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Sopath · 07-27-2022, 12:58 PM

A new tradition in Edmonton is beginning starting this season. We’d like to introduce our Tony Pepperoni Player of the Week. This is an award that goes to the Bliz that we felt was the best the Bliz had to offer in the last week. The Bliz of the Week might go to a player for what they did on the ice or off the ice. With that being said the week 1 Tony Pepperoni Player of the Week goes to Bas O’Bigbers!

Let’s take a second to reflect on why this award has been named after Tony Pepperoni. Tony Pepperoni was a player drafted by Edmonton 25th overall in S43 in what was at that time nearly the 3rd round. Tony would be called up to the SHL just two seasons later and would go on to have a hall of fame career with Edmonton. In the long great history of this historic franchise Tony Pepperoni is the all time points leader with 975. He’s got about 200 more than 2nd place Theo Kane. In a franchise with so much history, Tony Pepperoni is debatably the greatest player in the history of the franchise. Tony Pepperoni retired a 6 time All Star, Ron Mexico Trophy winner, and a two time Challenge Cup Champion. There are few players in the history of the league who could even come close to rivaling the career of Tony Pepperoni. For that reason it is a huge honor for whatever player is chosen to be the Tony Pepperoni player of the week.

All that being said, we’re sure there’s some controversy and confusion in this decision. Bas O’Bigbers is due to serve a 9 game suspension and it might seem like this choice is just going to lead to some jokes, however, Bas O’Bigbers simply just was the best Blizzard player last week. In addition to being the best player on the ice Bas has demonstrated intangibles in the locker room to help lay the foundation for creating the next Edmonton dynasty.

In the second game of the season Edmonton got thrashed by San Francisco. But in the blowout loss Bas managed to score a goal and only go -2 in a game where Edmonton conceded 12 goals. Later against Atlanta Bas scored a goal and an assist and then in the next game against Texas Bas scored two goals. The highlight performance for Bas came when he unleashed a 4 Goal domination against the Minnesota Monarchs. In the last week Bas scored nearly a goal per game despite being on a team in a deep rebuild. Bas carried Edmonton to being able to achieve any points last week.

The future for Bas’ season is a little merky right now. The 9 game suspension will have Bas finishing with just 57 games played this season and Bas’ season is probably due for some. . . regression. All that being said the future for Edmonton does look bright and we hope that this Tony Pepperoni Bliz of the Week award will help to lay the foundation of the next great Edmonton dynasty. With that congratulations to Bas O’Bigbers for the player of the week selection.