VSN Presents: S80 VHL Awards Race

[Alex 3,204]

@Ricer13

 

With the season approaching the mid way point of the season (wow that happened quickly) it’s time to look at the VHL award races and reflect on the predictions made prior to the start of the season. Throughout the article any value in brackets following a team or player name signifies the total number of people who predicted that they would win the aforementioned award. While you’re here feel free to check out some of the other recent VSN articles below!

Under 200 Power Rankings | S79 VHLM Awards! | The S79 VHL Awards Recap

 

Continental Cup

The award that everyone wants to win is still up for grabs for just about any team except for Toronto. The predictions went as most would expect with last season’s champion receiving the most predictions with 40 of the 103. The team with the second most is an interesting one with the Los Angeles Stars (17) who currently sit on the outside of the playoffs with a 11-14-2 record. Another surprising prediction total comes with the Chicago Phoenix (0), who are currently 2nd in the North American conference with a 19-6-3 record. Prediction totals for the remaining teams are as follows; Moscow (11), Warsaw (11), New York (7), Calgary (6), D.C. (2), Vancouver (2), Riga (1), and everyone else (0).

 

Terence Fong Trophy

The Terence Fong Award is similar to the Continental Cup as it is still up for grabs for pretty well any of the European teams as to have a chance at it all you have to do is make the playoffs. With this trophy only 3 teams received a significant amount of players' predictions and 1 of them had way more than every other team combined and that is Malmo with 64 total predictions! The other 2 teams who received a significant amount of players’ predictions were Moscow (15), and HC Davos (7).

 

Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy

Similar to the Terrence Fong Trophy the eventual winner of this award remains wide open, in contrast to the Fong Trophy 5 of the 8 teams in the North American conference received at least 10 predictions, those being; D.C. (21), Los Angeles (21), New York (19), Calgary (16), and Vancouver (10).

 

Victory Cup

The Victory Cup is awarded each season to the team with the most regular season points, as of right now it’s a clear battle between 4 teams with Vancouver (3) establishing a 4 point lead over Moscow (13) with 50 and 46 points respectively, just back from them is Chicago (1) with a 21-6-3 record and lastly 9 points back of the Vancouver is Malmo (44) with a 20-10-1 record. Other teams who received a considerable amount of predictions to win the Victory Cup include; New York (9), HC Davos (6), Calgary (5), D.C. (5), and Los Angeles (5).

 

 

Mike Szatkowski Trophy (Most Points):

 

Rank	Player Name	Points	Player Name (predictions)	Prediction total
1	Philip Stein @IHateBobNutting	55	Gunnar Odinsson	30
2	Jivere Zolnek @Sixersfan594	53	Aloe Dear @Renomitsu	20
3	Gunnar Odinsson @BOOM	53	Red Lite @Tate	18
4	Lee Xin @Blazzer	53	Pistil Stamen @DMaximus	8
5	Nathan Perry @tinafrombobsburgers/Henry Tucker @NSG88	52	Brendan Telker @Telkster/Taro Tsujimoto @GustavMattias	4

 

Kevin Brooks Trophy (Most Goals):

 

Rank	Player Name	Goals	Player Name (predictions)	Prediction total
1	Lee Xin	25	Gunnar Odinsson	32
2	Philip Stein	25	Red Lite	15
3	Henry Tucker	24	Aloe Dear	11
4	Asher Reinhart @rjfryman	24	Duncan Idaho @OrbitingDeath	10
5	Aloe Dear/Pekko Viitanen @Xdjk93	23	Brendan Telker	6

 

Alexander Beketov Trophy (Most Assists):

 

Rank	Player Name	Assists	Player Name (predictions)	Prediction total
1	Julian Nousiainen @okochastar	35	Aloe Dear	21
2	Nathan Perry	34	Scotty Kaberle	14
3	Gunnar Odinsson	34	Red Lite	12
4	R @Kylrad	34	Gunnar Odinsson	9
5	Scotty Kaberle @fromtheinside/Christian Mingle @Quik	33	Kasper Kankkunen @16z	9

 

Greg Clegane Trophy (Lowest GAA):

 

Rank	Player Name	Goals	Player Name (predictions)	Prediction total
1	Rara Rasputin @Victor	2.68	Artem Tretiak	26
2	Sirkants Klamasteris @hedgehog337	2.70	Rara Rasputin	25
3	Jean Pierre Camus @solas	2.73	Doug Dimmadome @Esso2264	13
4	Artem Tretiak @Molholt	2.75	Thadius Sales @thadthrasher	13
5	Markus Emerson Jr @Xflexz	2.89	Kevin Malone @WentzKneeFan036/Sirkants Klamasteris	5

 

Scotty Campbell (MVP):

The MVP race this season is very close with the point spread between the top is so small that anyone could run away with it at any given moment. Of note with the MVP the team you play on makes an impact in the MVP vote as players who typically lead their teams by a wide margin have the best chance to come away with the award. As of right now Philip Stein (0) of Moscow leads the league in scoring with 55 points. Right behind them is Gunnar Odinsson (20) who will look to capture the award after just missing out on it last season. Other players who received a considerable number of predictions are; Red Lite (18), Duncan Idaho (13), John Merrick @Steve (7), and Brendan Telker (6).

 

Brett Slobodzian (Most outstanding): 

Similar to the previous award any player could run away with this award at any given moment, the favourites at this given moment would correspond directly to the point leaders with Philip Stein (0), Jivere Zlonek (0), Gunnar Odinsson (32), Lee Xin (0), and Nathan Perry (0). Some players who received player predictions are Red Lite (16), John Merrick (9), Aloe Dear (6), Brendan Telker (6), and Groovy Dood @bigAL (5).

 

Sterling Labatte (Top Defensemen): 

The race for the top defensemen award is much closer than last season where Alex Letang @Spartan ran away with it. This season Matty Socks @fishy (0) has returned to form and currently leads the league in defensemen scoring, closely followed by Kristof Welch @Juice (16) and Scotty Kaberle (12). This award usually goes to a defenseman who has shown that they excel at both ends of the ice, something that each of these 3 has shown and it could come down to any one of them or even another player who steps it up in the second half. Predictions for this award were very diverse as no 1 player received substantially more than any other as 6 players received at least 5 predictions, those being Kasper Kankkunen (13), Jeffrey Pines @rory (12), Battre Sandstrom @Acydburn (10), and Cowboy Prout @Prout (5) in addition to Welch and Kaberle.

 

Alexander Valiq (Offensive Defensemen): 

In contrast to the previous award this award goes to the leagues most offensive defensemen and the defensive scoring race is surprisingly close relative to last season as there is 7 players within 10 points of the lead those being Matty Socks (1) with 48, Kristof Welch (12) with 47, Scotty Kaberle (19) with 43, R (1) with 41, Reylynn Reinhart @Ricer13 (0) with 39, and Robin Galante Nilsson (1) and Jiggly Gumballs (1) both with 38. The only other two players to receive a considerable amount of prediction votes were Jeffrey Pines (19) who currently has 35 points and Kasper Kankkunen (12) with 36.

 

Jake Wylde (Defensive Defensemen): 

The Jake Wylde award is likely one of the most subjective awards for VHL players as it goes to the best defensive defensemen, as a result of that 7 different players were predicted to win the award by at least 5 different people, these were; Jeffrey Pines (13), Kasper Kankkunen (12), Robin Galante Nilsson @RomanesEuntDomus (12), Scotty Kaberle (12), Zeedayno Chara @Jubis (10), Jiggly Gumballs @JigglyGumballs (6), and Matty Socks (5). Chara is the only one of these players in the top 10 for blocked shots with 93, 10 back of the leader Vladimir Mlinski @Brrbisbrr (0) who has certainly thrown their hat into the race.

 

Aiden Shaw (Top Goalie): 

The Aiden Shaw award recognizes the top goalie in the league every season and with that it is always an interesting race to watch. Currently Markus Emerson Jr. (1) is leading the league in both wins with 25 and SV% with a 0.929. Right behind him is Jean Pierre Camus (1) and Rara Rasputin (23). Lastly Artem Tretiak (27) is having another great season for Malmo. The other three goalies who received at least five people’s predictions are Thadius Sales (16), Doug Dimmadome (24), and Sirkants Klamasteris (6).

 

Christian Stolzschweiger (top Rookie): 

At this point in the season the award for the top rookie is a one horse race as Matty Fire @MattyIce (41) has established a 19 point lead over Corey Kitson @Nykonax (10), a lead so significant retired player Matty Ice (1) received a prediction to win this award. In a season with only 6 rookie skaters in the league this season due to the introduction of the VHLE, this race is Fire’s to lose. Other players who received player predictions are as follows; AJ Williams @ajwllmsn (29), Vinny Detroit @dasboot (3), Sigard Petrenko @SlapshotDragon (3), and Mikey Markov @JetsFan81 (1).

 

Scott Boulet (Top two way forward): 

The Scott Boulet award is given to Groovy Do… sorry, the top two-way forward every season and with that Groovy Dood (51) has now won it in 3 consecutive seasons. However this season looks to be anyone’s for the taking as Groovy Dood’s physical stats haven’t been where they need to be. As of right now Phil the Rock Johnson @Phil (2) leads the league in hits with 194 and is on pace to have by far their best season as well offensively. Henry Tucker (3) is also currently in contention as they have had a great season offensively and racked up the hits as well. Lastly, we shouldn’t overlook what John Leclair II @Fire Vigneault (0) has done this season as they are having a great season on both sides of the puck. The only other players who received more than 5 prediction votes were Duncan Idaho (9), and Druss Deathwalker @animal74 (6).

 

David Knight (top GM):

The David Knight Award is presented to the top GM in the league, as of right now it appears that it is likely going to end up in the hands of @Spartan (32), the GM of the Moscow Menace following their incredible turn around from last season where they only won 23 games, so far this season Moscow has 20 wins and sits only 14 points back of the previous season a mark they should pass in the coming days. Other GMs who were predicted to win the award by at least 5 people include; @hylands (15), @Enorama (11), @Ricer13 (8), @GustavMattias (8), and @MexicanCow123 (5).

 

Dustin Funk (Most improved):

The final award we’ll look at today is the Dustin Funk Award, this award is given to the player who shows the greatest amount of improvement and as expected had more players be predicted to win it than any other award. Of those nominated only 3 have surpassed their previous career highs, those being; Alex Johnston @Alex_J32 (3) [182% increase], Erlantz Jokinen @jRuutu (3) [180% increase], and Nicholas Mariani @Mistxh J (4) [154% increase]. The race will likely come down to these three at this point in time with it really being anyone’s to win. Other players to be predicted to win by at least 5 people include; Henri Le Massif @Garsh (13), The Seabasstard @Seabass (10), and Asher Reinhart (6).

 

Thank you for reading and stay tuned as we watch how these races develop throughout the season! Best of luck to everyone in the race!

Edited October 7, 2021 by Alex_J32

[rory 1,916]

Damn this dude tagging me to tell me how much of a disappointment pines is

[tinafrombobsburgers 367]

Fire article!!!

[Ricer13 2,796]

Amazing work @Alex_J32. 

[Garsh 1,192]

Sorry to all the Henri le Massif fans out there

[Blazzer 759]

Within the top 5 but 0 prediction points  

[Alex 3,204]

38 minutes ago, Ricer13 said:

Amazing work @Alex_J32. 

Thanks! you too!

 

[fromtheinside 1,290]

this is one of the more interesting pieces to come out lately. Really good idea!