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Scout
03-03-2008, 05:12 PM
Time to Start Thinking "Awards"
Posted by Les Lazaruk


It's three weeks until the season is over for the Saskatoon Blades...or seven games remaining...at the time of this writing, take your pick.

The annual Blades' Awards Gala will be held Monday, March 17 at T.C.U. Place...and, yours truly, will climb onto the stage and read out the names of the winners of the 17 awards handed out by the club each season.

Voting is done, almost exclusively, within the management and coaching offices with the Blades...with minimal input from the media (to some, that may be a good thing, lol!) But, that won't stop me from throwing in my "two cents worth" on the awards that I feel I have a qualified opinion to vote on...as follows:

Hardest Hitter: Colton Gillies, no question. Watch opponents put their heads on a swivel when they go after a loose puck near the boards when #18 is on the ice!

Diamond in the Rough: Chris Langkow...quite a revelation since his acquisition from Spokane as part of the Justin McCrae trade. Darian Dziurzynski would also be a good choice.

Hardest Working Player: Chris Langkow. His arrival brought out the best of Curtis Hamilton and Travis Toomey and his work ethic was infectious to others as well.

Brian Skrudland Trophy (Best Defensive Forward): Chris Durand...hands down. Need a defensive zone face-off won...or kill off a penalty...or win a battle for puck possession? Durand was the most reliable.

Most Gentlemanly Player: Derek Hulak...skates well enough that he doesn't need to foul an opponent and doesn't lose his cool easily.

Most Dedicated Player: A combination of most improved and a "comeback" player award. Ryan Funk would get my vote. Missed almost all of last season and got better as this season went on.

Most Improved Player: Travis Toomey...at both ends of the ice, offence, defence, in the face-off circle, his growth as the season went on was dramatic.

Rookie of the Year: Stefan Elliott & Jyri Niemi...I can't choose between them, but I know they're both around for the next two seasons at least!

Defenceman of the Year: Sam Klassen...The +/- stat is one that can be misinterpreted quite often. This time, it tells quite a tale to me.

Most Valuable Player: Colton Gillies...as of right now, since he became the captain, the Blades' record is better than .500. And, a lot of that had to do with a "player's only" meeting in Edmonton following a 4-0 loss to the Oil Kings. Throw in the fact Gillies leads the team in goal-scoring and he gets the nod from me over a host of other players who made significant contributions to a team that struggled for the first half of the season, but has come on in the last seven weeks!

Tidball
03-04-2008, 03:57 PM
diamond in the rough should go to Toomey.

Hardest Hitter: Gillies and Klassen.... Gillies has not been hitting half as much as he used to.

Hardest worker: Chris Durand

Most improved: Klassen

MVP: Holtby

Rookie of the Year: Stephan Elliott

Best defensive forward (Patterson had he not been injured) Gillies or Durand.

I forget the rest.

hobster
03-04-2008, 06:52 PM
Diamond the rough i would give to Toomey as well, and who cares if Gillies hasn't been hitting as much since he came back from the world juniors. He has been scoring more and thats what we need out of him, he is on a 6 game goal scoring streak.