S76 Miami Marauders Regular Season Awards

[Ricer13 2,796]

     Another season has come and gone for the Miami Marauders. A group I pegged before the season started to not be a playoff team. Through good drafting and development Miami came out of the gates strong and were a consistent force all season long. They finished 2nd place in their conference, 5th overall in the VHLM but ultimately fell to the Yukon Rush in the first round of the VHLM playoffs. Every game was close and the Marauders did not go down without a fight making Yukon earn each and every one of their wins. Now that our season has come and gone it is time to announce the winners of our regular season awards. As always I like to lead off the awards with the leadership award and this award will have a new name this season, so lets start things off.

 

The Perry Leadership Award

     Once called The Lebastard Memorial Trophy named after the late Andre Lebastard, we decided to rename the trophy after last seasons winner Nathan Perry. Lebastard has been inactive for quite some time now so we decided to name it after Nathan Perry because of the success and leadership shown during his time in the VHL and with the Marauders in the VHLM. He proved in season 75 to be amongst the best leaders on Miami and has now taken it a step further and become and AGM on the same team he once played for. Now that we have a little history on the change in the awards name lets get on to the player who deserves to be crowned this years Perry Leadership Award Winner. 

      Miami selected this player in the S76 VHLM Dispersal Draft with their very first pick. He comes over from the SHL and has made an immediate impact as a member of the VHL. During his time in Miami he has taken strides in proving that he is one of the leaders on this team. Every day he is encouraging his team after wins or losses and has even taken a role with the team covering all of their social media handlings. As it shapes up right now he will be back in Miami next season and will be the main guy up front as the Marauders look to make a push for another championship. GM Ricer and AGM Tina are very excited to have this player back next season and are thrilled to award the Perry Leadership Award to Alexander The Great. @Shiny Congratulations.

The Dakota Lamb Trophy

      Each season an award is given to the player who scores the most goals during the regular season. The award was named after previous Miami Marauder Dakota Lamb as he holds the record for most goals in a season with the Miami Marauders at 44. The recipient of this seasons Dakota Lamb Trophy is Captain Phoenix Dawson @Toast. He did not break Lambs record but he came quite close leading the team with 39 goals this season. He was three goals ahead of Alexander The Great for the team lead when the season ended. This is Phoenix Dawson's final season with Miami as he looks to make the jump up to the VHL next season. He was a big part of our squad over the last few seasons and as a man of a few words he still made a huge impact on this team on and off the ice. He has created some real bonds with some of our past and present players and I am very excited to see what the future holds for him in the VHL. Congratulations on winning the Dakota Lamb Trophy, Phoenix Dawson.

The Kosmo Kramerev Award

      The Kramerev is awarded to the teams top defensemen during the regular season. This was a tough year for Miami defensemen because they were all so fresh and had a lot of pressure put on them to succeed. It was hard to pick just one defender but at the end of the day both GM Ricer and AGM Tina agreed on the same person. This seasons winner of the Kosmo Kramerev Award goes to Raphael Sonier @raphaelsonier9815. Sonier joined the Marauder's early in the season as a waiver player. He made an immediate impact in the locker room and was earning at a fairly decent rate. He became busy with personal things in life but still managed to squeak in some training every week which showed true dedication. No defensemen on the Marauder's popped off in regards to points but Sonier still had a decent year statistically. He finished the season with 21 points but where he shined was in his defensive play. He was second on the team in shots blocked, second on the team in hits, he had the highest shooting percentage out of all defensemen and proved he could handle loads of minutes playing against the leagues best. This is why Raphael Sonier is the Kosmo Kramerev Award winner for season 76. Congratulations.


The Waiver Warrior Trophy

        What's that?! Another name change??? The previously named Eoin Byrne Trophy is now being renamed The Waiver Warrior Trophy in honor of the dubbed "Waiver Warriors" who came into Miami in season 74 and helped the Marauders win their first ever Founders Cup. This award is given each season to the top waiver signing player during the regular season. There were a lot of waiver players who signed up in Miami this season but one stood out to me above the rest. Zeedayno Chara @Jubis joined Miami mid way through the season. He came in when Miami was in desperate need of help on the back end. Although he only played 36 games he made a massive impact on the Miami roster and was able to absorb a lot of minutes and take some of the pressure off of our very young D-core. On the ice he was a playmaking machine with 27 out of 29 of his points being assists. He was a dynamo on the powerplay and logged heavy minutes on the penalty kill as well. Off the ice he was equally as important to the team. Always filled with words of encouragement when the team was feeling down. The definition of a team player. Congratulations Zeedayno Chara on winning this seasons Waiver Warrior Award.

The MVM "Most Valuable Marauder"
 

     The Most Valuable Marauder trophy is given to the player who the team votes as their Most Valuable Player during the regular season. This vote this season was extremely tight with two players going neck and neck but ultimately one person was chosen and that player was none other than Captain Phoenix Dawson. @ToastHe edged out Goaltender ClapBombsRUs by one vote for the team MVM. Phoenix Dawson had a career year with Miami nearly hitting the 100 point plateau. His finished just shy with 97 points in 72 games. This led the team in points amongst all players. He led the team in goals and assists showing off his offensive game but was equally as dominant in other areas of the ice. He wasn't afraid to put his body on the line adding 46 blocked shots and when it came to grinding out wins and playing with an edge he was the guy to do it. His 118 hits was the second highest amongst forwards. Phoenix Dawson will no doubt bring the same kind of pace and energy to the Seattle Bears next season and if he continues on the path he has laid out for himself I could see him winning some ACTUAL MVP trophies in the future. Congratulations Phoenix Dawson on winning the Most Valuable Marauder Award.

The BigAL Award

          The BigAL Award is awarded to the player who shows the most promise for long term success in the VHL. There is always numerous members of the team who are deserving of this award but I am only going to be awarding it to one person and that person for season 76 is Trevor Wallace @LilHCorny. Wallace was someone who the Marauder's drafted in the S76 Dispersal Draft and was picked well ahead of where he was ranked because of his great draft interview. He showed right off the bat that he was going to be a solid member for this club and for this league. After joining the team you could tell right away that he wanted to be better every day. He worked hard and earned TPE while maintaining a team first mentality. He has shown his activity around the league in such a short period of time joining in on other activities such as Chess Tourneys. Slowly making a name for himself in the right way. If he continues on this trajectory Trevor Wallace will have a legitimate shot at long term success in this league and become a solid member of our community.

Graphic of the Year

 

     Each season we like to recognize some of the hard work players are putting in each week to earn experience for their players. I would like to start that off by awarding Nils Tallinder @Patrik Tallinder with the Graphic of the Year award. Tallinder has continually been working on his graphic skills and in my opinion that deserves to be spotlighted even if it is just for a small thing like this. I am extremely impressed with the work you have put in to your craft and am excited to see how much you improve over another season of work. Here is a sample of what Tallinder is able to do and I implore you to go have a look through the graphics section to check out some more of his work.

 

Media Spot of the Year

      Now it is time to show some recognition to those who decide to write articles rather than create graphics. I love to show off the work of members who aren't necessarily masters at their craft but rather those who take a chance on it and are open enough to write even when they aren't necessarily writers or so they think. This person surprised me when he dropped at 1500 word article on Miami's last draft breaking down each of our selections. He took a leap and put in the work and created some really solid reading material for other users to view. Its amazing what people can accomplish when they give it a try and ClapBombsRUs did a fantastic job with this article and that is why he is the winner of our Media Spot of the Year. Congratulations @ClapbombsRus

Podcast of the Year

      Unfortunately creating podcasts aren't as popular as the above categories but that is okay. This season there will not be an award given our for Podcast of the Year but I hope to see members give it a chance in seasons to come.

            This wraps up another edition of the Miami Marauders Regular Season awards. I want to say Congratulations again to all the winners and to all those who did not receive an award you have nothing to worry about. A lot of you will be coming back next season to take another shot at them again. To the waiver players who joined Miami this season I want to say thank you for all that you did for us this season. Many of you have proven to be amazing additions to the VHL and I am hoping to at least snag a few of you in the draft to bring back home to Miami! Lastly I want to thank our two members moving up to the VHL, Phoenix Dawson @Toast and Napoleon Bonaparte @CptSquall. Dawson I have already spoken at great lengths about and what you meant to this team but I want to take a moment to thank Bonaparte for an amazing season in Miami. You were a leader on this team, a good guy to talk to and a great veteran presence for the younger players in our room. Continue on the path you are on and you will find much success in this league. I hope you stick around in Miami to talk sports and to BS with. Thank you everyone for tuning in, until next season!!!! GO MIAMI GO!

Word Count: 2032

[Ricer13 2,796]

Claim week 1/4

[LilHCorny 55]

I'm gonna miss you a lot Toast, deserving of MVM for sure

[ClapbombsRus 42]

Wow a great season guys, really proud to have played with you all!

[Jubis 1,348]

This was a fun team to be a part of .  I hope everyone has success wherever their vhl or vhlm paths lead them. 

Edited February 28, 2021 by Jubis

[bigAL 2,176]

Love these every year! Everyone works so hard in the VHLM, and that effort has to be recognized and appreciated. Congrats to all the winners (and especially @LilHCorny)!

[Toast 887]

Thanks for everything in Miami @Ricer13 @tinafrombobsburgers! I'm going to miss the team but I know everyone is in good hands with @Shiny!

[Ricer13 2,796]

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