Login

FuzzSHL · 02-01-2024, 11:14 PM

Hello SHL world! I missed making this post for S73 for a variety of reasons, but I’m back with another Awards Nominations review, this time for the S74 Awards nominees! As a member of the voting committee, I am hoping to provide both some needed insight into how each nominee came to be, as well as give you, the reader, a better glance at some of the league’s best that you may or may not be familiar with. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Two Disclaimers. 1) The order in which I list and talk about the nominees for each award will follow the order in which they show up on the awards post and should not be seen as my personal order or preference for each award. 2) In the middle of writing this post (it took me a few days), I adjusted the placement of the username on the player cards, so some of the cards you see down below will have the player usernames in different spots. No stats, percentiles, or ranks were adjusted in this time, so rest assured the difference in username placement is only a visual thing. They will be uniform next season.

Like last time, we’ll start at the top of the awards list with the John McBride Award for the Best Goaltender! This time, however, I do have goalie cards to include for each goalie! You can find an explanation of how the goalie cards work here.

Casey Fantobens
[Image: fantobens-mcbride-74.png]

Casey Fantobens, @Fantobens, is continuing to add to what I’m sure will one day be a Hall of Fame resume with the performance they put on this season. With a roster in front of them that was not among the league’s best, Casey still managed to be among the league’s best in multiple regards. Among starting goalies (min. 34 GP), Casey was tied for the second best save percentage alongside fellow nominee Justin Time, and was also tied for 3rd in shutouts with five other goalies. Casey finished with the league’s second best goals saved above average, a rank that carries through when adjusted to replacement level and to the 75th percentile save percentage. This is Casey’s third time appearing as a John McBride nominee, has he finally done enough to win it?

Grzegorz Brzecyszczykiewicz
[Image: zerg-mcbride-74.png]

Grzegorz, @Zerg, finds himself nominated for the John McBride for the second consecutive season, cementing his breakout into the league’s upper echelon of netminders. A former second round pick in both his SMJHL draft as well as his SHL draft, Grzegorz is the only goalie nominated to be seen on either of the top-ten lists for losses or goals against, and yet he is on both. So, what gives? Those two lists aren’t really where one would typically look to find one of the league’s top goalies, but that is exactly why looking solely at those lists isn’t indicative of how well someone performed. Among qualified starters (min. 34 GP), Grzegorz leads all goalies with a save percentage of .909. Now, again, that is only .001 above the second place goalies Fantobens, Time, and Smith, but among those four goalies, Grzegorz faced the most amount of shots. Grzegorz faced an average of 37.15 shots against per-game, while the other nominees Fantobens and Time faced 35.18 and 29.02, respectively. Grzegorz did finish with the league’s top GSAA, but that is a counting statistic by design, meaning it can safely be assumed that by facing the most volume of the group it would be easier for Grzegorz to lead in GSAA. However, when you break it down to a Goals Saved Per Shot level, Grzegorz still leads the group. Will this be enough for him to take home the award in his second appearance?

Justin Time
[Image: time-mcbride-74.png]

Justin Time, @RAmenAmen, finds himself nominated for the McBride for a third consecutive season, still without a win to his name. At this point, the McBride is one of the last major awards eluding Time, though I don’t think I’m alone in saying this likely won’t be the last time we see him nominated. Four consecutive seasons of leading the SHL in wins is no small feat, regardless of how strong the team in front of you is. Time led the SHL in wins, Goals Against Average among starting goalies, was third for GSAA, tied for third in shutouts, and second in save percentage, tied with the aforementioned Casey Fantobens and Chicago’s Mat Smith. While he faced the second least shots per game among starters (let’s not get into who faced the least…), what he did against those shots was quite simply amazing. Sure, Edmonton would still be a great team without him, but when Time is in the net for the Blizzard, they are borderline unbeatable. Has he done enough in the committee’s eyes to finally take home the elusive McBride?

Next up we have the Scott Stevens Award for the Best Defenseman!

Louise St. Martin
[Image: lsm-stevens-74.png]

Another nominee from the league’s top team, we have Louise St Martin, @Valpix! The reigning Stevens winner returns with yet another strong performance spearheading the blueline of the league’s regular season champs. A small step back in offensive production didn’t stop them from posting a season worthy of a Stevens nomination in the eyes of the committee. Martin led all defensemen in goals with 25 and also led all defensemen in points with 72. Primarily used as an offensive defenseman, Martin’s shot blocks weren’t necessarily something to write home about from a defenseman’s point of view, but Martin more than made up for it in other areas. With only 8 giveaways to 71 takeaways, Martin was one of the league’s best in protecting the puck. There was no shying away from a hit, either, as their 89 hits was good for the 95th percentile of defensemen. Martin found themselves in at least the 90th percentile for Goals For/60, Goals Allowed/60, Shots For/60, and Shots Against/60. While they were “worse” than Edmonton was as a team in terms of GF/60, the committee looked past that in favor of the actual production Martin was able to produce. In terms of GA/60, though, Martin was almost an entire goal-per-60 better than Edmonton was as a team. Let that sink in for a moment: the team that allowed the least goals against per game had their top offensive defenseman provided defense that was so good that they allowed almost an entire goal less per game. Say what you want about how strong Edmonton’s roster is top to bottom, that was something that really stood out.

San-sam Emerson
[Image: emerson-stevens-74.png]

Philadelphia’s San-sam Emerson, @Thelastheraclid, is no stranger to Scott Stevens nominations, with the S74 nominations list being Emerson’s fifth consecutive Stevens nomination. Despite that, Emerson has yet to walk away with a win in this award. Emerson continued their reign of dominance on the blueline with a second place finish in goals (23), assists (48), and points (71). Emerson is the only defenseman on this nominee list to be top-2 in all three categories. St Martin comes in 1st in two categories, but the first place finish in assists belongs to a defenseman not nominated for the Stevens. Emerson didn’t shy away from blocking the puck, nor from laying down a hit when needed. Emerson’s 15 giveaways and 59 takeaways isn’t as impressive as St Martin’s was, but it is still a sign that Emerson did well at protecting the puck and providing Philadelphia with positive possessions. Emerson was one of the leading defensemen in SF/60, really nailing down his presence as an offensive defenseman. Whether or not this season will be enough to finally bring home the Stevens is yet to be seen, but there is no doubt that Emerson is and has been one of the best of this era.

Willow Soderberg-Snooks
[Image: wss-stevens-74.png]

San Francisco’s Willow Soderberg-Snooks, @Reno, is probably the most surprising name on this list to those outside of San Francisco. Willow and the Pride (which sounds like a fantastic band name, by the way) are putting the league on notice, and I don’t suspect this is the last time we will see Willow nominated for an award. Willow’s 63 points was third to the two aforementioned nominees, but when you realize that Edmonton and Philadelphia were 1st and 3rd in the standings respectively, compared to San Francisco at 14, Willow’s finish at 3rd in points is incredibly impressive. This is another instance where the individual’s GF/60 being not that impressive can be ignored in favor of their actual production. San Francisco as a team had difficulty generating offense, and for Willow to put up 63 points as a defenseman is impressive enough to get over the individual rate. Defensively, Willow follows suit in not shying away from blocking shots or laying down a hit, and Willow’s impressive GA/60 in comparison to San Francisco as a whole is fantastic to see from a defenseman who is still growing into their own.

Next up we have the Bojo Biscuit Award for Best Defensive Defenseman! This is notoriously a difficult award to vote on. The advanced stats that FHM has at its disposal is not as wide ranging as what the NHL has at its disposal, and the way that SHL teams are built and deployed in the sim it is difficult to pick out defensemen that legitimately strive in playing good defense as opposed to those who are the products of good teams. Still, I believe the nominated players this season each have various strengths that show they are indeed among the league’s best defensive defensemen.

Emil Egli

Starting with Edmonton’s Emil Egli, @TheGreatToeJam, we see a defenseman who had complete control over the ice when they were on a shift. This is their first award nomination of any kind in the SHL (not including SMJHL), and it is more than well deserved. Ignoring the offensive categories, Egli finished 11th in the league in shot blocks on the team who allowed the least amount of shots on goal. Yes, I know, it does make sense that a team who allowed very few shots on goal would have a defenseman high in the rankings of total shot blocks. This is where I would love to see shot attempts and not just shots on goal, but I digress. With only 6 giveaways to 61 takeaways, Egli’s TkA/GvA ratio of 10.17 is among the league’s best in the 96th percentile. While the 2.2 GA/60 is tied for 9th overall and 6th for defensemen, what is more impressive about this is the fact that on the team with the fewest goals allowed, Egli was still over a half-goal better than Edmonton in GA/60. Egli also finished 4th overall and 3rd by defensemen in SA/60, which was almost 2 shots/60 better than the team who allowed the fewest shots against per game. Incredible season from Eglie to earn their first award nomination.

Jolngustraaduvich DuBolk
[Image: dubolk-bojo-74.png]

Tampa’s Jolngustraaduvich DuBolk, @MCP_, is likely a name some people weren’t expecting to see, but an incredible defensive season more than earned DuBolk a nomination. Accentuated by a seventh place finish in takeaways, DuBolk was tied with Jeff Dar nominated teammate Benson Fiorentini in that category. DuBolk tied fellow Bojo nominee Emil Egli in shot blocks and combined that with a pretty physical playstyle that saw him finish in the 93rd percentile for defensemen. When looking at his GA/60 and SA/60, they both fall in the “below average” category for defensemen. So, what gives? Well, once again, we have to look at this number compared to the team, where DuBolk was 0.65 better than Tampa Bay in regards to GA/60, and an astounding 3.55 SA/60 better than Tampa Bay, a number that leads all Bojo nominees. Finishing in the 97th percentile for relative Fenwick% and in the 90th percentile for takeaways per minute played, DuBolk was the defensive stalwart this season that Tampa Bay has been looking for for some time.

Lester Oiduser
[Image: oiduser-bojo-74.png]

Lester Oiduser, @mystick, of the New Orleans Specters finds himself nominated for this award for a second consecutive season, and for good reason. Oiduser finished tied for the league lead in shot blocks with Hodor of the Texas Renegades. His 20 giveaways is the most of the Bojo nominees, but his 62 takeaways still is a strong result for a player on a team that struggled like the Specters did this season. Even with New Orleans finishing middle of the pack in goals allowed and 8th in shots allowed, Oiduser managed to put up a defensive effort that was 1.06 GA/60 better and 1.31 SA/60 better than New Orleans as a whole. To be over a goal better than your team is outstanding no matter where your team placed in the standings. Oiduser was also a positive relative Fenwick player for New Orleans and accomplished that by finishing in the 94th percentile for Fenwick Against per minute played.

It only makes sense to follow up one of the most difficult awards to vote for with the other most difficult award to vote for. Next up, we have the Jeff Dar Award for Best Two-Way Forward!

Benson Fiorentini
[Image: fiorentini-dar-74.png]

First up we have Benson Fiorentini, @adamantium, of Tampa Bay! In his first season after leaving Seattle, Fiorentini finds himself nominated for an award for the first time in his career. Setting a career high in points with 87 (34-53-87), Fiorentini also managed to lead all forwards in takeaways with 74. Now, after just looking through the defensemen, you might realize that 54 giveaways is incredibly higher than the sub-10 giveaways that we saw with the defensemen. However, tactics league-wide tend to give forwards the ability to carry the puck far more frequently than it does for defensemen, which is why you will see such drastic differences in giveaway totals between forwards and defensemen. Even with 54 giveaways, Fiorentini was in the 67th percentile in this regard, which is a good place to be. Defensively, his 3.5 GA/60 was nothing to write home about, however when you compare it to Tampa Bay as a whole, Fiorentini was 0.85 GA/60 better than Tampa Bay. His 53 blocks were also in the 71st percentile of forwards. Overall, Fiorentini put together a very strong two-way season to earn his first award nomination.

Evan Winter
[Image: winter-dar-74.png]

Next up we have a name that most of the league has known for quite some time: Evan Winter, @RomanesEuntDomus, of the Edmonton Blizzard. Winter’s fourth consecutive 100+ point season (44-68-112) was good for fifth in the league this season and tied for the best on Edmonton. While Winter didn’t really have an interest in laying hits or blocking shots, his 61 takeaways still managed to land him in the upper echelon of forwards in that category. Winter is an interesting case study for defensive forwards as, despite the low shot blocks, Winter managed to top the league in both GA/60 and SA/60, finding himself 1.05 GA/60 and 2.89 SA/60 better than his team in those respective categories. As a reminder, Edmonton finished as the team who allowed the least goals and shots in the entire league, so to have a player be this much better than the team as a whole is outstanding. On a per-minute level, Winter also led the league in both Corsi Against and Fenwick Against. Did the committee look past the shot blocks in favor of the outstanding rates?

Ivan Lacksamus
[Image: lacksamus-dar-74.png]

Last up for the Dar we have Challenge Cup Champion and reigning Ron Mexico winner, Ivan Lacksamus, @thiefofcheese, of the New England Wolfpack! Lacksamus also managed his fourth consecutive 100+ point season with 51 goals and 58 assists, meaning he also topped 50 goals for the third consecutive season. While Winter tied a teammate for team lead in points, Lacksamus led his closest teammate by 28 points! Lacksamus did find himself in the 87th percentile of forwards with 59 shot blocks, but was among the league’s most turnover-prone forwards with 95 giveaways. He did try his best to make up for it, though, with 49 takeaways, landing him in the 81st percentile in that regard. Often times, these high giveaway totals are found with forwards who love to have the puck on their stick and are also on teams who dominate possession. New England’s lowest Corsi player was Matiss Ozolinsh at 54.3%, meaning New England was one of the teams who dominated possession more often than not. So, the committee opted to look past the high giveaway total as Lacksamus excelled in multiple other areas. His 3.2 GA/60 was .48 better than New England as a whole, and his 109 points and substantial lead over his teammates is enough to look past the fact that his GF/60 and SF/60 aren’t as good as the team as a whole.

Onto one of my favorite awards, the Ryan Jesster Award for Best Rookie!

Andren Akerson
[Image: akerson-jesster-74.png]

From Los Angeles, Andren Akerson, @Jorec, quite a few of the league’s GMs may be thinking back to the S71 draft and wondering how Akerson fell down into the second round at 24th overall. Akerson spent all years of eligibility down in the SMJHL with the Great Falls Grizzlies, never finishing with more than 47 points in a season. In their first season in the SHL, Akerson managed to net 19 goals and 44 assists to top his SMJHL best in goals, assists, and points. Akerson played a physical role in the Panthers offense, landing 106 hits, which rates out to the 78th percentile in hits-per-minute. With only 47 giveaways (66th percentile GvA-per-minute), Akerson tallied 45 takeaways as well, managing to land in the 91st percentile in TkA-per-minute. His GA/60 and SA/60 were both better than the Panthers overall this season, which they needed after finishing much lower in the rankings in both goals allowed and shots allowed than they expected to this season. The Panthers have a future Dar candidate in Akerson if they continue to improve upon the season they just had.

Aumy Junior II
[Image: aumy-jesster-74.png]

The future is bright in Toronto, and no star is shining more than their prize rookie Aumy Junior II, @st4rface, who played their junior career in Vancouver. Much like Akerson, Aumy managed to break his junior-best total in goals with 42, and tied his junior-best points total with 70. Aumy didn’t give the puck away all that much with only 54 giveaways, finding himself in the 67th percentile in that regard and 80th percentile on a per-minute rate. Beyond that, Aumy’s 4.5 GA/60 was 0.67 better than Toronto as a whole, and that is where the highlights end for Aumy this season. That isn’t to say he had a bad season, to start your career with 42 goals is absolutely incredible. There is a lot of room to grow, but this is a fantastic start point for both Aumy and the Stars. Aumy’s ceiling is almost limitless if they can continue to build and add on to their stellar goal total from this season. One thing Aumy and Akerson can both agree on is that it doesn’t matter where you’re drafted, it is what you do with your chance when you do get drafted. Two second rounders nominated for the Jesster with strong showings in different areas, what more can you ask for?

Logan Webb
[Image: webb-jesster-74.png]

To round out the Jesster nominations, we head in a different draft direction and find ourselves looking at the 4th overall pick from the S71 draft class, Logan Webb, @spidey, of the San Francisco Pride. Unlike Aumy and Akerson, Webb didn’t break his junior records with his SHL rookie season. That would be hard to do as his junior-best season saw him net 44 goals and 48 assists in his last season of eligibility. Still, Webb put together a strong season for the Pride with 18 goals and 41 assists. Very similar to Akerson in the points production department, Webb played a substantially more physical game with 132 hits, good for the 89th percentile of forwards. Webb’s 63 giveaways wasn’t egregious at face value (41st percentile) or on a per-minute rate (50th percentile), nor were his 37 takeaways (52nd percentile, 45th percentile per-minute). He was a positive possession player for the Pride, and his 3.4 GA/60 and 34.3 SA/60 were both better than the Pride overall by roughly 0.5 each. A start to be prideful about, without a doubt.

The Aidan Richan Award for Most Improved is always a tough one to gauge, but a fun one nonetheless.

From Los Angeles, Adam Prpich, @Rich, has been spearheading the Panthers forward group since making the jump to the SHL back in S70. Prpich had seen slow but steady improvement in his overall game through his career, but S74 was his true arrival to superstardom in the SHL, finishing with 54 goals and 67 assists for 121 points. His S73 was nothing shabby, either, finishing with 30 goals and 59 assists for 89 points, but you just can not really compare the two totals. It wasn’t even due to the Panthers improved powerplay, either, as Prpich netted 9 powerplay goals in S74 after putting up 8 such goals in S73. His powerplay assists, however, did improve from 16 in S73 to 26 in S74. His even strength scoring, however, exploded from 21 goals in S73 to 39 in S74. Prpich also returned to form defensively after a dip in such performance from S72 to S73, improving by 0.7 GA/60 from S73 to S74. His GF/60 also improved, going from 4.2 GF/60 in S73 to 5.1 GF/60 in S74. Relative possession metrics went even further to show just how much more dominant Prpich was, improving from +1.2 relative Corsi and +2.3 relative Fenwick to +4.5 and +5.2, respectively. Prpich’s card will be included with the section pertaining to him in the Ron Mexico Award review.

Buffalo’s Jarrod Lakemore, @jbay7, was another player who saw his goalscoring absolutely take flight from S73 to S74. His early career was a bit slower to take off than Prpich, but the improvement of 20 goals and 32 assists in his sophomore season in S72 to 20 goals and 54 assists in S73 was only the beginning of what was to come for Lakemore and the Stampede. While Lakemore’s assists plateaued (54 in S73 and 53 in S74), his goal total went from 20 in S73 to 63 in S74, more than tripling his previous career high! It didn’t matter the situation, either, as his even strength total of 12 goals and powerplay total of 6 goals in S73 both increased to 43 and 18 respectively in S74! His physicality took a little bit of a dip in the process, but I don’t think the Stampede are going to complain about that if the tradeoff is being almost a goal-per-game. In terms of advanced stats, Lakemore’s GF/60 understandably increased from 3.7 in S73 to 5.9 in S74, an absolutely outstanding offensive performance. Defensively, his impressive 2.9 GA/60 in S73 got even better in S74, improving to 2.6. In terms of possession, Lakemore’s relative Corsi and relative Fenwick have improved every single season of his career, going from the negatives in his rookie and sophomore season to +1.5 and +2.3 respectively in S73. Then, in S74, those numbers increased to +3.1 and +5.2 respectively! Lakemore’s card will be included with the section pertaining to him in the Sarmad Khan Award review.

Turning once again to Tampa Bay, we find John Brown, @ACapitalChicago. Brown had been touted as one of the better defensive prospects in recent memory leading up to his draft, and the work was being put in behind the scenes to be that defender for the Barracuda, but the results just hadn’t gotten there yet. That is, until this past season. Brown not only improved upon his previous season’s point total, but he more than doubled his point totals from the previous two seasons combined. With 15 goals in S74, Brown scored more goals in S74 than he had in his first three seasons in the league. His 44 assists in S74, much like his total of 59 points, was also more than his previous two seasons combined. Brown didn’t just improve offensively, though, as he improved upon his 161 shot blocks from S73 to 206 shot blocks in S74. While plus/minus isn’t necessarily a fantastic indicator of performance, it is still noteworthy to mention that Brown improved upon his career-worst -43 in S73 to a +16 in S74. Even if you look at his previous career best of -10 in S72, there is still quite a bit of improvement in that regard. When you look at Brown’s per-60 rates, you will see part of why this change was so drastic. In S73, his 3.3 GF/60 and 5.0 GA/60 were not the numbers you would expect from a defenseman of Brown’s caliber. In S74, however, he essentially flipped those numbers, posting a 4.8 GF/60 and 3.8 GA/60. While the 3.8 GA/60 doesn’t look impressive, it is 0.55 better than Tampa Bay was as a whole. This is more along the lines of the type of season Tampa Bay was hoping to get from their future star, and with the work that Brown is putting in to improve, this should not be the last season that we see John Brown’s name in the list of award nominees. With the Richan being an award for the most improved, including Brown's card for S74 would not accurately depict the improvement that he had. However, upon request, I will come back and add his card if there is interest in seeing it.

This will be my first time doing a write-up for the Lance Uppercut Award for Best General Manager Duo. This write up will not be as in depth or as perfect as I would like it to be, but I am attempting to keep better track of things moving forward to be able to have a more in-depth analysis of this award and its nominees.

The three General Manager duos nominated for the Uppercut this season are @Tomen and @Ragnar of the Buffalo Stampede, @HabsFanFromOntario and @Eggcracker9 of the Edmonton Blizzard, and @CapnCooper and @Anthique of the Texas Renegades. The Uppercut, to me, is an award that I believe should be given out for a GM Duo’s body of work over multiple seasons. If we were to give this award out for the success of the most recent season, it would be very hard to distinguish between the Uppercut and Joe McKeil. Each of these duos were quite busy in recent seasons, making trades that not only shook up the main body of their roster, but also brought in assets to use towards gearing for the future, whether that was by adding prospects, draft picks, or both. As an SHL General Manager myself, I have both talked to and observed these three GM duos over my time as a GM and can attest to the work that they put in each season to make their teams better.

On a similar note, we will now get into the aforementioned Joe McKeil Award for Best Coach! This is another award that, personally, I find a little difficult to properly gauge. With the ban of test simming, there is only so much that coaches and General Managers can do to improve their lineup in ways that will actually provide positive change. On top of that, while I could look through the GM server to see how often each team changed their lines, to actually sort out what was changed and what wasn’t changed would take a lot of time and energy to keep up with on a day-to-day basis. So, the McKeil often ends up being an award given out to a team who found a way to get their team to succeed beyond the expectations that were set out on them heading into the season. This often overlooks teams like Los Angeles who have been battling both a struggling defensive effort and lack of special teams cohesion, or Winnipeg, a strong team struggling to find cohesion all throughout their lineup, ultimately finishing the season strong. Or teams like San Francisco, who in the playoffs went against the league “meta” to upset divisional rivals Los Angeles and President’s Trophy winners in Edmonton. Whether this is the best way to go about this award is an ongoing discussion, both behind the scenes and I am sure on the public forum as well, but disregarding that conversation, the effort and results shown by our three nominated teams in Atlanta, Baltimore, and Buffalo, can’t and shouldn’t be overlooked. Each team went above and beyond, battling above their TPE weight class to finish higher in the standings than people outside of their organizations expected them to. Congratulations to each team and coach nominated!

The Damian Littleton Award for Most Dedicated User is, in my opinion, a tough award to give out. There are a number of users who could continually be in contention for this award, including the three nominated users this season, and essentially run a monopoly on the award. There are users that continually put in significant time and effort into various parts of the league that the league would sorely miss if they were to stop putting in the time. There are also users who come out of nowhere and go above and beyond to earn themselves at the very least a nomination for this award. Nothing I say will do any of these users, or those not nominated, the proper justice that they deserve.

@Frenchie is someone that I personally have known since they arrived on the site. They are an amazing person with a great heart, but my personal connection to this nominee means that, no matter how objective I talk about their nomination, there will be some users who only see it as a friend talking about a friend and that is enough to discredit his nomination. So, instead, I will share the words of a fellow committee member when discussing Frenchie's nomination.

Quote:[Frenchie] laid the groundwork for [recruitment] and stepped up when nobody else wanted the job...He [was] consistently one of the most proactive people in Head Office...which is absolutely invaluable because one of the hardest things to teach people when they get to Head Office is initiative. He's Co-GM of one of the most active J teams with an amazing culture. He was also a rookie mentor and was one of the most active people in that role. He was also an IIHF Federation Head and has been very successful in recruiting for a smaller nation and keeping them competitive.

@luke is one of the users that this site very likely could not function without. Outside of being the General Manager of one of the strongest franchises of the S60s and early S70s, he is also SHL Budget Head, maintaining the site's budget spreadsheet and helping to keep track of all budget moves and salary tier jumps. Most of you have likely seen the recent media series he has posted regarding the top 75 players of all time in the SHL, which is just one of the many different media series that Luke has either coordinated himself or been a part of. He is continually digging into the site's history, helping with the site portal, and enhancing the tools available for General Managers.

@SchwarzNarr is the final nominee for the Littleton this season, and I might sound like a broken record in this regard, but she is another user and person who puts in a lot more time than some people may realize. The current SHL Awards Head and SMJHL Co-Commissioner spends time day in and day out working to help SMJHL General Managers with various issues, further conversations in SMJHL Head Office, and keep multiple different groups up and running behind the scenes. As another committee member mentions, "[Schwarz] provides an absolutely invaluable brand of leadership that cannot be overstated, always remaining respectful and civil even in the face of difficult issues and situations." She as reinvigorated the SHL Awards Team, both in discussion and in process.

We will skip over one award for the moment and instead talk about the Anton Razov Award for Playoff MVP! I do not currently have a player card process set up for the playoffs, so I apologize to the three nominees, there will not be a player card posted for this award. The three nominated candidates are each from the Challenge Cup Champion New England Wolfpack, and each for good reason.

Forwards Bruno Tooyo, @Bruins10, and Ivan Lacksamus, @thiefofcheese, paved the way offensively for the Wolfpack from start to finish. Playing in 24 games, Tokyo posted 17 goals and 16 assists while Lacksamus posted 12 goals and 20 assists, with Tooyo finishing one point above Lacksamus for team lead. Both finished with above 50% in the faceoff dot while Tooyo finished with 24 giveaways to 23 takeaways, Lacksamus finishing with 29 and 17 respectively. Netminder Olof Karsikko, @Accka,played in all 24 games of the playoff run, only being pulled once throughout the playoffs, a high-scoring affair against the Hamilton Steelhawks where the defense of both teams opted not to show up to the defensive zone that night. Over the course of the playoffs, Karsikko had a 3.08 GAA and a .913 save percentage. Of all goalies in the playoffs, Karsikko posted the best save percentage while playing in the most games (Rebecca Montagne of Winnipeg played in 22 games). In terms of Goals Saved Above Average, Karsikko led the way with +14.65, with second place Walter Sobchak of San Francisco finishing with +6.06 in 17 games. By direct comparison, Karsikko saved .610 goals above average per game, while Sobchak saved .356 goals above average per game. All three Wolfpack players were invaluable to New England throughout the playoffs.

Onto the big one, the Ron Mexico Award for Most Valuable Player!

Adam Prpich
[Image: prpich-mexico-74.png]

Starting things off, we have the league’s second overall scorer, Adam Prpich, @Rich, from the Los Angeles Panthers. This is Prpich’s first time being nominated for the Ron Mexico and is only his second award nomination of his career, the other being a Ryan Jesster nomination in his rookie season. While I talked before about how Prpich really took a step into superstardom this season back in the Aidan Richan Award section, I don’t think I truly put into perspective the type of season that Prpich had for Los Angeles. Leading the team’s second overall scorer by an astounding 26-point margin, Prpich set franchise records in goals, assists, and points with his 54-goal and 67-assist campaign. His 64 takeaways were good for 6th overall by forwards this season, and even factoring in his ice time lands him in the 95th percentile of forwards in takeaways-per-minute. 80 giveaways is a high amount, but with Los Angeles being a dominant possession team, high giveaways are somewhat expected of players who are entrusted to carry the puck quite often. His Takeaway/Giveaway ratio is where the committee’s eyes went to, and an 83rd percentile finish in that category was among the league’s best. Speaking of his possession, his positive relative Corsi and relative Fenwick of +4.5 and +5.2 respectively was a fantastic margin for a team who did not have a player below 51% corsi and only three below 50% fenwick. His 5.1 GF/60 was better than the team overall, which when combined with his actual production, truly accentuates his offensive prowess among that group. Defensively, his 3.0 GA/60 is a decent mark, finishing in the 77th percentile among the league’s forwards, but what is more impressive is the fact that it is 0.83 better than Los Angeles as a whole. In all three scoring situations (even strength, powerplay, and shorthanded), Prpich was in the 92nd percentile or better in each situation.

Konstantin Selich
[Image: selich-mexico-74.png]

Next up we have the league’s top scorer overall, a name the league knows all too well, Konstantin Selich, @Tomen, of the Buffalo Stampede is nominated for the Ron Mexico for the third time in his career, first since S72, and hoping to win his second, his other win coming in S69. Not only did Selich lead the league in points, but he also led the league in assists with 80 such tallies. His 57 shot blocks lands him above average for forwards, and his 157 hits were good for third in the league. With less giveaways than Prpich (62), Selich managed a better giveaways-per-minute mark. His 58 takeaways were quite close to Prpich, and his ratio was a few points better as well. However, his takeaways-per-minute was a bit shy of Prpich’s mark. Selich’s 5.9 GF/60 was 0.76 better than Buffalo as a whole and an arguably better defensive effort of 2.6 GA/60 was 0.52 better than Buffalo as a whole. Relative Corsi and Fenwick marks of +3.9 and +6.2 respectively are also indicative of someone insanely valuable to his team, and places him among the league’s best in both marks. So, is there any downside to Selich? It is not often that we see wingers in FHM climb into the top-10 scoring list and it is even less frequent that we see them top the league’s scoring. The question mark for Selich is his team. Yes, his GF/60 mark was substantially better than Buffalo as a whole, and leading the league in points also means that you lead your team in points. However, Jarrod Lakemore, nominated for the Aidan Richan, was just shy of a goal-per-game and was only 11 points shy of Selich, netting 116 points to Selich’s 127. Prpich’s closest teammate wasn’t a linemate, it was the team’s second line center, while Lakemore and Selich shared a line together. Without going too deep into things or leaking committee conversations, I will say that this was something the committee really thought on and talked about throughout the voting process.

Shoyo Hinata
[Image: hinata-mexico-74.png]

Last, but not least, from the Atlanta Inferno we have Shoyo Hinata, @Gordon Bombay . The league’s second goal scorer with 61 goals, this is also Hinata’s second ever award nomination, and first since being nominated for the Ryan Jesster in his rookie season in S65. Hinata, much like Selich, also led his team by 11 points. Hinata’s profile is quite similar to that of fellow nominee Adam Prpich, though, with low shot blocks and hits, high giveaways, and above league-average takeaways. His 4.9 GF/60 is lower than Atlanta as a whole, but his actual production in the eyes of the committee was enough to overlook the small difference in that regard. Defensively, his 3.4 GA/60 was better than Atlanta as a whole as well. Much like the two other nominees, Hinata’s possession numbers were outstanding, with a +4.0 relative Corsi and +3.9 relative Fenwick. On a per-minute rate, Hinata looks even better, finishing in at least the 76th percentile of all forwards in Corsi for/against and Fenwick for/against per minute played. Hinata’s overall possession numbers and dominant goal scoring certainly were two very impressive marks that Atlanta is enthralled with by all accounts, but was it enough to overtake the other nominees for his first ever award win? We will have to wait and see during the awards presentation (time TBD).

While we are here, the Ron Mexico Award nominees often overlap with the Sarmad Khan Award for Most Valuable Player, an award voted on by the site’s general public.

Jarrod Lakemore
[Image: lakemore-richan-74.png]

This season was no different as both Adam Prpich and Konstantin Selich were voted as nominees for the Khan. However, Shoyo Hinata was left off the public’s ballot in favor of fellow Stampede centerman Jarrod Lakemore, @jbay7. The league leader in goal scoring with 63 goals, Lakemore chipped in defensively with 55 shot blocks and 58 takeaways. His 5.9 GF/60 and 2.6 GA/60 were, much like Selich, better than Buffalo by margins of 0.76 and 0.52 respectively. His possession marks of +3.1 relative Corsi and +5.2 relative Fenwick were signs of a dominant possession player for the Stampede, and Lakemore was deployed heavily in each situation (even strength, powerplay, and shorthanded), scoring strong marks in each situation. Lakemore excelled in possession-against per minute and takeaways per minute as well. Undoubtedly a strong season by every mark, how did the site’s general public feel about two teammates both being under MVP consideration? We shall see sooner rather than later.

With all of this out of the way, all eyes shift towards the Awards Ceremony this weekend. With a time and day to come, keep an eye on the Awards post for the announcement of when the ceremony will be. Congratulations once again to all nominated players and users!