Saskatoon Wild S69 Team Awards

[animal74 1,855]

Saskatoon Wild S69 Team Awards

 

What a year S69 was for the Saskatoon Wild! 

 

They dominated the VHLM in a manner few teams have managed before, posting league records for Points (136), Wins (68), Least Losses (4), Road Wins (32), and the 2^nd best offense ever seen with 408 goals. Only the Ottawa Lynx’s astronomical total of 490 goals from S58 is better. An incredible seven players, including three defensemen, reached the 100-point mark for Saskatoon. Special teams were a boon for the Wild as their power play produced at the 8^th best rate ever (30%) and was the best in eleven seasons and their penalty kill was the 4^th best in league history (89.5%). Not to mention, Saskatoon then cruised through the playoffs with a 12-2 record with no team really giving them much trouble to win the Founder’s Cup over the Mississauga Hounds.

 

Saskatoon was led by defenseman Danny DeYeeto, acquired from Minnesota in the off-season. DeYeeto proceeded to put together the greatest offensive season by a defenseman since the Ottawa Lynx’s Adam Warlock in S58. DeYeeto became the first blueliner since Warlock to score 50 goals and he led the league in points (145), plus/minus (117 – tied with Warlock for the league record), penalty minutes (176), power play goals (30) and power play points (65).

 

Without further ado, here are the award winners as voted by the Saskatoon Wild players and management:

 

Most Valuable Player:

Danny DeYeeto

 

The first two awards are no-brainers. Danny DeYeeto won the Mitch Higgins Trophy as the MVP for the entire VHLM so why wouldn’t he win for his own team? DeYeeto led the Wild in goals, points, plus/minus, penalty minutes, hits, shots (tie), power play goal and points and “1^st Star” selections. In other words, he did everything for the almost unbeatable Wild. The season would have been very different without his contributions at both ends of the ice.

 

Voting: DeYeeto (7), Ohradka (2), Lafontaine (1), O’Quinn (1)

 

Best Defenseman (Unanimous):

Danny DeYeeto

 

Again, when a player wins the Ryan Sullivan Trophy as the league’s best defenseman, it’s hard to not give him the same award for his team. In fact, this year’s Best Defenseman award was the first unanimous vote in the Team Awards two-year history. Although the “Big-3” on the backend for Saskatoon (DeYeeto, Edwin THE Encarnacion, David O’Quinn) all had astounding 100-point seasons, DeYeeto was a step above in leading the blueline crew throughout the season.  

 

Voting: DeYeeto (11)

 

Unsung Hero (3-Way Tie):

Mikko Lahtinen

Edu Stava

Jacques Lafontaine

 

As is sometimes seen when one team has such a dominating season like the Saskatoon Wild, there are the clear stars but then there are the supporting cast that make significant, even career-high, contributions that can be overshadowed by the more recognizable names. Such was the case for the Wild to the point where a large portion of the roster were absolutely outstanding and the chemistry was almost molecular. Nine players had 90+ points and seven had 40+ goals. Therefore, the vote was widely divided with eight players receiving votes. Three players received two votes each so they will share the Unsung Hero award.

 

Mikko Lahtinen came to Saskatoon via a trade with Las Vegas and wasted no time in becoming an important cog in the unstoppable Wild wheel in his first full season. He finished ninth in team scoring with 93 points and tied for fourth in goals with 44. His presence was especially felt on the Wild’s potent power play as he was third in power play goals with 15 and fourth in power play points with 43.

 

Edu Stava was another trade pick-up as the defending champion Houston Bulls sent their fifth leading scorer to the Wild who received another solid contributor with something else they were shooting for – a Founder’s Cup. Stava provided all that and more. He had the highest shooting percentage on the team and set career-highs in almost every category with 94 points and was fourth with 7 game winning goals. He also provided some needed snarl as he was third with 63 penalty minutes and had 116 hits.

 

Jacques Lafontaine came into his first season after being drafted 3^rd overall to blossom into a champion and record holder. Some may attribute his record-setting season to playing behind one of the best teams and bluelines the league has ever seen, but make no mistake, without Lafontaine’s work ethic and dedication to his craft, it would have been a very different season for the Wild. He won the Benoit Devereux Trophy as the league top goaltender and deservedly so, as he kept the Wild’s high-flying offense in many games and set a league single-season goalie record with 68 wins.

 

Voting: Lahtinen, Stava, Lafontaine (2 each), Havlova, Foilen, Encarnacion, O’Quinn, Ohradka (1 each)  

 

Wild Man:

Ondrej Ohradka

 

The Wild Man award takes a lot of factors into consideration: being a good teammate, on and off ice contributions, dedication, and leadership among them. Last season’s MVP for the Wild was voted as this year’s Wild Man. There were a lot of worthy candidates as six different people received votes.

 

Despite taking a reduced on-ice role for much of the season as the Wild rolled out a very deep roster, Ondrej Ohradka continued where he left off last season and led a young dynamic team by example with his heart, determination, and sacrifice to the pinnacle of the VHLM – winning the Prime Minister’s and Founder’s Cups. The veteran continued his torrid scoring pace and led Wild forwards with his second consecutive 100+ point campaign (118 points) and earned his second consecutive placement on the All-VHLM Second Team. He led all Wild forwards in most statistical categories and was among the league leaders in points, assists, power play goals, assists, and points, and game winning goals. He also led the league in Points/20 minutes with an incredible 2.01 P/20 while becoming Saskatoon’s franchise leader in goals and game-winning goals.   

 

Voting: Ohradka (4), O’Quinn, Lahtinen (2 each), McDagg, Killinger, Elmebeck (1 each)

 

3-Stars Award:

Danny DeYeeto

 

This year’s team 3-Stars award goes to none other than Danny DeYeeto. He narrowly edged Ondrej Ohradka by 10 star points. Ohradka ultimately had more selections but DeYeeto’s excellence beat out Ohradka’s consistency by claiming 12 1^st Star selections to Ohradka’s 8.

 

The final S69 3-Star standings are as follows:

 

Player	1st	2nd	3rd	Star Points	Total Stars
Danny DeYeeto	12	4	7	510	23
Ondrej Ohradka	8	8	10	500	26
Edwin THE Encarnacion	8	7	1	390	16
Jesse Nyman	5	7	9	380	21
Killy Foilen	5	8	6	370	19
Dagmar Havlova	5	7	7	360	19
David OQuinn	6	7	0	320	13
Mikko Lahtinen	3	6	4	250	13
Elliot Porter	2	5	2	180	9
Edu Stava	3	1	6	170	10
Jacques Lafontaine	1	3	2	110	6
Damien Wolfe	1	2	4	110	7
Kristopher McDagg	2	0	1	70	3
Uhtred	1	1	0	50	2
Gary Tarantino	0	0	2	20	2

 

Congratulations to the Saskatoon Wild on a dominant championship season and to all the awards winners! Good luck next season whether you are playing for the Wild again or another team.

 

@Peace @Elmebeck @Cran @Beketov @SlapshotDragon @Edustava @Tagger @Jesse Nyman @Aye my name jeff @leafsman @Viperxhawks19 @diamond_ace @Laflamme @Garrett @Ren @cjc_24 @David O'Quinn

Edited January 20, 2020 by animal74

[animal74 1,855]

This will be 1/2 as the article is 1060+ words. Claiming the Christmas charity doubles week.

[Peace 1,562]

This was a 'Wild' season to end my VHLM GM career on! 

I'll always remember winning S69.... 'cause 69.

[Edustava 25]

Thank you guys for awesome season

[David O'Quinn 115]

Hmph, not a single award!

 

Thanks for an amazing season y'al. 

[Peace 1,562]

53 minutes ago, David O'Quinn said:

Hmph, not a single award!

 

Thanks for an amazing season y'al. 

We don't have an award for the biggest trash talker on the ice.

[animal74 1,855]

Claiming week 2/2.