The 3 best winners of the Sterling Labatte trophy

[Otto Numminen 60]

The Sterling Labatte trophy is the award given every year to the best defenceman of the year. Previousely named the Orr trophy, it was change to the Sterling Labatte trophy after his umbelivable carrer that led him to 3 "Orr" trophy. Since S1, there has been a lot of great defenceman that won this trophy by some of them were just too dominant. Some of them even put up 100 pts season. In this article, I'm gonna talk about the three most dominant season of a Sterling Labatte winner. Just to be clear, I decided not to put hem in order from the best to the worst so the #3 isn't necessarily the 3rd best.

 

Honorable mentions:

S1: Sterling Labatte 16g 86a 102pts +93 77H 93sb

Of course I had to mention the very first winner and the older of this trophy name. During that season, Labatte was great and that's why he won the Orr trophy. Like mention earlier, he won 2 other orr trophy as the best defenceman of the year. It's logic that he had a +93 season because he was on a good team but he made the team great so that is deserve.

 

S5 Joey Kendrick 22g 112a 134pts +67 35H 113sb

Like Labatte, he was a star defenceman in the early year of the league and this S5 umbelivable season shows it. He might not be very present physically with only 35 hits but you can't say no to a 134 points defenceman on your team. A lot more hits and a little bit more shots blocked and he was officially in my list.

 

S74 Condor Adrienne 28g 82a 110pts +33 242H 176sb

I wanted to add a more recent winner on my list because before there were less player so every player (or near) would finish the season with 80+ points. I think Adrienne is a good choice for an honorable mention. A great 110 points season with 28 goals, 242 hits and 176 shots blocked is fantastic number.

 

Now that the honorable mentions are done, let's start the list!

 

1- S20: Patrick Bergqvist 30g 114a 144pts +46 135H 159sb

Bergqvist had the 2nd best point production in a season in the history of the league right behind David Walcott in S26. He led his team in point that year and was playing 29 to 30 minutes per game. That is why I have him in the 3 best.

 

2- S51: Black Velvet 23g 98a 121pts +92 221H 95sb

In his 4th season, Velvet went off and won his first Sterling Labatte trophy of his carrer. While putting up numbers with a great team, he was also present phisycally with his 221 hits and his 95 blocked shot. He also won another Starling Labatte trophy the next year. Overall, he had a fantastic career.

 

3- S32 Elijah Incognito 31g 96a 127pts +67 239H 159sb

Finally, Incognito had a fantastic season in S32 and that's why he won this trophy. He put up great numbers and was there to help his team win with his 159sb. He won the Sterling Labatte trophy only one time and it was a dominant season.

 

And that is it! Thanks for reading this article and have a great day!

 

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[Advantage 2,920]

Great article @Otto Numminen

 

Was surprised to not see Walcott in S26 on here since you mentioned him.

 

145 points, 166 Hits, 160 SB