Both Jim Carr and sleezebag MMB have now given us their oppinion on the TWHL3 regular season awards. I'll do the same here tonight.
- Hart Trophy (Most Outstanding Player)
Marcel Dionne - L A Wolves.
F 16 Marcel Dionne 80 56 36 92 22 33 2 8 1 309 109 18.1
Dionne had a GREAT season in L A this year. He alone made sure that the wolves made it into the playoffs. He lead the league in goals on a struggling team. Patrick Marleau tied the record for most points in a season, but he had a lot more help than Dionne. Pavel Bure would have won this for sure hadn't it been for bad slumps for almost half of the season.
- Lester Pearson Trophy (Most Valuable Player to a Team)
Guy Lafleur - Berlin ?!?
F 10 Guy Lafleur 80 41 47 88 -17 10 2 6 0 264 38 15.5
When the season started I figured that Berlins chances at making the playoffs was about as big as the survival rates on snowballs in hell. Thanks to Guy Lafleur, Berlin surprised may teams this season and grabbed the third place in the Borg Division. Ok, The Borg division isn't that strong but I still think that Guy made all that difference for this team. Moscows Jean Beliveau also deserves to be mentioned. Tommy Salo of the NYR would also make a fine Lester B winner.
- Lady Byng Trophy (Wussmanship)
Wade Redden - Tokyo Dragons
D 7 Wade Redden 80 11 36 47 37 1 1 4 0 84 0 13.1
ZERO pims!! Can one be a good defender when you get ZERO pims in a season.
I guess so Redden has played great this season. 47 points and a solid +/- record. The toughest opposition comes from a former Dragons player, Mathieu Schneider. Scheider had 46 points and 2 pims on the Ratz this season.
- Norris Trophy (Top Defenseman)
Chris Pronger - Tokyo Dragons.
D 44 Chris Pronger 69 15 65 80 39 1 0 0 1 106 288 14.2
I just cant look past Pronger. He missed 11 games this season and still lead the leagues defensemen in scoring. Sure, he gets GREAT help from his teammates, but so does the other candidates. 288 Pims is perhaps a bit much for a Norris Trophy winner but I still think he should win the Norris. Bobby Orr, Ed Jovanovski and Dan Trebil also deserves mentioning. Orr scored 26 goals from the blue line this season and will be awarded for that.
- Calder Trophy (Top Rookie)
Jaroslav BEDNAR - Toronto Maple Leafs
F 80 Jaroslav BEDNAR 78 42 35 77 2 15 4 6 0 264 133 15.9
Ok, I just sunk to an all time low. I'm rooting for a TML player, man I'll hate myself if he wins. Bednar has played great during his rookie season. He needs to improve his defensive qualities to become a really great player. Zdeno Ciger of Hated Taipei, ( gah, Can't beleive I just mentioned a HATED tapiei player) and Norman Milley of Cairo is also strong candidates.
- Vezina Trophy (Top Goaltender)
Stephane Fiset - Hong Kong
Stephane Fiset 41 2480 3.07 23 14 4 0 3 127 1168 .891 0 0
Jim Carr might have been on to something here. I don't know what I was thinking when I talked about Chouinard. Fiset is a worthy winner, even though he playes on the same team as Eric Lindros. Tommy Salo deserves to be mentioned. He had a great season with the Rangers.
- Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward)
Sergei Fedorov - Tokyo Dragons
F 91 Sergei Fedorov 80 48 41 89 63 9 0 5 0 297 67 16.2
Ok, this one is a tough one. Tokyo's +/- ratings have gone off the charts and I don't know if they're even a good way of meassuring defensive capabilities when it comes to Tokyo players. The team is so superior offensively that they hardley ever are in their own defensive zone. Fedorov is however known to be a great two way player and he hasn't let anyone down this season.
- Commissioner's Trophy (Top GM)
GM Nilsson - Tokyo Dragons
Magnus has put together a great team and has already won the cup once. This year his team won the Presidents trophy ( or whatever we call it :) I have to agree with GM Herrington on this one. Magnus really deserves it.
- Jack Adams Award (Top Coach)
Dave King - Rio Carnavales
How could this happen ? When the man was assistant GM in Stockholm back in TWHL2 he was a poison. He poisoned the whole Swedish team and was fired after less than 20 games with the Ratz. The Carnavales players must however be immune to his poison because this fella is performing miracles down in Rio.