Was VLG FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY off the s89 Dustin Funk trophy?

[vincentlg2007 498]

Was VLG FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY off the s89 Dustin Funk trophy?

 

 

So even before S89 started, I claimed pubicly that I was going to be a strong candidate for the Dustin Funk trophy given to the most improved player. I wasn't the only one to claim this, I believe @leandrofg and @cLoWn also predicted it. But in general, most people had voted for Alexandre Leduc, Daryl Dixon, Matt Murdock or Leonard Triller. Actually, I was also predicted as Scott Boulet Trophy given to the best two way forward by @Fradin99 but it's pretty laughable. I mean, I love the support but you'd never expect Caufield, Ovechkin or Hoffman to win the Selke! Going back to the subject, I was chosen as the nominee for the Wranglers overall but didn't make the final cut so let's answer the question " Was I Snubed off this award?" ( beating the filter on the word S-N-U-B-B-E-D with a single b )

 

 

Exhibit A) Coming off a below average season

 

So to win an award for most improved, you need to have place for improvement. You won't give it to someone who just had a 100 point season right before. Well, it's very safe to say their was room for improvement. A career high of 43 points is definitely improvable. We're talking 21 goals including 6 on the power play... 14 hits and 21 shots blocked. It's definitely not some star numbers. 

 

Exhibit B) Stellar progression

 

To even be eligible for the award, I'd need to have an improvement over that 43 points, 21 goals, 6 power play goals etc. Well, I did. If I didn't, there wouldn't be a purpose in making this media spot in the first place. So, that 43 points turned into a over a point per game mark hitting 80. The 21 goals became a solid 40. You'd assume that with double the goals you'd have double the power play goals but nope it stayed the same. Proving that I wasn't a Special units fraud. The 14 hits took a big hit ( I know i'm such a comedian) and hit the 48 mark. The shots blocked had a downgrade tho going from 21 down to 17. I'd also like to note that there were 10 game winning goals. Meaning that 27% of the Wranglers wins came from a VLG game winning goal. The improvement is undeniable. Is this worthy of winning the Dustin Funk ? Absolutely. 

 

Exhibit C) Breakout or Bounce back?

 

Something I've said multiple times before about the Dustin Funk trophy in the past, most improved doesn't separate bounce back player from a breakout player. Personally, I prefer to see it has a breakout but has it was shown by the fact Alexandre Leduc @Lemorse7 was the most predicted winner, not everyone sees it the same as me. Should it be 2 different awards ? That's another debate. Because yes, Leduc had multiple over a point per game seasons in his career 4 actually. Which proves he was already an improved breakout player. However, he had 61 points season in S88 which means they expected him to bounce back. Now, he had 91 points so he did improve but 61 is still a very decent and respectable mark. We've talked about My 2nd season but not my first season. I had 30 points. Which means I had more points in S89 then I had for my entire career combined. My best season before that was still worst then Leduc's worst season. But, the previous winner Tomas Sogaard @Brandon had 77 in his pre-funk winning season so maybe it's just me that sees it has a breakout rather then a bounce back. 

 

Exhibit D) The Winner

 

We've already established that I had the profile to be a nominee which I was but also worthy of winning it. But, Only one person can win it which means you have to compare yourself to the others. What better way to figure out if I was really FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY of the Funk trophy then comparing myself to the winner. We're talking about Brian Kowalski @Wheaties who also won the Brett Slobodzian trophy ( most oustanding player award), the Alexander Valiq Trophy( top offensive defenseman award), the  Jake Wylde ( Top defensive defenseman award), the Sterling Labatte Trophy ( Top overall  defenseman award) and received one vote for the Scotty Campbell Trophy ( Most Valuable VHL player award) as well as the Dustin Funk in S89. This is just incredible and you'd wonder how I can compare agains't that well, we're talking about the trophy for most improved so there can still be a debate. In his pre-funk season Kowalski had 52 points including 15 goals for a d-men. You could also note his 226 hits and his 128 shots blocked but even on stats alone he has more points then me as a d-men in my pre-funk season. So we go back to the Breakout-Bounce back conversation. NAH I'M JUST KIDDING. There's actually no room for debate in S89 Kowalski had 108 points, 23 goals, 218 hits and 233 shots blocked as a d-men. He had 9 more points then me in our pre-funk for 28 more in the funk. There's no debate to be add I wasn't FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY off the Funk, Kowalski deserved it. 

 

Exhibit E) The Final shortlist

 

Now, I can't say I was FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY off the award but was I FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY off the final shortlist? The only other player who made the shortlist was Nikolas Kauppi @Tetricide. Both being wingers that came into the league in S87, it's much more easy to compare the 2. In his pre-funk season Kauppi actually had less points then me with a 39 points total and 15 goals. But what matters the most is the funk season itself. Kauppi actually only lost to Kowalski by 1 vote. In his funk season, Kauppi also had 40 goals with 10 game winning goals which represents a 26% of Prague's wins. Most importantly, he had 87 points so 7 more then me. Which means Kauppi had less points in his pre-funk and more points in his funk so it's fair that he's above me.

 

Final Judgement

 

So, it's pretty obvious that despite having a fantastic season and having the profile of a winner it's not enough compared to the 2 members of the final shortlist. It probably places me around 3rd place but in a shortlist of two, three is not enough. So no I wasn't FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY off the S89 Dustin Funk trophy

 

Spoiler

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[vincentlg2007 498]

Theme week claim

[Tetricide 682]

Thanks for writing my article for me. (Primarily the part where Kowalski won by a point, but he definitely 100% deserved it)

[Lemorse7 1,016]

Kowalski won it so you weren’t 

[Lemorse7 1,016]

Good read tho 

[vincentlg2007 498]

week 2 claim