Post by International Hockey Club on Jun 29, 2014 10:42:45 GMT -5
Hello everyone. Kathryn Tappen here and welcome to Philadelphia and the NLHS4 Awards Show! We’re going to have an amazing, star-filled night. Tonight is all about celebrating the past NLHS season and congratulating the great efforts put on by so many in this league. It surely was a great season and congratulations again to the Legion and Metropolitans for a great Stanley Cup Finals. What a matchup and what a way to end a marvelous season. Congrats again to the Legion on their well-deserved victory, and to their farm club, the Vermont Beasts, on their Calder Cup.
Let’s kick this off with the future, the young stars of hockey. The NLHS has seen new faces come in to replace aging stars, and the best newcomer receives the Calder Memorial Trophy. Last year, it was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who rose above the rest of the pack and took home the hardware. The front runner for most of this season was BC’s Andrei Loktionov, but he suffered an injury midway through, killing his chances.
This year’s nominees were Jean-Gabriel Pageau of the Ottawa 67’s, Mikkel Boedker of the British Columbia Flyers, and Nazem Kadri of the Edmonton Mountain Men.
A player that was taken in the 22nd round of NLHS’s inaugural player draft, this player bounced around the league for some time, even into this season. Despite being traded from Seattle midseason, the winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy as NLHS’s rookie of the year is Nazem Kadri! Between the Metros and Mounties, Kadri posted 24 goals and 65 points.
Our next award is a statistical award. The William M. Jennings award goes to the goalkeeper(s) with the lowest goals-against average in the league, with the stipulation that they played at least 25 games. This year’s winner, leading the league with a 2.59 GAA, is Martin Biron of the Winnipeg Jets! He ends his career on top.
We’re not done with goalies yet! The next award is the Vezina Trophy, which goes to the best goalkeeper in the league. This award was an oddball in the sense that four players were on the ballot this year: Tuukka Rask of the Montreal Wanderers, who won the Jennings last year and will be a coveted dispersal pick; Moncton’s super sophomore Robin Lehner; Lehner’s former comrade Brian Elliott, now with the Dallas Pistols; and the Jennings winner himself, Biron. There were some truly outstanding goalkeepers in NLHS this year, but one stood out. Sporting a .916 save percentage and 2.64 goals against average, your Vezina Trophy winner for 2013-14 is Brian Elliott of the Dallas Pistols! What a turnaround for a guy that just two years ago was languishing in the minors.
Next up is the Art Ross Trophy, another statistical award that goes to the league’s top point scorer. Early on, it looked like Matt Duchene was going to run away with it, but late in the season, a surge came from the eventual winner. It went down to the last day of the season, but in the end, the challenger prevailed. Congrats to this year’s NLHS scoring champion, Alex Tanguay of the Minneapolis Millionaires! Tanguay posted 55 goals and 70 assists for a total of 125 points.
Speaking of scoring leaders, our next award is the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, which goes to the league’s leading goal scorer in the regular season. Like last year’s, it wasn’t even close this year…with 64 goals, the winner is Daniel Sedin of the Nova Scotia Titans!
We head to the back line now for the next award. The James Norris Memorial Trophy goes to the best defenseman in the league. Their work is very underappreciated by the fans, but loved by teammates. The nominees were Francois Beauchemin of the British Columbia Flyers, Erik Karlsson of the Dallas Pistols, and Brooks Orpik of the Quebec Nordiques. Add another to his team’s trophy case, the winner is Erik Karlsson! Karlsson led the league in defensive scoring with 72 points, and also held a +24 rating. This isn’t the first award given to a Pistol defender, either: back in 2012, John Carlson took home a Calder Trophy. The Dallas defense is in good hands!
We head to the farm for a bit, to give out the Cunningham Trophy for the Most Valuable Player of the NLHS Farm League, or NLHSF as we like to call it. This year was a fascinating year for NLHSF as it returned from a dormant 2012-13 season, having no farm games at all since the 2012 Summer League. The nominees were youngsters Alex Galchenyuk and Aleksander Barkov, Jr., of the St. Paul Billionaires and Wolfville Howl, respectively, and veteran Jason Arnott of the Seattle Thunderbirds, who was back for one last hurrah. With 171 points, a mark that hadn’t been reached in NLHS or NLHSF until this season, your Cunningham Trophy winner is Jason Arnott! We wish him the best in retirement as well.
And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for…the Hart Memorial Trophy for the league’s Most Valuable Player. It was an intense race between Art Ross-winning Alex Tanguay, Ryan Kesler of the Winnipeg Jets, and Legion star John Tavares. Three world-class players, but only one could win this…your 2013-14 NLHS MVP is Alex Tanguay!
Wait, don’t go away, we’re about to one up that! The Conn Smythe Trophy for the most valuable player of the postseason! This year we had four nominees from both finalists: the Legion’s duo of Tavares and midseason steal Brandon Dubinsky and Seattle’s dynamic duo of Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos. Only one of the four could take it home…this year’s winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy is John Tavares! JT led all players in playoff scoring this year, and will definitely be coveted in the upcoming dispersal draft!
An exciting roller-coaster of a season has come to an end. The Legion end their existence with a third straight Cup. A new era is about to begin and I can’t wait to see the surprises, twists, and turns of NLHS’s fifth season. Jeez, it’s already been almost 5 years...anyway, I’m Kathryn Tappen signing off from Philadelphia! See you in September!
Let’s kick this off with the future, the young stars of hockey. The NLHS has seen new faces come in to replace aging stars, and the best newcomer receives the Calder Memorial Trophy. Last year, it was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who rose above the rest of the pack and took home the hardware. The front runner for most of this season was BC’s Andrei Loktionov, but he suffered an injury midway through, killing his chances.
This year’s nominees were Jean-Gabriel Pageau of the Ottawa 67’s, Mikkel Boedker of the British Columbia Flyers, and Nazem Kadri of the Edmonton Mountain Men.
A player that was taken in the 22nd round of NLHS’s inaugural player draft, this player bounced around the league for some time, even into this season. Despite being traded from Seattle midseason, the winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy as NLHS’s rookie of the year is Nazem Kadri! Between the Metros and Mounties, Kadri posted 24 goals and 65 points.
Our next award is a statistical award. The William M. Jennings award goes to the goalkeeper(s) with the lowest goals-against average in the league, with the stipulation that they played at least 25 games. This year’s winner, leading the league with a 2.59 GAA, is Martin Biron of the Winnipeg Jets! He ends his career on top.
We’re not done with goalies yet! The next award is the Vezina Trophy, which goes to the best goalkeeper in the league. This award was an oddball in the sense that four players were on the ballot this year: Tuukka Rask of the Montreal Wanderers, who won the Jennings last year and will be a coveted dispersal pick; Moncton’s super sophomore Robin Lehner; Lehner’s former comrade Brian Elliott, now with the Dallas Pistols; and the Jennings winner himself, Biron. There were some truly outstanding goalkeepers in NLHS this year, but one stood out. Sporting a .916 save percentage and 2.64 goals against average, your Vezina Trophy winner for 2013-14 is Brian Elliott of the Dallas Pistols! What a turnaround for a guy that just two years ago was languishing in the minors.
Next up is the Art Ross Trophy, another statistical award that goes to the league’s top point scorer. Early on, it looked like Matt Duchene was going to run away with it, but late in the season, a surge came from the eventual winner. It went down to the last day of the season, but in the end, the challenger prevailed. Congrats to this year’s NLHS scoring champion, Alex Tanguay of the Minneapolis Millionaires! Tanguay posted 55 goals and 70 assists for a total of 125 points.
Speaking of scoring leaders, our next award is the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, which goes to the league’s leading goal scorer in the regular season. Like last year’s, it wasn’t even close this year…with 64 goals, the winner is Daniel Sedin of the Nova Scotia Titans!
We head to the back line now for the next award. The James Norris Memorial Trophy goes to the best defenseman in the league. Their work is very underappreciated by the fans, but loved by teammates. The nominees were Francois Beauchemin of the British Columbia Flyers, Erik Karlsson of the Dallas Pistols, and Brooks Orpik of the Quebec Nordiques. Add another to his team’s trophy case, the winner is Erik Karlsson! Karlsson led the league in defensive scoring with 72 points, and also held a +24 rating. This isn’t the first award given to a Pistol defender, either: back in 2012, John Carlson took home a Calder Trophy. The Dallas defense is in good hands!
We head to the farm for a bit, to give out the Cunningham Trophy for the Most Valuable Player of the NLHS Farm League, or NLHSF as we like to call it. This year was a fascinating year for NLHSF as it returned from a dormant 2012-13 season, having no farm games at all since the 2012 Summer League. The nominees were youngsters Alex Galchenyuk and Aleksander Barkov, Jr., of the St. Paul Billionaires and Wolfville Howl, respectively, and veteran Jason Arnott of the Seattle Thunderbirds, who was back for one last hurrah. With 171 points, a mark that hadn’t been reached in NLHS or NLHSF until this season, your Cunningham Trophy winner is Jason Arnott! We wish him the best in retirement as well.
And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for…the Hart Memorial Trophy for the league’s Most Valuable Player. It was an intense race between Art Ross-winning Alex Tanguay, Ryan Kesler of the Winnipeg Jets, and Legion star John Tavares. Three world-class players, but only one could win this…your 2013-14 NLHS MVP is Alex Tanguay!
Wait, don’t go away, we’re about to one up that! The Conn Smythe Trophy for the most valuable player of the postseason! This year we had four nominees from both finalists: the Legion’s duo of Tavares and midseason steal Brandon Dubinsky and Seattle’s dynamic duo of Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos. Only one of the four could take it home…this year’s winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy is John Tavares! JT led all players in playoff scoring this year, and will definitely be coveted in the upcoming dispersal draft!
An exciting roller-coaster of a season has come to an end. The Legion end their existence with a third straight Cup. A new era is about to begin and I can’t wait to see the surprises, twists, and turns of NLHS’s fifth season. Jeez, it’s already been almost 5 years...anyway, I’m Kathryn Tappen signing off from Philadelphia! See you in September!