
16
S83
Ben Dahl
14
 
 
 
The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Joel Castle @animal74
 
Joel Castle rooked his opponents by stopping 88.5% of the 26 penalty shots he faced. A great showing for the goalie’s first season!
 
All-time record: S86 – Matt Murdock – 100% penalty shots stopped (12 shots faced)
 
Previous Poke Check Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shots Stopped
S87
Joel Castle
88.5%
S86
Matt Murdock
100.0%
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
88.5%
S84
David Davis
80.0%
S83
Dexter Vaughn
80.0%
 
 
 
That wraps it up for this season! Another year, another successful award ceremony! Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! As always, please provide any suggestions, insights, or thoughts in the comments. Thank you all for reading and continuing to make this a successful column!
 

22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S87
Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 22nd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring the highs and lows of S87! Thank you to everyone that reads this.
 
These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors.
 
For each award, I list the winners from the last 5 seasons. If you want to check out the award winners from every season, use this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sAZtX3bxVpPTIsKe1rSRVOenH1-iyWzbQEdR9ZvYOdU/edit?usp=sharing
 
I also document the “all-time” record for each category. Of course, by that I mean all-time for the existence of these awards, not all-time, all-time. Clear? Ok, good. Let’s get things underway!
 
 
The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
Helsinki claimed the top 6 spots in this category, but Reid Johnson led them all with a -49. Repeat winner Daniel Clarke @Danzoshowed some improvement, ending 33rd worst with a -16.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed -156
 
Last 5 Pylon Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
+ / -
S87
Reid Johnson
-49
S86
Daniel Clarke
-55
S85
Daniel Clarke
-65
S84
Ryan Li
-60
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
-66
 
 
 
The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Todd Cooke @KRZY 
 
Todd Cooke wins the award outright by being the only player to record the league low 2 PIM, while playing 2,138 minutes. After a couple of seasons of some higher PIM totals winning this award, it’s nice to get back to lower PIM. Here’s hoping for a 0 PIM next season.
 
All-time record: S81 - Brendan Telker - 0 PIM, 2211 Minutes Played
 
Last 5 Gandhi Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
Minutes Played
S87
Todd Cooke
2
2138
S86
Mason Jones
6
2175
S85
Girts Galvins
6
2153
S84
Florida Man
2
1880
S83
Mason Jones
2
2146
 
 
 
The Major2 Award (most major penalties) - Zaza Colors @McWolf 
 
Zaza Colors went major penalty happy this season, recording more PIM in majors this season than their total PIM from any previous season. Their 10 major penalties is enough to claim this award.
 
All-time Record: S77 – Randy Marsh - 14 Majors
 
Previous Major2 Award Winners:
Season
Player
Major Penalties
S87
Zaza Colors
10
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
10
S85
Vinny Detroit
12
S84
Cadmael Ixazaluoh
9
S83
Brian Payne
11
 
 
 
The Timex Award (received most hits) – Leandro Goncalves @leandrofg 
 
Leandro Goncalves was hit exactly 300 times during the season. It seems like a lot of hits and I’m sure Leandro would agree, but it’s actually the lowest winning total since Anthony Matthews won with 274 hits received in S72.
 
All-time Record: S82 – Bogdan Trunov - 408 Hits taken
 
Last 5 Timex Award Winners:
Season
Player
Hits Taken
S87
Leandro Goncalves
300
S86
Perry Laperriere
337
S85
Perry Laperriere
339
S84
Duncan Idaho
316
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
346
 
 
 
The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
For the second straight season Brendan Marner wins this award by being the only player in the league to record over 600 shots. Their 622 shots are 40 more than the next closest player, Ronan Lavelle @Arce .
 
All-time record: S82 – Jerome Reinhart - 713 Shots on goal
 
Last 5 John Wayne Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots on Goal
S87
Brendan Marner
622
S86
Brendan Marner
602
S85
Zaza Colors
566
S84
Duncan Idaho
621
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
692
 
 
 
The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Ronan may have finished 2nd in shots on goal, but they finished 1st in having their shots blocked with a total of 170 of their shots blocked.
 
All-time record:  S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 204 Own shots blocked
 
Last 5 HtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Own Shots Blocked
S87
Ronan Lavelle
170
S86
Landon Wolanin
171
S85
Alex Johnston
168
S84
Alex Johnston
187
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
189
 
 
 
The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Ronan Lavelle @Arce  
 
Lavelle wins this award with 450 shots missed, barely beating Brendan Marner in both this and the previous category.
 
All-time record: S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 532 Shots missed
 
Last 5 CHtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Missed
S87
Ronan Lavelle
450
S86
Brendan Marner
436
S85
Zaza Colors
406
S84
Baby Bob
415
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
509
 
 
 
The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Bo Johansson @Shindigs 
 
Bo knows blocking shots. As proved by their performance this season where they blocked 210 shots.
 
All-time record: S82 – creed - 460 Shots blocked
 
Last 5 New Shin Pads Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Blocked
S87
Bo Johansson
210
S86
James Marino
243
S85
Deron Nesbitt
222
S84
Jaromir Lemiuex
268
S83
Barron Kruulenstien
261
 
 
The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - Scoish Velociraptor Maloish @youloser1337 
 
Scoish showed they are a different animal by playing 2,441 total minutes.
 
All-time record: S82 – Chicken Wing – 2,512 Minutes played
 
Last 5 Tired Legs Award Winners:
Season
Player
Minutes Played
S87
Scoish Velociraptor Maloish
2441
S86
James Marino
2422
S85
Florida Man
2221
S84
Jerome Reinhart
2400
S83
Rhys Trenton
2374
 
 
 
The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday 
 
Back-to-back wins for Brendan Marner. Maybe we’re discovering a secret to their success, powerplay minutes. They spent 404 minutes on the powerplay, where they recorded 39 points.
 
All-time record: S79 - Muffbeav - 454 power play minutes
 
Last 5 Snap! Award Winners:
Season
Player
PP Minutes
S87
Brendan Marner
404
S86
Brendan Marner
335
S85
Bo Johansson
344
S84
Napoleon Dynamite
369
S83
Battre Sandstrom
339
 
 
 
The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Babushka @BrutalBoost 
 
Babushka and Biggie Cheese @a_Ferk both tied with 337 minutes on the penalty kill. Babushka wins the award based on the tiebreaker of playing less total minutes, meaning a larger percentage of their minutes on the ice were spent killing penalties.
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov - 447 penalty kill minutes
              
Last 5 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:
Season
Player
PK Minutes
S87
Babushka
337
S86
Doug Matchett
336
S85
Hari Singh Nalwa
317
S84
Deron Nesbitt
335
S83
Zeedayno Chara
340
 
 
 
The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Daniel Janser wins this award for the second consecutive season. Their 60.34% face-off win percentage is a slight dip from the mark they set last season, but still a great total.
 
All-time record: S74 - Brock Louth - 63.72% face-offs won
               
Last 5 Sean Archer Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Daniel Janser
60.34%
S86
Daniel Janser
62.90%
S85
N/A
  S84
Paul Atreides
61.22%
S83
Zeedayno Chara
63.17%
 
 
 
The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Nic McMuffin @Ente2997
 
Nic McMuffin may need to change their breakfast strategy. The had a league worst 32.22 winning percentage on their faceoffs.  
 
All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov – 29.60% face-offs won.
               
Last 5 Castor Troy Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S87
Nic McMuffin
32.22%
S86
William Futch
34.87%
S85
N/A
  S84*
Pistol Pete
43.73%
S83
Gregory Bates
31.86%
 
 
The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Daniel Weaver @ThePerfectNut
 
Daniel Weaver won this award outright as they were the only player to score 6 penalty shot goals.
 
All-time record: S86 – Daniel Janser - 9 penalty shot goals
              
Last 5 Triple Deke Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shot Goals
S87
Daniel Weaver
6
S86
Daniel Janser
9
S85
Hammar Voss
6
S84
Zach Kisslinger II
7
S83
Zeedayno Chara
7
 
 
 
The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Ivan Retoslav @eagle_3450 
 
Ivan Retoslav, Ronan Lavelle @Arce , and Zaza Colors @McWolf all tied with 4 fight wins. Retoslav wins it on their tie-breaker thanks to their 4-0-5 fight record, better than Lavelle (4-0-2) and Colors (4-1-5)
 
All-time record: S83 Brian Payne – 7 fights won
              
Last 5 Rocky Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Won
S87
Ivan Retoslav
4
S86
Jared Carter the 2st
5
S85
Vinny Detroit
5
S84
Paul Atreides
4
S83
Brian Payne
7
 
 
 
 
The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Daniel Clarke @Danzo 
 
There was a 4-way tie for this award, all with 3 fights lost. Clarke gets the nod there thanks to their abysmal 0-3-1 fight record.
 
All-time record: S86 – Jason Argos, S74 - Lee Xin, and S69 Rusty Shackleford - 5 fights lost
              
Last 5 Glass Joe Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Lost
S87
Daniel Clarke
3
S86
Jason Argos
5
S85
Henri le Massif
3
S84
Deagun Rust
3
S83
Kyle Glass
3
 
 
 
The Stars Award (most stars won) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser 
 
Another back-to-back award win for Daniel Janser! This was a close one as both him and Vasile Lamb @dlamb had 26 total stars, but Janser had more 1st stars, so they win the award. Special recognition to Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877who led the league with 12 first stars. And of course a shout out to Art Vandelay @Gustav for leading all goalies with 12 first stars and 22 total stars.
 
All-time record: S76 - Mikko Lahtinen – 34 total stars
              
Last 5 Stars Award Winners:
Season
Player
Total Stars
S87
Daniel Janser
26
S86
Daniel Janser
33
S85
Saku Kotkakoivu
28
S84
Duncan Idaho
33
S83
Zeedayno Chara
31
 
 
 
The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – Brian Payne @Scurvy 
 
Brian Payne received 11 stars this season, none of them were first stars.
 
All-time record: S85 – Hard Markinson - 16 stars
              
Last 5 Bridesmaid Award Winners:
Season
Player
Stars
S87
Brian Payne
11
S86
The Frenchman
9
S85
Hard Markinson
16
S84
Asher Reinhart
13
S83
Tui Sova
12
 
 
The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Ryan Vidot @Enorama
 
Vidot showed they have the physique to carry their team, as they scored 27 more points than the next closest player on the team.
 
All-time record: S82 – Taro Tsujimoto - 52 points more than nearest teammate
          
Last 5 Backpack Award Winners:
Season
Player
Point Difference from nearest teammate
S87
Ryan Vidot
27
S86
Daniel Janser
21
S85
Jerome Reinhart
20
S84
Nico Pearce
32
S83
Saku Kotkakoivu
23
 
 
 
The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Reid Johnson @TopTiddee2 
 
This is season 87, so the award goes to the player in 87th place in total points. Congratulations to Reid Johnson! They recorded 51 points this season, good enough for 87th place.
 
Last 5 Anniversary Award Winners:
Season
Player
Points
S87
Reid Johnson
51
S86
Callum Murray
49
S85
Sting Chameleon
51
S84
DB III
51
S83
Robert Wilk
54
 
 
 
 
The Eggshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Xavier Booberry @CowboyinAmerica 
 
Sometimes the puck bounces your way, other times it doesn’t. The later appears to be the case for Xavier Booberry this season. They had 11 OT losses. Tied for the most all-time.
 
All-time record: S87 - Xavier Booberry, S82 - Sirkants Klamasteris, S78 – Calvin Harvey, S75 - Doug Dimmadome, and S71 Jaxx Hextall - 11 OT games lost
 
Previous Eggshell Award Winners:
Season
Player
Overtime Games Lost
S87
Xavier Booberry
11
S86
Ben Dahl
10
S85
Boris Tsezar
8
S84
Cole Pearce
9
S83
David Davis
9
 
 
 
The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Henry Tucker Jr @NSG
 
Tucker Jr may have taken some notes from his father’s playing days. Tucker Jr led all goalies with 12 PIM this season.
 
All-time record: S76 - Doug Dimmadome - 29 PIM
 
Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
S87
Henry Tucker Jr
12
S86
Augustus Kennedy
16
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
12
S84
Oskar Lindbergh
16
S83
Ben Dahl
14
 
 
 
The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Joel Castle @animal74
 
Joel Castle rooked his opponents by stopping 88.5% of the 26 penalty shots he faced. A great showing for the goalie’s first season!
 
All-time record: S86 – Matt Murdock – 100% penalty shots stopped (12 shots faced)
 
Previous Poke Check Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shots Stopped
S87
Joel Castle
88.5%
S86
Matt Murdock
100.0%
S85
Oskar Lindbergh
88.5%
S84
David Davis
80.0%
S83
Dexter Vaughn
80.0%
 
 
 
That wraps it up for this season! Another year, another successful award ceremony! Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! As always, please provide any suggestions, insights, or thoughts in the comments. Thank you all for reading and continuing to make this a successful column!