Vancouver Wolves S96 Awards

[Gaikoku-hito 2,130]

Vancouver Wolves S96 Awards

 

 

Here we are after another disappoint season so I would like to do something differently this time around and I would like to call up the following players: Liv Slater, Rip Wheeler & Olober Syko. I want to start with saying You are the reason that we had the season that we just had and (smiles) and I cannot do this any longer here are you CHAMPIONSHIP rings!! We are the F*** Champions!!!

 

 

Seriously, It is always hard to say good bye to players that played a key role in the success of the team and seeing the three of you retire as Champions actually makes it harder since some of you have been through a lot with this team.

 

 

Liv Slater @Subject056 spent the darks days in the tallest tower imprisoned through the Vancouver Wolves rebuild with hope of freedom one day and lifting the cup. Well, Your Freedom has arrived just as our promise to get you a cup has as well. Thank you, Liv for everything that you have done. 

 

 

Rip Wheeler  @ScottyP spent most of the time in a drunken stupor dreaming of Vegas and doing what he do!! Being the punching bag and stress reliever for other members of the team. Okay, He also played a huge role in the success unselfishly switching to defense this season allowing the team to claw their way to the Championship. Thank you, Wheeler for everything that you have done.

 

 

Olober Syko @Spartan  traded here with an asterisk beside his name due to the condition of the trade but did everything that was expected of him allowing us to the put the Soju back on the shelf for a later date. We dreamed of a Championship when completing that trade and that is what you delivered; Thank you!!

 

 

Now go sit down you bums so that we can get this award show actually started…. (wipes away a tear)

 

 

The first award of the night and you would think I have prepared this before actually starting you are wrong will be the Best Defenseman award.

 

Best Defenseman:

Last season the not traded Guntis Gavilrovs had a breakout season and claimed this award as he put his stamp on the Vancouver Wolves. Bollos de Trueno looked to improve on a strong Rookie season along with newly acquired Erik Thorvaldsson but would it be enough to win the award. While Rip Wheeler had enough of being hit by defenders so switch to become one himself thinking it would be easier to be a defender while drunk…..

 

Spoiler

Bollos de Trueno @Thunder

13G – 51A – 64PTS   129 HITS 130SB

Eleven more points compared to last season winner and this season runner Guntis started to tip the scale in Trueno favor but completing the swing in his favor is the fact that he led (Spoiler) the team in Shot blocked this season. Capped also by scoring the Championship winning goal and you can easily see why Trueno is our Best Defenseman this season.

 

Little Wolf Award (Most Hits):

After seeing the waste of time article about good hit versus bad hits; I am not sure this is a great award to win any longer but who am I kidding everyone but the coach likes to see a Thunderious open ice hit that removed the other teams best players head from his shoulders so Who did this the most this season on the Big Bad Wolf team….

 

Spoiler

Riley Martin

@Smarch

240 HITS

Let me pick my jaw up off the floor as I didn`t expect to see a forward actually win this award as usually this is dominated by defenders as Guntis won the award last season with 239 hits and also stopping his reign at four straight Little Wolf Awards. Surprisingly, second this season was also another forward showing how punishing of a game the wolves played this past season as Liv Slater finished second with 199 Hits, one ahead of Guntis.

 

Unsung Hero:

Every season I find this as one of the hardest awards to give out due to the fact that it is actually hard pin point a single player that might have stood out above the rest of the players and wasn`t either a leader or our MVP. This season I asked this question in the Press Conference to see what type of response I would get and well, everyone voted for someone different throughout the process with only Wheeler voting for himself!! While I don`t completely disagree with his reasoning as we had a ton of selfless acts this past season from Wheeler switching to defense, Soju taking a back seat to Skyo, Martin changing his training to add more pass first mentality and Guntis adding more disciplined side to his game. In all it was really a team effort so who do I think is the Unsung hero….

 

Spoiler

Liv Slater

@Subject056

33G – 47A – 80pts   8GW  199HITS

Slater has lead Vancouver Wolves for the past five or so season and quietly led the team in game winning goals this season while really allowing others to take the leadership roles and offensive roles but Slater once again just always seemed to right where she was required when Vancouver needed a big goal, big game, big hit and this lead to a rather quietly impressive season that led the team to this season Championship. She even continued this into the play-offs where she quietly scored five (42%) of the twelve game winning goals in route to helping the Wolves lift the cup!! It wasn`t a flashy season and maybe rather unnoticed by most around the league and team but she was clearly our Unsung hero this season.

 

Sniper Award (Shooting Percentage):

Having already looked at the results and yes, it still followed the normal trend for past season with the winner being one of the less played players on the roster thus usually boosting their shooting percentage but this season was actaully a rather close race with three players over 9.00% as the team actually shot a rather impressive 8.24% overall, but we can only have one winner and this year that is….

 

Spoiler

Matteo Stefano

@mmrs617

9.73%

Similar situation as last year as Stefano played a bit less then some of the other forwards this season but this should change as he should be given a much larger role next season as the Wolves look to defend the Continental Cup. Down the stretch and play-off Stefano found his place on the top line with Ninefingers & Martin so Vancouver first line looks all but set for next season.

 

 

 

Most Energetic:

This is one of those awards that I also find tough at times but with this Vancouver Wolves team being so active it means it is actually a good thing. So once again I asked this as question in the press conference and wasn`t really surprised by what or who was voted as once again it was rather split between three players in Martin, Trueno and Ninefingers so who was the Most Energetic this season…..

 

Spoiler

Bollos de Trueno

@Thunder

Always one for the first in the locker room to lift the spirits of the team and learned his lesson from last season about the VHL gods. Overall a joy to have in the locker room as are most of the players for this season team.

 

 

QB Award (PP Assists):

I am still considering a change to this award in the future but haven`t figured out a good name or even if I want to maybe just add another award for PP goals or total PP points but for now we will leave it as assist so who was the QB of the Vancouver Wolves power-play this season…..

 

Spoiler

Pierre Marc Bouchard

@Gaikoku-hito

24 Assists

Five points clear of second place Logan Ninefingers; who was also last season QB Award recipient as he finished this season with another strong 19 assist one ahead of Martin.

 

Most Valuable Player (MVP):

This season Vancouver Wolves MVP has been pretty much lead by two players but one really separated himself from the other towards the end of the season. This was another question posted to the players over the past few weeks and the team was pretty much split down the middle pointing at these two players; Martin & Ninefingers. This season MVP award goes to……

 

Spoiler

Riley Martin

@Smarch

41G – 58A – 99Pts

In the end finishing 10pts clear in points and being a general pain in the arse every night for the opposition made this a easily MVP award to handout as Martin was clearly our MVP this season and it also continued through the play-off leading the team to the Continental Cup. He should also win the Kanou as Play-off MVp but we will see what happens.

 

Tooth Fairy (PIM Award):

It the past few season we have had one tough defender clearly the run away favorite of this award in Guntis Gavilrovs while that trend continue this season …..

 

 

 

Spoiler

Guntis Gavilrovs

@Girts

190 PIM

Wow, Guntis really cleaned up this PIM this season with 60 less PIM; the second straight season these numbers have dropped. Makes me wonder if this defender is becoming soft and easy to play against. I don`t think so but it shows that Guntis was more willing to play the team game this season leading to Vancouver Championship.

 

Rookie of the Year/Top Prospect Award:

Compared to last season when we had three rookies join the roster this season Vancouver Wolves were clearly in win now mode with zero rookies with only one still consider a rookie due to game played in Goaltender Soju. That means we will be looking at the Top Prospects rather then focusing on the rookie(s). So who is still consider a prospect well, we have Trueno, Stefano, Bouchard, Thorvaldsson and Soju as players only in their second season in the league. So who was the Top Prospect this season …….

 

Spoiler

Soju

@Frank

53GP – 33W – 13L – 6OTL     0.916Sav%    2.55GAA    3SO

Carried the team most of the season after Dalkr Vidarsson was traded away to Toronto Legion handing the net to the sophomore goaltender; who is still consider a rookie by league standards. He had huge shoes to fill and more than accomplished this feat; with a majority of Wolves confused when Vancouver brought in Skyo at the trade deadline for the play-off push. Simply put experience over youth was the reason and Soju more than handled the situation well hopefully gaining the experience of winning a cup means he will be able to lead Vancouver to back to back cups next season. Very strong season from Soju and the net is secure for the near future in Vancouver!!

 

 

 

 

Always Responsible (Plus/Minus):

Spoiler

Erik Thorvaldsson

@Tetricide

+ 42

Second straight season that a defenseman wins this award and more impressive when you consider that it was sophomore lifting this award this season showing a very mature and experienced game for his age. The future looks bright for this young defender.

 

It wasn`t me!! (Least PIM):

Spoiler

Matteo Stefano

@mmrs617

14PIM

Not completely surprised that Stefano lifts this award this season as this seems to also go hand in hand with minutes played but the surprising part was the fact that last years winner is still on the team and only missed this award by 3PIM; which I think came from a fighting major in the last few days of the regular season. Not taking PIM is a good thing right?

 

Oops Sorry Eh!! (Least Hits)

Spoiler

Matteo Stefano

@mmrs617

44 HITS

Again this goes hand and hand with PIM, Mintues played so not surprised but again it was a close fight with last season winner as Stefano only won this award by throwing two less hits then runner up Bouchard.

 

Shoot the lights out (Most Shots):

Spoiler

Riley Martin

@Smarch

497 SHOTS

This award usually goes to the player that scores the most goals on the team and not that surprise that was Martin this season. Slater last season award winner kept it interesting for most of the season finish a distant second with 452 Shots.

 

Work Horse Award (AMG):

Spoiler

Logan Ninefingers

@Scurvy

29.49 AMG

This award usually goes to a defender but it shows how much Vancouver Wolves relied on two players this season with Ninefingers winning the award by less then seven minutes over Martin. The top defender was third this season, which was Trueno with 29.37 AMG or nine minutes less. It was very well balanced team attack this season.

 

C`mon Coach (Least Played):

Spoiler

Matteo Stefano

@mmrs617

25.15 AMG

Sort of already gave this award away earlier tonight as Stefano was least played player on the Vancouver Wolves by close to a hundred minutes; which isn`t all that uncommon for a prospect. He should see his ice time increase significantly next season.

 

 

 

Bruised and Battered Award (SB):

Spoiler

Bollos de Trueno

@Thunder

130 SB

Clearly a defense award with Gavilrovs winning the award last year over then Rookie Trueno and Calaway. This season I had to do a double take due to the overall lack of SB as I thought I was looking at the play-offs stats since this is the second year in a row that SB have dropped and this season by 41 compared to last season. It was actually a really close race this season between Wheeler & Trueno with Trueno winning by only 3.

 

Three Stars Award:

You would think that I have learned after all these seasons of running the awards that we have the Three Stars award at the end of the presentation and that I should actually get it ready before-hand but nope, but I think I am faster at collecting the data!! LOL!! Give me second or two and I will be right back with the data points and yes, this season the bar is free so help yourself!!

 

Spoiler

Riley Martin

@Smarch

520 Pts

Finished with 22 total stars selections this season with 12 of them being 1^st stars, while surprisingly and maybe should have been the team’s Unsung hero based on these stats was Olober Skyo, who finished with 20 selections for 420pts. Liv Slater, who I chose as the unsung hero finished third with eleven 1^st star selection and 410pts. Love it when this award justifies my choice for MVP as Martin clearly was this season.

 

 

	1ST Star	2nd Star	3rd star	Total	Points
Riley Martin	12	6	4	22	520
Olober Syko	8	6	6	20	420
Liv Slater	11	2	4	17	410
Logan Ninefingers	7	7	3	17	380
Pierre Marc Bouchard	7	5	3	15	340
King Kisslinger	3	8	5	16	300
Soju	4	4	1	9	210
Matteo Stefano	1	6	1	8	160
Bollos de Trueno	1	1	7	9	120
Guntis Gavilrovs	1	1	4	6	90
Erik Thorvaldsson	0	2	3	5	70
Rip Wheeler	0	2	2	4	60

 

 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts:

Last season I ended stating that Now was our time and I wasn`t wrong as we did lift the cup at the end of the season but defending it is going to be very tough with team gunning for us more then other seasons and as usually with great Championship teams; changes have been made that will affect our chances next season of repeating but we still have a strong core with Ninefingers, Martin, Stefano, Bouchard, Gavilrovs, Trueno and Soju but I would be a miss if I didn`t mention that we sorrily miss the players that have entering retirement with Liv Slater, Olober Syko, and even Rip Wheeler. Adding further as every great team that wins means further change with Thorvaldsson already traded to Prague, Kisslinger joining the Pandas of Riga and Gavilrovs … uh, wait that was lasts season. This season has proven that we were right to select, trade and put this team together giving me at least great resolve to do it again but for now, tonight and until the start of the new season we can celebrate as we are the Champions!!!

 

 

Congrats on a Fantastic Season,  Wolves!!!

 

@Frank@Girts@Scurvy@Thunder@Subject056@mmrs617@Gaikoku-hito@Smarch@Sawyer13@ScottyP@Kisslinger@ethan tustain@jblock3@Tetricide@Spartan

 

 

2658 words (Dec 15^th, Dec 22^nd, Dec 29^th & Jan 5^th)

Edited December 11 by Gaikoku-hito

[mmrs617 340]

Hopefully I can keep top shooting percent next season in an increased role.

Although I had the least of a lot of categories, I'm really proud of what Stefano and the team did this season. Let's do it again in S97!

[Spartan 4,530]

It was a true privilege to come back to Vancouver and complete the unfinished business from Nico Pearce's era. After blowing two strong seasons with Pearce before, I figured there'd never be a chance in hell I'd get to return to this team and be around the same folks, but @Frank took a chance and I'm more relieved than excited that it worked out. Thanks for being a great AGM Gaiko, appreciate everything you do!

[Girts 1,095]

Congrats everyone! Great season!! 

[Subject056 1,244]

Thank you for the kind words and award!

Frank and Gaikoku-hito, it's been a fantastic experience having you guys as a GM and AGM thank you for the guidance and getting us a Cup!

The Wolves had and have a solid team and it's been an honor to be a part of it. Best of luck in future seasons!  

[Gaikoku-hito 2,130]

Dec 22^nd  Claim