NO LONGER LIVE! S35 VHL/VHLM Awards Ceremony

[STZ 5,360]

The Calgary Wranglers, ladies and gentlemen..

 

[Victor 10,954]

VHL awards. The peak of any VHL career. The dream of any VHL player. The reward for wasting so much time and putting into a non-existent character on a sim league.

What's more important to members? The Continental Cup or the individual honours? The lucky and spoiled ones (like me) get both. But if you had to choose, which way would you go? It depends on the member but also on perception. The majority might openly state that team accomplishments come first but how many of them would be lying? Finding a balance is key to the enjoyment of each and every VHLer.

[STZ 5,360]

aaaaand.... we're back!

 

[Victor 10,954]

Dustin Funk never won an individual award but had a new award named after him. If you go to the Hall of Fame, a short blurb will detail why. It's at the very bottom of the VHL awards but it's not any less significant for it. Either of the four candidates would hope to get it.

WOZNIAK, Michal - 72GP 42G 38A 80P +34 43PIM 66HIT 63.99FO% 6GWG - Season 34

WOZNIAK, Michal - 72GP 72G 82A 154P +75 73PIM 187HIT 66.18FO% 13GWG - Season 35

SALMON, Chico - 72GP 18G 46A 64P +61 8PIM 19HIT 6GWG - Season 34

SALMON, Chico - 72GP 56G 75A 131P +68 38PIM 63HIT 13GWG - Season 35

CLIFFORD, Doug - 72GP 21G 34A 55P +38 52PIM 111HIT 3GWG - Season 34

CLIFFORD, Doug - 72GP 38G 54A 92P +39 105PIM 231HIT 4GWG - Season 35

INKO, Cody - 72GP 5G 24A 29P +25 35PIM 23HIT 124SB 2GWG - Season 34

INKO, Cody - 72GP 19G 53A 72P +35 57PIM 87HIT 126SB 5GWG - Season 35

It's been an interesting season in that there are the usual sophomores rebounding off absolutely horrific seasons to begin establishing themselves as VHL stars. But there was also the offensive explosion in Calgary which caused some already respectable players to have insanely good seasons.

Only once previously since the establishment of the trophy did someone score 70+ goals and have 150+ points. Tukka Reikkinen added the Funk to his trophy cabinet in S27. Will Wozniak start a trend here or will someone else meteoric rise prove more eye-catching.

[Victor 10,954]

And the winner of the S35 Dustin Funk Trophy is....

MICHAL WOZNIAK!

No surprises here. Wozniak was never a terrible player but he was never this good. Few players ever were this good. He was recognised with 8 out of 10 votes. Salmon and Inko split the remaining two.

[Victor 10,954]

The Mikka Virkkunen Trophy, known colloquially as the 'Pussy Award' has been monopolised in recent seasons by Phil Rafter, Ethan Osborne, and Yuri Grigorenko. Yet Rafter is now retired while the latter two took a few penalties too many in S35.

KELLINGER, Wesley - 72GP 32G 68A 100P +65 12PIM 46HIT 61.15FO% 9GWG

VALIQ, Tomas - 72GP 21G 62A 83P +45 12PIM 32HIT 55.57FO% 3GWG

KJELLBERG, Jakub - 72GP 27G 41A 68P +52 4PIM 22HIT 54.17FO% 6GWG

The vote thus goes down between three players whose members have not stayed out of forum fights but who themselves have been as law-abiding citizens as any. Who will win their first Virkkunen Trophy?

[sherifflobo 137]

Basically if your name is Kyle, you're a pussy.

[Higgins 3,618]

Mitchell Higgins is in da house

 

 

 

Can we rename the TOP GM Award to The Hardballer of the Year?

[Victor 10,954]

And the winner of the S35 Mikka Virkkunen Trophy is....

JAKUB KJELLBERG!

It was close. 6 votes to 4 did the trick, but Jakub Kjellberg took it over Wesley Kellinger. The two centers had different offensive outputs but Kjellberg, managed by now resigned but long-time Toronto GM Sandro Desaulniers, had 9 less PIM.

[Victor 10,954]

Can we rename the TOP GM Award for The Hardballer of the Year?

so you could win a percentage of that as well?

[Victor 10,954]

A rushed trophy this season was the Grimm Jonsson Trophy for the captains and alternates for S35 were not known until the end. However, leadership is always obvious (just ask Jaroslav Oslig) and the rightful candidates feature on the ballot.

LARSSON, Miles

TAYLOR, Kameron

OSBORNE, Ethan

ZHUMBAYEV, Anatoli

Larsson matched a record by wearing the C for a 6th season, even after joining a new team. Taylor is the heart and soul of the Cologne Express and led them to their first playoff victories. Osborne is a long-time Titan leader and 3-time winner of this award while teammate Zhumbayev is his heir apparent in Helsinki.

[STZ 5,360]

so you could win a percentage of that as well?

 

[Victor 10,954]

And the winner of the S35 Grimm Jonsson Trophy is....

KAMERON TAYLOR!

Another narrow victory as past runner-up Taylor claims it over veteran Osborne with 5 votes to 4. Larsson took a vote with him into retirement but this is not the award he craves.

[sherifflobo 137]

Thanks for the vote! Congrats Kendrick, you deserve it!

[wallflower 1]

we won an award yay

[Higgins 3,618]

so you could win a percentage of that as well?

 

[Victor 10,954]

A similar team line-up comes in for a completely different award, top GM. Last season, it was split between two prior winners, Jason Glasser and Mitch Higgins. Glasser didn't pull off any miracles in S35 but Higgins is back for more after a defeat in the finals.

Pavel Koradek

Joey Kendrick

Victor Alfredsson

Mitch Higgins

What am I doing here? Well you see, the whole league is rigged in my favour.

As for the deserving candidates, we've got the two finalists and another former winner back in his Helsinki Titans days, now having built a strong expansion team. With Quebec here too, go expansion! All four GMs made key moves to improve their teams before S35 for S35 and beyond.

[Victor 10,954]

And the winner of the S35 David Knight Trophy is....

PAVEL KORADEK!

It's not a rare sight for the cup-winning team's GM to win but doesn't mean it's undeserved. Pavel Koradek made VHL history by leading an expansion team to the cup and his trade for Miles Larsson might have well pushed it over. He also conformed to the age-old adage of 'fuck defence, we have two Valiqs' and 'trade ALL the draft picks'. As a result, that's 6 votes to Alfredsson's 3 (I swear, I didn't vote for myself) and Kendrick's 1.

[Guest]

Thanks for the vote! Congrats Kendrick, you deserve it!

Thanks man! You winning it on the way out or Ozzy Osborne winning it would've been a fair result as well.

[Da Trifecta 1,899]

Gratz Kendrick

[Higgins 3,618]

And the winner of the S35 David Knight Trophy is....

PAVEL KORADEK!

It's not a rare sight for the cup-winning team's GM to win but doesn't mean it's undeserved. Pavel Koradek made VHL history by leading an expansion team to the cup and his trade for Miles Larsson might have well pushed it over. He also conformed to the age-old adage of 'fuck defence, we have two Valiqs' and 'trade ALL the draft picks'. As a result, that's 6 votes to Alfredsson's 3 (I swear, I didn't vote for myself) and Kendrick's 1.

 

 

[Victor 10,954]

Last season, David Smalling made history by setting an all-time hits record and winning a record 5th Scott Boulet Trophy as the league's best, and possibly greatest ever, two-way forward. He is now retired and though Miles Larsson just missed out on the hits record, he'd love to take the trophy he lived and played for into retirement.

WOZNIAK, Michal - 72GP 72G 82A 154P +75 73PIM 187HIT 313HTT 44SB 66.18FO% 13GWG

RYBAK, Volodymyr - 72GP 64G 73A 137P +62 94PIM 260HIT 271HTT 65SB 9GWG

TAYLOR, Kameron - 72GP 57G 55A 112P +53 98PIM 206HIT 269HTT 18SB 64.05FO% 7GWG

LARSSON, Miles - 72GP 44G 51P 95P +64 118PIM 335HIT 158HTT 39SB 4GWG

But before that, he needs to fight off players with more points, who better exemplified the offensive way out of the two ways. Those hits look damn nice though...

[Victor 10,954]

And the winner of the S35 Scott Boulet Trophy is....

VOLODYMYR RYBAK!

Oh so close! Larsson gets 4 votes but Rybak gets the other 6, as the second half of his career not only included five straight 50-goal, 120-point seasons but also an improved defensive game. The fellow retiree adds another trophy to his already strong case for a first-ballot Hall of Fame induction while Larsson ends his career in some disappointment. Nevertheless, a great player, and a two-time cup winner.

[STZ 5,360]

Congrats Kendrick..

[sherifflobo 137]

Disappointing, my quest foe a personal award comes up short, nonetheless Congrats to Rybak. Maybe I'll win one with Fjorsstrom.