VSN Presents: The S83 VHLE Awards Show

[animal74 1,809]

 

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Season 83 VHLE Awards!

 

This season saw a definite shift from the previous focus on offense displayed in the league’s first three years to much more defensive results as teams allowed less than 200 goals against for the first time - a feat accomplished by five of the league’s eight teams. This lack of offense was also mirrored by record numbers put up by some of the goaltending fraternity. Also, a fourth consecutive new champion was crowned in another playoff upset.
 
Without further delay, let’s get to the awards, both statistical and those being voted upon by the VHLE GMs. First up, the statistical awards. 
 
 
Renaissance Cup
 Bratislava Watchmen 

Despite being third in the regular season standings, the Bratislava Watchmen would not be denied. After falling behind 3-1 to the Instanbul Red Wolves in the first round, the Watchmen stormed back to win Game 7 in overtime to book a trip to their first ever Finals facing the top team, the Vasteras Iron Eagles. They then lost Game 1 of the Finals before winning four straight to beat top Vasteras for the franchise’s first Renaissance Cup! Congratulations to the Watchmen as well as GM @FrostBeard
 
 
Top Regular Season Team
 Vasteras Iron Eagles 
 
The Iron Eagles dominated the league in S83 and set VHLE records for wins (54), points (111), and goals against (160). They were 10 wins and 20 points ahead of the next closest team in both categories and hoped their precision would lead to the franchise’s second Renaissance Cup. Alas, the trend of the top team not winning the Cup continued as the Iron Eagles fell to Bratislava in five games. Congratulations to GM @Dil for building such a competitive roster, and to the players for their performances.
 
Leader in Goals
 Bob Chicoine, Geneva Rush 
42 goals
@PoignardLeclerc11
 
Leaders in Assists
 Eldon Escobar, Geneva Rush 
  Jake Thunder, Oslo Storm 
67 assists
@TeeJay11 @Thunder
 
Leader in Points
 Eldon Escobar, Geneva Rush   
95 points
@TeeJay11
 
Lowest GAA
 Red Gaming, Vasteras Iron Eagles 
2.01 GAA
@Lilpfigher
 
With the statistical awards out of the way, let's move on to the awards voted on by the VHLE General Managers... First up, Top Defenseman!

Edited July 12, 2022 by animal74
Fixed tagging

[solas 1,951]

GO VASTERAS

[leandrofg 1,156]

 

But then googling 9:00 PM MST and that means 04:00 AM here so…

 

[jacobcarson877 2,534]

Istanbul

[KaleebtheMighty 1,509]

Istanbul

[BOOM 8,745]

Brat boys. 

[animal74 1,809]

Almost ready...

[Dil 1,760]

vasteras 

[animal74 1,809]

Sorry for the delay, closed my tab by accident.

[animal74 1,809]

Top Defenseman
 
Our first voted award of the night is for best defenseman during the regular season. This year’s winner didn’t play on a playoff team and yet was part of over 54% of their team’s goals! Their offensive brilliance helped them to the second-most points in the league (89), a tie for the league lead in assists, (67), led the VHLE in blocked shots (216), and was Top-7 in penalty minutes (116) and power play goals (14). 
 
Congratulations, with 6 votes to Jake Thunder, your Top Defenseman of Season 83! 
@Thunder
 
Runner Up: Brian Kowalski, Geneva (2) @Wheaties
 
Next up, Top Two-Way Forward!
 

[animal74 1,809]

Top Two-Way Forward
 
Sometimes the two-way specialist uses more brains than brawn when providing defensive coverage. It can be the intangibles - a quick stick, tying up a face-off, a critical clear on a penalty kill - that defines the game of a player who excels at both ends of the ice. The offensive stats of this year’s winner of the Top Two-Way Forward are obvious, but along with being an important cog the league’s second-best penalty kill, it was the lesser noticed numbers that illuminated his defensive acumen: 2nd in faceoffs taken (3096) 4th in faceoffs won (1518), 6th among forwards in hits (191), and T-10th among forwards in blocked shots (30), all while being tied for the league lead in plus/minus (42).
 
Congratulations, with 7 votes, to Eldon Escobar, your Top Two-Way Forward of Season 83! 
@TeeJay11
 
Runner Up: Johnny Xavier, Cologne (1) @Johnny_HX
 
Next up, Top Goaltender!
 

[animal74 1,809]

Top Goaltender
 
In a year where goaltenders across the league stonewalled shooters with record efficiency, many VHLE records were set in S83 including wins and GAA in a season. While this netminder surprisingly only led league goalies in assists, they were a close second in many categories as they posted career-bests in wins (33), GAA (2.04), and shutouts (5). Even though winning this award will be special, this runner-up from last season already won the most important trophy by backstopping their team to the Renaissance Cup. 
 
Congratulations, with 7 votes, to Orion D H Chiester IX, your Top Goaltender of Season 83! 
@Donno100
 
Runner Up: Augustus Kennedy, Oslo (1) @InstantRockstar 
 
Next up, Playoff MVP!
 

[animal74 1,809]

Playoff MVP
 
The Playoff MVP this season was a unanimous choice as not only were they the playoff goals (6),  points (15) and shots (106) leader, it was the timing of the goals that made him so valuable to the eventual Cup winners. His two game-winners came in Bratislava’s first two wins to keep them in the first series against Instabul. The first came in double-overtime in Game 2 to tie the series 1-1. The second game-winner was scored early in the third period of Game 5 to turn the momentum in the Watchmen’s favor still down 3-2. The MVP also scored the first goal and threw 14 shots on net in the pivotal Game 7 to help push Bratislava to the overtime victory. In the Finals, they poured in 2-5-7 in five games including assisting on the last two game-winners to ensure Bratislava took home the Cup. No one was more clutch.  
 
 Congratulations, with 8 votes, to Alf Larsson, your Playoff MVP of Season 83! 
@ng1291
 
 
Next up, Regular Season MVP!
 

[animal74 1,809]

Regular Season MVP
 
This is always a super close vote and this season may be one of the closest as many players put forth valiant efforts to lead their teams to victory. In this case, the S83 MVP led the VHLE’s top team in scoring with 87 good for third in the league. They led the Iron Eagles in goals, assists and points and had 14 more points than the next closest teammate, the second-most of any team. 
 
  Congratulations, with 3 votes, to Phoebe Bridgers, your Regular Season MVP of Season 83! 
@GrittyIsKing
 
Runners Up: Eldon Escobar (2), Orion D H Chiester IX (2), Jake Thunder (1)
 
Finally, Top Executive!
 

[animal74 1,809]

Top Executive
 
The VHLE is like the middle child. They don’t get babied like the VHLM but they also don’t get the brand new clothes and shiny things first like the VHL. This makes managing a VHLE team a unique experience, one that requires patience, shrewdness, and knowing when to strike while the iron is hot. Speaking of iron, the Iron Eagles did just that, after missing the playoffs the past two seasons, they gathered talent and experience, became the league’s best team and made it to the Finals for the second time. Unfortunately, they lost the Cup but set records along the way.  
 
Congratulations, with 5 votes, to @Dil , your Top Executive of Season 83! 
 
Runners Up: @FrostBeard  (2), @KaleebtheMighty , Instanbul (1)
 

[animal74 1,809]

Thank you everyone for your patience with our technical difficulties. I hope you enjoyed the Awards Show tonight! Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to the Commissioners and GMs who work so hard to make the VHLE a success! This is animal74 on behalf of VSN saying thank you and good night. Take care, everyone!

[Ricer13 2,796]

Great job @animal74! Congrats to all the award winners  

[animal74 1,809]

Claim #2