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Every year, the Flyers give out numerous team awards on the final game of the regular season. The awards range from the Bobby Clarke Trophy (Team MVP), Barry Ashbee Trophy (Best Defenseman) and Pelle Lindbergh Trophy (Most Improved Player) for on-ice performance to more off-ice centered ones such as the Yanick Dupre Award (formerly the media "Class Guy" award) and the newer Gene Hart Award (Work ethic and dedication).
Five years ago, I proposed some tongue-in-cheek ideas for "unofficial team awards" and readers had some fun coming up with a few of their own. In order to lighten the mood in a time where another lockout appears to be on the horizon, I've brought back the unofficial awards. Some are serious, but most are meant in good fun.
In the style of the Flyers Awards, most of them are named for past players in team history. I've brought out a few, though, for which the namesake has nothing to do with the Flyers or hockey. As with the Flyers awards, I tried not to have the same player win multiple awards at the same time (that hasn't happened in the Flyers Awards since Mark Howe won both the Clarke and Ashbee honors in 1985-86).
Have fun adding your own awards and nominees for the 2012-13 season!
"The Bundy Bowl" (Most maligned player): Ilya Bryzgalov
Named for Chris Therien, this award goes to the player who gets the most heat from the fans. Most years, that player is a defenseman or a goaltender.
In many ways, Ilya Bryzgalov is the obvious candidate here. There will be a segment of the fanbase (and media) who blame him pretty much for every goal against and any loss where the Flyers lose by a score other than 1-0 -- but that 1-0 loss had better not be via shootout or else it's Bryz's fault.
There's no doubt that Bryzgalov needs to be more consistent this season than he was last year. There were too many lapses, too many distractions. But his play still wasn't nearly as bad as some made it out to be, especially in the playoffs. Statistics don't always tell you the full story.
Personally, I thought from Game 6 of the Pittsburgh series through Game 4 of the New Jersey series, he was one of the Flyers' best players. Also keep in mind that he was playing through a chip fracture in his right foot and had been the NHL's Player of the Month in March for his outstanding play prior to the injury. Not so coincidentally, that surge coincided with the team in front of him committing to play better defense.
Bruno Gervais is also a candidate for the Bundy. Some Flyers fans are notoriously tough on the team's blueliners, acting as if there should be six Norris Trophy candidates in the lineup and, even then, should never turn over a puck or get beaten one-on-one. They can get particularly rough on third-pairing type of players. As the lone free agent addition to the blueline this summer and a foot-soldier type of player, Gervais has the potential to be a target for discontented fans any time he fails to clear a puck or finishes a game with a minus.
"The Mandy Stone" (Most trouble finishing scoring chances):Ruslan Fedotenko
Rusty has no problem scoring goals AGAINST the Flyers, but his offensive game has been in decline the last few years. I'm hopeful he has a double-digit scoring season left in him, but I would not be surprised if he scores something like 6 to 8 goals for the season. That's OK so long as his two-way play is sound. He wasn't brought back for his goal scoring anyway. Eric Wellwood is another candidate for the Mandy. The award is named for former Flyers forward Kent Manderville, who once endured a goal drought of nearly 100 games.
"The Ray Stevens/Jeff Carter Cup" (Streakiest player): Wayne Simmonds
Last season, Simmonds had a career-best offensive season and provided a much-needed element of physical play. Even so, with the departures of Jaromir Jagr and James van Riemsdyk, there is need for improvement in the consistency department of Simmonds offensive game in 2012-13.
On the positive, Simmonds opened last season with points in five of the first seven games, and later had stretches of three points in four games, goals in five of six games (including four in a row), three goals and eight points in seven games, four goals in three games, five goals and eight points in six games and, finally, a five-game goal scoring streak in which he tallied six goals and one assist.
On the negative, in between those hot streaks, Simmonds was prone to lengthy goal and point droughts. Over his final 13 games (2 regular season, 11 playoff), he had just one goal. There was also a 16-game stretch in which he failed to score a goal and produced just three assists. Earlier in the season, he had a slump of one goal in 11 games and a separate stretch of one point (a goal) in nine games.
Every player has his ups and downs over the season, and power forwards in particular seem prone to feast-or-famine production. Even so, now that Simmonds figures to be assigned a top-six role at even strength and continue to receive substantial power play time, the Flyers will need Simmonds to reduce the duration of some of the down cycles.
"The Duchesne/Heward Award" (Offensive D, defensive liability):Erik Gustafsson
The award is named for Steve Duchesne and former Phantoms defenseman Jamie Heward. I don't really think Gustafsson is a defensive liability, but there's no clear cut candidate for the "offensive specialist" D role right now. Adding muscle to his frame in order to better compete down low in the offensive zone has been the number one priority for the undersized Swede for a few years. It also remains to be seen how much of his AHL offensive game will transfer to the NHL for the long haul.
"The Dufresne/Hedberg Award" (Missing person): Andreas Lilja
Veteran enforcer Jody Shelley dressed in only 30 games last season. He might not make the team this season. Shelley is a candidate to be waived and spend the season in the AHL with the Phantoms as a salary-cap casualty. With Lilja on an over-35 contract, the Flyers will still have his cap hit this season, even if he's not on the active roster. As such, the team may as well have the veteran defenseman around for added depth.
Assuming there's no lockout or a brief one, Lilja will miss time at the start after undergoing hip surgery this summer. The Flyers claim he'll be ready to go by late October or early November while the player himself said his timetable is for a December return. As the eighth defenseman on the depth chart -- even with Andrej Meszaros' torn achilles tendon -- it remains to be seen how many games Lilja gets to play even when he is cleared to return to the ice.
This award is named in honor of a comedy routine by the late Mitch Hedberg.
"The Roscoe/Recchs Helmet" (Baldest player): Nicklas Grossmann
Also known as the Wino (Eric Weinrich) Award, this much-coveted award is named for Ross Lonsberry and Mark Recchi. It did not have a clear-cut candidate a season ago until the Flyers acquired Grossmann from the Stars. The big Swede patterns much of his game after former NHL defenseman Mattias Norström, and they also share a physical resemblance down to the lack of hair atop their heads. Grossmann is only 27 years old but he looks older.
"The Thundermouth Award" (Non-stop talker at highest volume): Scott Hartnell
The Flyers have plenty of loquacious players on the team, but some like Danny Briere and Bryzgalov (when he feels like it) are soft-spoken while expounding at length about a conversational topic. Then there are guys -- like the award namesake, Joe "Thundermouth" Watson -- whose voices can be heard from across the room. Chris Pronger can project his voice like nobody's business, and would be the choice if he were able to play. Hartnell is sort of in the middle ground. He's usually soft-spoken but when he elevates his voice in a crowded locker room scene, you don't have to turn around to figure out who's talking. The same goes for Max Talbot.
"The Hound Trophy" (Most tenacious forechecker): Max Talbot
I love watching Talbot when he gets cooking on the forecheck. He makes life miserable on opposing defenses with his tenacity. Brayden Schenn is really up-and-coming on the forecheck as well. The award is, of course, named for Bob "the Hound" Kelly, who was like a whirling dervish on the forecheck.
"The Rennie Award "(Most prone to serious injuries): Andrej Meszaros
The award is named for Mikael Renberg, who suffered a seemingly never-ending series of frightening or lingering injuries during his playing career. Meszaros has had two major surgeries (back and foot) within the span of the last five months.
"The Bill Dineen Award" (Excellence of elocution): Derian Hatcher (Player Development Coach)
You know what point Hatch is trying to make whenever he speaks, but the words don't always come out exactly right. I remember one time during his active career, he said, "We tried to play physical against [Evgeni Malkin], because he's a big guy for his size." Now a player development coach -- and a good one, because he'll put in as much work with young players as they want and need -- he still gets his message across loud and clear.
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