S98 Vancouver Wolves Awards

[Gaikoku-hito 2,405]

S98 Vancouver Wolves Awards

 

It seems like every season we seem to always come across the same team over and over. This season we seen the New York Americans in the Wildcard round after a season that could only be described as underwhelming but the playoffs are a whole new season and chance to forget about the problems of the season, right? Well, in the case of the Vancouver Wolves the playoff simply mirrored the regular season as it seemed other teams came prepared with pliers and keep the wolves rather toothless for most of the season. We tried something new by running a few bots as we thought we had a strong enough team to at least get to the trade deadline where we would have been able to add getting ready for a long playoff but clearly ten games into the season and we were lucky to be able to pivot and just make the playoff in the end.

 

Down season was clear and by the season end we had zero players over 100pts after the similar team a season previously having five players with 100pts or more so putting it nicely it was a dumpster fire so now we try to take away anything positive from the past season and look forward to a new start in S99 and hopefully another Championship run……

 

So here are the positives from this past season via the Vancouver Wolves awards:

 

 

Best Defenseman:

Vancouver Wolves rebuilt their defensive core last season trading away league award winning and likely HoF defender to New York Americans Guntis Gavilrovs @Girts and brought in Lionel Collberg @Masu Chanfrom Chicago Phoenix with Bric Sheithaus @Oldhead91 also joining the roster from LA Stars; so a lot of pressure would fall on Bollos de Trueno @Thunder as one of two returning defenders to carry the bulk of the work load. Einar Mathiesen @xsjack was the other returning defender after being acquired the previous off season. So who was this season best defenseman for Vancouver Wolves:

 

Spoiler

Bollos de Trueno @Thunder

10G – 79A – 89PTS   173 HITS 140 SB

Third season in a row that Trueno claims the best defenseman award and also took home the leagues Alexander Beketov Trophy for the season straight season as the player led the VHL is assists. Clearly one of the bright spots of the season for the Wolves.

 

 

Little Wolf Award (Most Hits):

A lot of discussion around hits in the media towards the end of the season and the playoffs as hits are view to lead to more PIM, which if the player plays a physical brand of good old hard hitting hockey that shouldn`t really surprise anyone so maybe we see the Little Wolf Award winner again when we award the Tooth Fairy award so who was the little wolf this season?

 

Spoiler

Logan Ninefingers @Scurvy

208 Hits

Logan Ninefingers tried to lead the way last season as Captain by really doing everything that he could to help the Wolves win games, scoring goals, hitting and blocking shots. He tried to single-handedly drag the Wolves to the playoffs and making it hard for everyone to play against the man missing a digit.

 

 

Unsung Hero:

Oh, I love this award as it can be the easiest or the hardest award to give out but always goes to someone that is more than deserving as they did everything possible to help the team win but might not actually get recognized for what they accomplished this season. So who was Vancouver Wolves Unsung Hero:

 

Spoiler

B-VAN G2

7-0-1    0.931 Sav%    2.00 GAA

Couldn`t ask for more from your back-up goaltender when they collect points in every single game that they played without losing in regulation. As Soju struggled this season most started questioning why B-VAN G2 wasn`t given more ice time to aid the team further. Welcome to the VHL Back-up rule otherwise he would have likely take over the starting role for Vancouver last season!!

 

 

Sniper Award (Shooting Percentage):

From past experience this award usually goes to a player that either didn`t get a ton of extra looks on the PP or PK but played a key role within the lineup but maybe didn`t get the ice time that they required to really breakout or the player that simply scores the most goals on the team so lets find out who was the Sniper this season:

 

Spoiler

Matthew Highmore @NineIQ v2

10.20%

Player that came over after the first few games into the season as Vancouver pivoted and pulled the trigger to bring Highmore in from Malmo Nighthawks. While like most Wolves Highmore never reached his scoring potential of previous season he did net five goals on forty-nine shots making most wonder why he didn`t shoot the puck more but in the end comes away with the sniper award.

 

 

Most Energetic:

Like the annoying puppy that always jumps all over when you come home from work but in someway always lifts you up after a tough day and as I said last season I cannot see this award really going to anyone else as long as this player is on the Vancouver Wolves roster so once again we award this award to:

 

Spoiler

Bollos de Trueno @Thunder

Most likely enjoying the extra few days off as Vancouver was eliminated; most likely spent at the beach continuing to bronze his buns and pumping up the New York Americans. Yes, We noticed. Trueno is still our big lovable puppy!!

 

 

QB Award (PP Assists):

Not sure if I said this last season as well but most will think the assist leader of the league should likely win this award but that wasn`t the case last season as this award was shared by two players in Martin and Bouchard so will one of them claim the award for themselves or will we have another rare tie?

 

Spoiler

Bollos de Trueno @Thunder

19 Assists

Trueno was not the surprise winner here as he led the league in assist so one would assume that he collected majority of these assist via a strong powerful power play. While Vancouvers powerplay might not have been all that strong and powerful; Trueno still collected his share of assist to claim this award.

 

 

Most Valuable Player (MVP):

This is the first time in season that I cannot without question tell you who our MVP was this season and I am not sure if that is due to the fact that every player had a down season or if it is due to no one really standing out as MVP this season. Martin, Ninefingers and Bouchard all had 9 GW; which is usually a key indicator but this season I am not sure that is a key indicator. So, who am I going to choose?

 

Spoiler

Riley Martin @Smarch

46G – 43A – 89pts    9W

Last season Unsung Hero and tied for points lead on the team; it became very obvious to me that Martin was our clear MVP this season. As he was at or near the top of all categories and seemed to get better as the season progressed!!

 

 

Tooth Fairy (PIM Award):

Gone is the Guntis goon shipped off to New York American in a trade that would bite Vancouver and the Wolves in the big fat butt. So who is know thinks they are tough that Guntis is gone but none other then:

 

Spoiler

Bollos de Trueno

98 PIM

The one season we need our all-star defender to be on the ice the most and play clean respectful hockey but nope our all star defender thinks he is Spanish god of Thunder with his bronze buns and golden hair!! Please stay on the ice more and we win more!! Oh, and Bazooka Joe is tougher then you!!

 

 

Rookie of the Year/Top Prospect Award:

Well, in typical Frank fashion we had a prospect once this season but they have since been fired to the moon and we have no clue when and if we will have another prospect; wait yes we do!! The draft is next week and who ever we draft with our only pick will be our top prospect at least for a short while!! LOL!!

 

 

Always Responsible (Plus/Minus):

Oh, This one should be interesting as I have a feeling that this might be a surprise award or a player that joined the team after the season started; likely padding stats on another team since well how to say this nicely Vancouver was rather dog shit last season. So who win this award but none other then:

 

Spoiler

Tim Robinson @Tim Robinson

+20

Yeah, I am correct and usually this award goes to defender but clearly Robinson did enough in Riga last season before joining the dog pile of comedic defense that Vancouver was last season. Was it really that bad last season; maybe/maybe not! !

 

 

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

Another award that usually goes to a player that didn`t get a ton of ice time or simple plays a clean all round game so who was the cleanest player on the Wolves this past season:

 

Spoiler

Matthew Highmore @NineIQ v2

8 PIM

 

 

Oops Sorry Eh!! (Least Hits)

Last season we seen a bit of a surprise as this award usually goes to a forward due to the nature of being a more offensive build while defenders are more likely to try to remove the offensive players from the puck so last season Einar Mathiesen winning was a huge surprise so will we see a forward reclaim the award this season?

 

Spoiler

Matthew Highmore @NineIQ v2

22 Hits

I guess we are starting to see some truth to the madness about Hits equal PIM as Highmore claims both least hits and least PIM this season.

 

 

Shoot the lights out (Most Shots):

Even without looking at these stats yet I have a clear idea who I think will be winning this award as shots on net usually means more goals so we are looking at two players; right? Either Martin or Ninefinger is my guess but I think it will be more likely Ninefingers as he tries so darn hard. So which one is it?

 

Spoiler

Riley Martin @Smarch

544 shots

Well, I was wrong but not completely wrong as I did say more goals usually means more shots and that is the case as Martin had 46 goals two more then Ninefingers but 54 more shots on net so maybe a few more passes would have led to better results for the team. Not likely as Martin in the end did it all for the Wolves last season!!

 

 

Work Horse Award (AMG):

One name jumps out right away considering we expected him to be on the ice then more then any other player last season but could I be wrong as maybe it was our fearless leader that usually set the tone with a ton of hits?

 

Spoiler

Bollos de Trueno @Thunder

30.96 AMG

It was who I thought it was and if he hadn`t tried to be a tough guy like his former buddy Guntis; he likely would have won this award by a landslide but in the end it was actually really close as Mathiesen was only eight minutes behind at 30.86.

 

 

C`mon Coach (Least Played):

Without even looking I know this person has been called up to the stage a few times tonight as this usually goes hand and hand with hits and PIM awards so let see if I am correct again tonight?

 

Spoiler

Matthew Highmore @NineIQ v2

26.76 AMG

Yup, I am right as the write was on the wall. Highmore didn`t have a big of an impact as most would have expected coming over from Malmo but when you are unlikely to see PP or PK time your average ice time tends to drop. Which is clearly the case for Highmore last season.

 

 

Bruised and Battered Award (SB):

Usually another defenseman award but I think this season across the league we seen some crazy stats coming from forwards blocking more shots then defenders but I might be wrong. While I think our top defenseman is actually scared of the puck as much as fighting I think he still might have been accidently hit enough by the puck to win the SB award. Lets see if I am correct?

 

Spoiler

Bollos de Trueno @Thunder  & Lionel Collberg @Masu Chan

140 SB

I was correct that he managed to get hit enough to actually tie for this award as both our best defenseman put the bodies on the line last season as expected. All four defenders finished 1-4 for this award so again proves that this is clearly an award for the defenders.

 

 

Three Stars Award:

I found a new way to actually collect the three stars and while I haven`t entered the data into the calculation yet, it shouldn`t take as long as previuos season. Usually the three star award validates my MVP award so let see if that happens again this season?

 

Spoiler

Logan Ninefingers @Scurvy & Riley Martin @Smarch

420 Pts

Really explains why I had a hard time trying to determine who our MVP was this season when we actually have a tie in our Three Stars Award; I don`t remember this happening before. While Ninefingers had more overall 1st star selection it was Martin that had total star selection overall showing that these two were rather tied at the hips more of the season at trying to lead this team.

 

	1ST Star	2nd Star	3rd star	Total	Points
Logan Ninefingers	8	8	2	18	420
Riley Martin	5	10	7	22	420
Pierre Marc Bouchard	6	5	5	16	330
Eno Velvson	4	8	5	17	330
Bollos de Trueno	4	5	7	16	290
Soju	8	1	2	11	280
Tim Robinson	5	4	4	13	270
Lionel Collberg	2	3	3	8	150
Einar Mathiesen	1	2	1	4	80
Bric Sheithaus	0	1	1	2	30
Matthew Highmore	0	0	0	0	0

 

 

Final Thoughts:

Disappoint season overall as we tried something new. We recovered only to fall once again come playoff time. If this is one of our lows then next season can only be a high so lets forget about last season and look forward coming back hungrier then ever to claim another Championship but lets not do too well as we don`t want the Victory cup and the curse that comes with it!!

 

 

@Tim Robinson@Frank@Gaikoku-hito@Thunder @Scurvy@Smarch@NineIQ v2@xsjack@Oldhead91

 

Words: 2225 words Claims May 11th, 18th, 25th & June 1st

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 02:15 PM by Gaikoku-hito