NO LONGER LIVE! S35 VHL/VHLM Awards Ceremony

[Victor 10,940]

Davey Jones is in attendance tonight and for good reason - he has an award for which he has a case as strong as any other. A strong debut is not essential to a legendary career but it's always a good start. Doesn't hurt to be an All-Star after just one season in the VHL either.

JONES, Davey - 72GP 44G 42A 86P +26 42PIM 120HIT 53.78FO% 6GWG

GALLO, Matteo - 72GP 32G 45A 77P -3 18PIM 8GWG

SMYL, Steven - 28-32-4 .906SV% 2.64GAA 5SO 1822SA

MOHER, Lennox - 35-26-3 .904SV% 2.68GAA 4SO 1789SA

Is this even an argument? Alas, stranger things have happened.

[Victor 10,940]

And the winner of the S35 Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy is....

DAVEY JONES!

Shocker! Although, Smyl did take one vote, stopped an expected sweep. Congratulations to Davey Jones and good luck in your career, another first-gen great this looks like. May the haters no longer say Cologne is a one-man team.

[Victor 10,940]

We are witnessing a golden goaltending generation, similar to the likes of the great S18 netminders. Remy LeBeau, Tuomas Tukio, Skylar Rift are all from the same 'draft' class and are now in their prime.

RIFT, Skylar - 47-13-3 .926SV% 1.95GAA 10SO 1672SA

LEBEAU, Remy - 40-19-5 .923SV% 1.98GAA 8SO 1652SA

LABATTE, Alexander - 44-15-5 .922SV% 2.10GAA 13SO 1738SA

Interestingly, S35's GAA leader Tukio doesn't feature on the ballot, proving the significance of save percentage. Instead, veteran Alexander Labatte could stop those meddling S31 kids and match Aidan Shaw's (the trophy's namesake) record of 4 top goalie honours. He is of course on the outside track here.

[Da Trifecta 1,896]

Thank you fellas.

[Victor 10,940]

And the winner of the S35 Aidan Shaw Trophy is....

SKYLAR RIFT!

Well, someone just got an advantage in the S31 goalies' rivalry. Previously, LeBeau had the stats, while Rift and Tukio had a cup each. Now, Rift is making things happen in the regular season and the playoffs and has two cup rings to boot! 7 votes secured his first Shaw, 2 going to the retiring and probably first-ballot Hall of Famer (alongside Rybak) Labatte, and 1 to LeBeau.

[Victor 10,940]

From a close award statistically to one where there is really no need for driving up the drama. In just two seasons as a defenceman after being constantly overshadowed as the top two-way forward by one David Smalling, Calgary's Clark Marcellin immediately threatened Ryan Sullivan's monopoly of the Sterling Labatte Trophy.

MARCELLIN, Clark - 72GP 21G 96A 117P +48 206PIM 277HIT 150HTT 182SB 1GWG

VALIQ, Niklas - 72GP 14G 78A 92P +70 132PIM 214HIT 119HTT 123SB 2GWG

SULLIVAN, Ryan - 72GP 21G 65A 86P +32 113PIM 241HIT 123HTT 100SB 7GWG

In both their last seasons' he seems to have done everything to win it.

[Victor 10,940]

And win it he has! The winner of the S35 Sterling Labatte Trophy is

CLARK MARCELLIN!

Ryan Sullivan's quest to match Daniel Braxton's 4 Labattes comes to an unsuccessful end but hey, at least he won a cup. Marcellin would have swept this but his own agent, GM Jason Glasser, gave a solitary vote to Sullivan. A class act through and through.

With Sullivan and Marcellin now both retired, surely now is the time for Niklas Valiq to strike ahead of the new generation.

[Mike 708]

I love my animated gif STZ.

[Victor 10,940]

We're into MVP territory now. No non-finalists feature in the VHL as Xin Xie Xiao's heroics aren't so easily matched in the big leagues, but Kameron Taylor did feature on the preliminary ballot as he led an underdog Cologne Express to Game 6 against the Helsinki Titans, in fact finishing second in playoff scoring to follow semi-finalist Chico Salmon. Taylor did have the best point-per-game pace.

KELLINGER, Wesley 13GP, 7G, 10A, 17P, +7, 0PIM, 2GWG, 57.40FO%

SULLIVAN, Ryan 12GP, 6G, 10A, 16P, -2, 26PIM, 56HIT, 26SB

RIFT, Skylar 8-4-1, .933SV%, 1.98GAA, 1SO, 389SA

However, it's all Quebec and Helsinki here. A forward, a defenceman, a goalie. Hockey utopia. You could make a strong case for any of the trio. And isn't it cute how they're Skype friends?

[Victor 10,940]

I love my animated gif STZ.

animated gif? wet water?

[Victor 10,940]

And the winner of the S35 Daisuke Kanou Trophy is....

SKYLAR RIFT!

He won the one named after Shaw, he won the one named after Kanou. Pretty much the perfect goaltending season for Two-Face, who gets 7 votes to teammate Kellinger's 3. This is another opportunity to congratulate Quebec but I did write an article about how they're supposed to be hated. They're damn impressive though.

[Victor 10,940]

Now, before the coveted Scotty Campbell Trophy, a few awards decided by the sim and league members.

We've got the Mike Szatkowski and Kevin Brooks Trophies won by Michal Wozniak (and Szatkowski is his agent) with an outstanding season. 154 points is the most since Kevin Brooks back in Season 10, who alongside Mike Szatkowski is the only one to get as many apart from Brett Slobodzian and Scotty Campbell. Any surprise they have all these trophies named after them? 72 goals wasn't as good as Tukka Reikkinen in S27 (78) but that's the only season separating Wozniak from Szatkowski (74 in S8).

96 assists isn't an uncommon sight but still an impressive one as Clark Marcellin played his part in Calgary's offensive extravaganza. He goes out on a high with two awards and joins an elite group of two-time Mikita/Beketov Trophy winners.

As for the Brett Slobodzian Trophy, is it any discussion who the most outstanding player of S35 was? The VHL doesn't think so, giving Michal Wozniak 35 of 39 votes. It may not be a fair comparison since for so long the award went to MVP, not MOP, but those 35 votes are the most by any Slobo Trophy winner ever.

[Victor 10,940]

He may have been Most Outstanding, but was he Most Valuable? On a team with the league's top four scorers, included award winners Volodymyr Rybak and Clark Marcellin, this is the only challenge mounted against Wozniak's perfect individual campaign.

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

GRIGORENKO, Yuri - 72GP 50G 63A 113P +71 35PIM 58SB 14GWG

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

OSBORNE, Ethan - 72GP 36G 74A 110P +56 23PIM 64.72FO% 7GWG

LEBEAU, Remy - 40-19-5 .923SV% 1.98GAA 8SO 1652SA

What that challenge needs is one player to carry the banner. Is either one of Grigorenko, Taylor, Osborne, or LeBeau capable of doing that? Let's see what the GMs thought.

[Mike 708]

Still can't believe how amazing this season was it almost makes me angry that I cut my career short a year I think Wozniak ended with around 610 points could have broke 700 and maybe a shot at the HOF with 1 more season.

[Baozi 1,658]

 

XXX says thanks to all his supporters and would like to specially congratulate Robin Gow on being the VHLM MVP.

 

Congrats to all the other award winners out there and the Ottawa Lynx, congrats on a championship well deserved.

Edited December 24, 2013 by tfong

[Victor 10,940]

2 votes for LeBeau.

The 8 others to one man.

The winner of the S35 Scotty Campbell Trophy is

MICHAL WOZNIAK!

This caps off an unbelieavable season for the retiring center. His lack of tremendous offensive output during his time in Riga means you shouldn't hold your breath for a Hall of Fame induction, but Michal Wozniak's Season 35 should be remembered for a long time as one of the greatest single seasons, and possibly the greatest of the modern era.

As for LeBeau, this time he was closer by virtue of making the playoffs. He lives to fight another day for the Toronto cause.

[Victor 10,940]

 

XXX says thanks to all his supporters and would like to congratulate Robin Gow on being the VHLM MVP.

that's not Asian!

[Victor 10,940]

So yet again, congratulations to all award winners and nominees and thank you everyone for another glorious VHL season, the record-breaking 35th!

Awards list will be up tomorrow in this forum as will award predictions. From my headquarters across the Atlantic, good night!

[Da Trifecta 1,896]

Glad to have been here to accept my award

[Baozi 1,658]

that's not Asian!

 

I dyed my hair!

 

Here have my new face.

 

Edited December 24, 2013 by tfong

[Victor 10,940]

Hair wasn't the feature which gave you away.

[Baozi 1,658]

Where am I going to find an Asian Lindros Do I look like a genetics scientist to you?

[Advantage 2,891]

Disappointed by a few of the choices but congrats to all winners.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Sad day Congrats to all the award winners

[Kyle 667]

Congrats to our tendy, Rifter! Big day, also bummed that Sheriff couldn't get any awards in his last season as Larsson. But I know that feel my man.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Kyle