Labatte + Wylde Trophy in the same season?

[scoop 3,431]

The Jake Wylde Trophy has not been around for long, so any early concerns that myself or @Victor may have regarding it could possibly fix themselves as we go along (though I doubt it, considering judging the defensive merits of players has always been difficult to do). It has only been three seasons, but so far we haven't seen a player win both the Sterling Labatte Trophy and the Jake Wylde Trophy in the same season. If I had to guess, I would say it's something that won't happen as often as it probably should.

 

Let's look at the past seasons.

 

In Season 59, Ay Ay Ron won the Labatte, while Fabio Jokinen won the Wylde. I guess this is somewhat fair, though I think a case could be made for Ron (or another defenseman) to have won the Wylde. He had more hits, but fewer shots blocked, than Jokinen. If the Wylde did not exist, Ron would have (or at least, should have) won the Labatte as the best defenseman. In this instance, it almost seems that Jokinen was awarded the Wylde as the league's second best defenseman overall, not necessarily the top defensive defenseman.

 

In Season 60, Ron once again won the Labatte as the league's best offensive defenseman (not sure the offensive part matters though, as he was the best defenseman overall). This season, though, the Wylde was awarded to a not-so-great player in Dexter Lane. Whoever voted this season seemed to have different criteria than voters in S59 and S61. Lane had 278 hits and 153 shots blocked. Yeah, seems pretty good for defensive stats, but defensemen on bad teams are going to have better defensive stats. Frankly, Lane should not have come close to this award, but whatever. Again, I think Ay Ay Ron could have actually been a good candidate.

 

Season 61 saw Mats Johnsson take the Labatte while Ay Ay Ron was relegated to the Wylde. Johnsson had more goals, yes, but Ron led defensemen in points and led the league in assists. I'm not saying that Johnsson shouldn't have won the award (he probably would have been my vote, but it wouldn't necessarily be easy). To be honest, I think this season is actually a good one to point to and say that the splitting of the Labatte Trophy was a good idea. I do think it would've been a bit difficult to choose between Johnsson and Ron for Top Defenseman. Johnsson had more goals, but Ron had more hits and shots blocked. Okay, so give one of them best offensive and one of them best defensive. Similar to S59, it seems like a way to award the top two defensemen.

 

All that being said, will be see a season where a player wins both defenseman awards? I don't think it's entirely out of line to say that often times, the best defensive defenseman is also the best offensive defenseman, in terms of skill, because the best players in the league are going to be very well rounded. Part of the problem, though, will be the inconsistency in voting. Some seasons, a somewhat notable name (see Dexter Lane) might win it due to boosted defensive stats from playing on a trash team (I'd like to say, it has to be a notable player name; someone like Augustus Gloop or Boner don't seem to get the same consideration as Lane did, even though they did a better job at what he did). Other seasons, it seems that the two defensemen awards are split to honor the top two defensemen.

 

idk I just needed to post something

[Victor 10,940]

Preach.