TBRW Awards

[Trotsky]

Nominate.  Expound.  And slander the other candidates.  (OK, not really).

Here are the categories and former winners: http://www.tbrw.info/tbrwAwards/tbrwAwards.html

Peter Natyshak Award, Career Improvement. This award is open to seniors or in the very rare case when no senior has demonstrated above average career improvement, juniors. The award measures how well the player has improved since starting at Cornell.

Randy MacFarlane Award, Transcendent Beauty and Skating Prowess. Title says it all.  Anne's favorite award.

Dave Shippel Award, Scrappiness and Effort. This award, which is associated with the longest-running typo in TBRW? history ("scappiness"), generally goes to a player who plays bigger than his size or "better than his talent."

Terry Gage Award, Determination in a Supporting Role. This award generally goes to an athlete whose contributions do not show up in the box score. It often goes to an unexpected player who comes out of the pack to really contribute a particular skill as a role player.

Mike Schafer Award, Leadership and Passion. This award needs no explanation.

Pierre Belanger Award, Most Loathed Referee. Nor does this one.

John Carter Award, Most Respected Opponent. This award generally goes to an opposing player who has both ferociously skewered Cornell and who we would take in a heartbeat for one of our own. It is based on his performance against us only in games this year.

Kevan Melrose Award, Least Respected Opponent. This award goes to the guys who, when you scream "Sucks!" you really mean it. The bad and the ugly. The goon, the cheap shot artist, the whiner, the showboat. The asshole.

Doug Dadswell Award, Most Valuable Freshman. Define it however you want. Open only to freshman, not transfers.

Joe Nieuwendyk Award, Most Valuable Player. Again, define it however you want, as long as you consider only this year's performance.

Here are the automatic awards:

Duane Moeser Award, Leading Point Scorer: Moulson.
Chris Norton Award, Leading Scorer, Defensemen: Cook.
Brian Hayward Award, Leading Goaltender: Duh.

[Hillel Hoffmann]

[Q]Trotsky Wrote: Peter Natyshak Award, Career Improvement. This award is open to seniors or in the very rare case when no senior has demonstrated above average career improvement, juniors. The award measures how well the player has improved since starting at Cornell.[/Q]
This should be the easiest decision in the history of your TBRW awards. In fact, there needs to be some kind of special MegaNaty this year. Hate to sound like a broken record, but in 30+ years I have never seen any Cornell hockey player improve so much over three/four years as Mike Iggulden -- and not just in terms of production, but all the intangible leadership stuff too. Amazing. Now that I think about it, I bet I've never witnessed any Cornell athlete in any sport improve as much as Iggulden.

I like Alex's idea (below) of renaming the Natyshak Award. It should be the Iggy.

[calgARI '07]

Peter Natyshak Award, Career Improvement. This award is open to seniors or in the very rare case when no senior has demonstrated above average career improvement, juniors. The award measures how well the player has improved since starting at Cornell.

Mike Iggulden

Randy MacFarlane Award, Transcendent Beauty and Skating Prowess. Title says it all. Anne's favorite award.

Jeremy Downs

John Carter Award, Most Respected Opponent. This award generally goes to an opposing player who has both ferociously skewered Cornell and who we would take in a heartbeat for one of our own. It is based on his performance against us only in games this year.

Jamie Sifers

Kevan Melrose Award, Least Respected Opponent. This award goes to the guys who, when you scream "Sucks!" you really mean it. The bad and the ugly. The goon, the cheap shot artist, the whiner, the showboat. The asshole.

Tanner Glass or Jay Latullipe

Dave Shippel Award, Scrappiness and Effort. This award, which is associated with the longest-running typo in TBRW? history ("scappiness"), generally goes to a player who plays bigger than his size or "better than his talent."

Topher Scott

Terry Gage Award, Determination in a Supporting Role. This award generally goes to an athlete whose contributions do not show up in the box score. It often goes to an unexpected player who comes out of the pack to really contribute a particular skill as a role player.

Mike Iggulden

Mike Schafer Award, Leadership and Passion. This award needs no explanation.

Mike Knoepfli

Pierre Belanger Award, Most Loathed Referee. Nor does this one.

John Murphy

Doug Dadswell Award, Most Valuable Freshman. Define it however you want. Open only to freshman, not transfers.

Topher Scott

Joe Nieuwendyk Award, Most Valuable Player. Again, define it however you want, as long as you consider only this year's performance.

Mike Iggulden

[Facetimer]

[Q]Trotsky Wrote:

Randy MacFarlane Award, Transcendent Beauty and Skating Prowess. Title says it all.  Anne's favorite award.

[/q]

Ryan O'Byrne

[Jacob 03]

Peter Natyshak-
I have to second what Hillel said (though I disagreed with the many who said Iggy was so inadequate to begin with).  This is obviously Iggulden's.  

Mike Schafer-
I know the default is probably to give it to the captain anyway, but I think Knoepfli's earned this as much as most previous recipients.  

Kevan Melrose-
A certain hack from Harvard...

[KateWithThe8]

"Kevan Melrose Award, Least Respected Opponent. This award goes to the guys who, when you scream "Sucks!" you really mean it. The bad and the ugly. The goon, the cheap shot artist, the whiner, the showboat. The asshole. "

No question:  Noah Welch.  I think the middle fingers to the crowd and numerous cheap shots speak for themselves.  The only good thing about him is that he's a senior.  Besides, we all know Smuckers is better :-)  

[jtwcornell91]

I mostly agree with Ari, except I abstain on the Pierre and nominated McKee for the Nieuwy.  And the opponent awards are for individuals, not teams.  Welch is obvious for the Melrose.  Any ideas for the Carter?

[pfibiger]

I'd consider giving the Carter to Silverthorn. It seems like he definitely brings his A game to play against Cornell.

[Will]

Peter Natyshak Award, Career Improvement. - Mike Iggulden.  Honorable mentions: Paul Varteressian, and for juniors, Dan Pegoraro.

Randy MacFarlane Award, Transcendent Beauty and Skating Prowess. - Jeremy Downs.  Honorable mention: Chris Abbott.

Dave Shippel Award, Scrappiness and Effort. - Nobody's bigger than his size than Topher Scott.  Honorable mention: Doug Krantz. Not that I think he's not big enough, but I didn't think he'd do this well as a freshman.

Terry Gage Award, Determination in a Supporting Role. - Chris Abbott.  He may not be big on point production, but he's grown into a great faceoff man in these post-Vesce days.  Honorable mention: Jeremy Downs.  Again not a point scorer, but he's one of the best defensive defensemen I've ever seen.

Mike Schafer Award, Leadership and Passion. - Mike Knoepfli.  Honorable mentions: Mike Iggulden and Charlie Cook.  (Does this award ever go to a non-captain/assistant?)

Pierre Belanger Award, Most Loathed Referee. - Peter Feola.  Honorable mention: Kevin Hall (though I think this might decline in my mind over time).

John Carter Award, Most Respected Opponent. Tyler Burton of Colgate.  Honorable mention: Joe Fallon of Vermont.

Kevan Melrose Award, Least Respected Opponent. - Noah Welch of Harvard.  (Dis)Honorable mentions: Jay Latulippe and David Cayer of Clarkson, and pretty much the entire Brown goon squad.

Doug Dadswell Award, Most Valuable Freshman. - Sasha Pokulok (at least while he wasn't injured).  Honorable mentions: Doug Krantz, Raymond Sawada, Topher Scott.  Can't really argue against any of our freshmen, really.  (Except maybe Troy Davenport.)

Joe Nieuwendyk Award, Most Valuable Player. - David McKee.  Honorable mentions: Mike Iggulden, Jeremy Downs, and Matt Moulson.

[mjh89]

Peter Natyshak Award, Career Improvement. This award is open to seniors or in the very rare case when no senior has demonstrated above average career improvement, juniors. The award measures how well the player has improved since starting at Cornell.

Mike Iggulden

Randy MacFarlane Award, Transcendent Beauty and Skating Prowess. Title says it all. Anne's favorite award.

Jeremy Downs

Dave Shippel Award, Scrappiness and Effort. This award, which is associated with the longest-running typo in TBRW? history ("scappiness"), generally goes to a player who plays bigger than his size or "better than his talent."

Topher Scott

Terry Gage Award, Determination in a Supporting Role. This award generally goes to an athlete whose contributions do not show up in the box score. It often goes to an unexpected player who comes out of the pack to really contribute a particular skill as a role player.

Mitch Carefoot

Mike Schafer Award, Leadership and Passion. This award needs no explanation.

Mike Knoepfeli

Pierre Belanger Award, Most Loathed Referee. Nor does this one.

Murphy Boys.

John Carter Award, Most Respected Opponent. This award generally goes to an opposing player who has both ferociously skewered Cornell and who we would take in a heartbeat for one of our own. It is based on his performance against us only in games this year.

Nobody really skewered us this year, but I think Lee Stempniak is the best player in the ECAC.

Kevan Melrose Award, Least Respected Opponent. This award goes to the guys who, when you scream "Sucks!" you really mean it. The bad and the ugly. The goon, the cheap shot artist, the whiner, the showboat. The asshole.

Jay Latulippe

Doug Dadswell Award, Most Valuable Freshman. Define it however you want. Open only to freshman, not transfers.

Topher Scott

Joe Nieuwendyk Award, Most Valuable Player. Again, define it however you want, as long as you consider only this year's performance.

Matt Moulson

[DeltaOne81]

Pierre Belanger Award, Most Loathed Referee. - Anyone named Murphy? If I had to pick one I'd pick D. Murphy, based on the regular occurances, but F. Murphy perhaps turned in one of the single worst performances I've seen this year at Yale. Feola was fine in the title game in Albany.

John Carter Award, Most Respected Opponent. What about Dov Grummet-Morris? Hate him on the ice, but that guy has been a rock. The Harvard radio guys (I refuse to dignify them with any greater term) may be way overboard with him, but 4 years of frustrating the faithful (often) and competing almost favorably with LeNeveu and McKee says a lot. Its a shame he had to go out with a whimper (both this year and all 3 others), that guy had one hell of a college career.

[DisplacedCornellian]

Peter Natyshak Award, Career Improvement. This award is open to seniors or in the very rare case when no senior has demonstrated above average career improvement, juniors. The award measures how well the player has improved since starting at Cornell.

No contest here:  Mike Iggulden.

Randy MacFarlane Award, Transcendent Beauty and Skating Prowess. Title says it all. Anne's favorite award.

Jeremy Downs

John Carter Award, Most Respected Opponent. This award generally goes to an opposing player who has both ferociously skewered Cornell and who we would take in a heartbeat for one of our own. It is based on his performance against us only in games this year.

Not sure about this one.   I think Hyphen deserves an honorable mention.  I'll go with Burton from Colgate...I think he's going to give us fits in the years ahead.

Kevan Melrose Award, Least Respected Opponent. This award goes to the guys who, when you scream "Sucks!" you really mean it. The bad and the ugly. The goon, the cheap shot artist, the whiner, the showboat. The asshole.

Jay Latullipe:  I friggin' hate that guy.

Dave Shippel Award, Scrappiness and Effort. This award, which is associated with the longest-running typo in TBRW? history ("scappiness"), generally goes to a player who plays bigger than his size or "better than his talent."

Topher Scott:  who can play more bigger than his size than Topher? (Did I just say "more bigger"....)

Terry Gage Award, Determination in a Supporting Role. This award generally goes to an athlete whose contributions do not show up in the box score. It often goes to an unexpected player who comes out of the pack to really contribute a particular skill as a role player.

Mike Iggulden.  I didn't expect him to have the year he did.  

Mike Schafer Award, Leadership and Passion. This award needs no explanation.

Got to stick with captain Knoepfli on this one.

Pierre Belanger Award, Most Loathed Referee. Nor does this one.

I've grown to despise all things Murphy.

Doug Dadswell Award, Most Valuable Freshman. Define it however you want. Open only to freshman, not transfers.

Tie:  Topher Scott/Sasha Pokoluk.

Joe Nieuwendyk Award, Most Valuable Player. Again, define it however you want, as long as you consider only this year's performance.

Dave McKee.  Honorable mentions to Moulson and Iggulden.

[atb9]

Peter Natyshak Award, Career Improvement. This award is open to seniors or in the very rare case when no senior has demonstrated above average career improvement, juniors. The award measures how well the player has improved since starting at Cornell.

Mike Iggulden Like some of the other awards, This award needs no explanation ;-)

Randy MacFarlane Award, Transcendent Beauty and Skating Prowess. Title says it all. Anne's favorite award.

I really don't know  I would default to Jeremy Downs because I know he's a great skater but there was something special about Iggy exploding to pick off a pass on the kill and skate down the ice on a shorty.

Dave Shippel Award, Scrappiness and Effort. This award, which is associated with the longest-running typo in TBRW? history ("scappiness"), generally goes to a player who plays bigger than his size or "better than his talent."

Topher Scott  He is talented, don't be confused, but his work ethic and determination along the boards stood out among a team known for its work ethic.  And the kid is probably 5'6" on skates.

Terry Gage Award, Determination in a Supporting Role. This award generally goes to an athlete whose contributions do not show up in the box score. It often goes to an unexpected player who comes out of the pack to really contribute a particular skill as a role player.

Chris Abbott With Pegs, Abbott was a faceoff monster.  For some perspective: Pegs had 23 points, Iggy had 18, Chris Abbott had 13, Downs had 8.  I think Downs is an exceptional second choice.  Both Downs and Chris Abbott played in every single game and the only player with similar points as Downs to play every game was Ray Sawada.

edit: Will already made this argument so I agree with Will!  ;-)

Mike Schafer Award, Leadership and Passion. This award needs no explanation.

Mike Knoepfli

Pierre Belanger Award, Most Loathed Referee. Nor does this one.

I would like to say first that Kotyra is the best referee, IMO, and I got nervous when I saw he wasn't doing the ECAC championship game.

Marco Hunt for his 28 called penalties in the BC farse.

John Carter Award, Most Respected Opponent. This award generally goes to an opposing player who has both ferociously skewered Cornell and who we would take in a heartbeat for one of our own. It is based on his performance against us only in games this year.

Dominic Vicari, MSU 53 shots faced, only one goal.  The only goal he let in was a screamer from Krantz that banged off of the post, and rebounded off of his pad into the net (McKee saved a similar shot that day).  If we had beaten MSU would we have been in Minneapolis?

Honorable mention goes Fritsche, OSU.  He skated circles around us until he got slammed into the open bench door.

Kevan Melrose Award, Least Respected Opponent. This award goes to the guys who, when you scream "Sucks!" you really mean it. The bad and the ugly. The goon, the cheap shot artist, the whiner, the showboat. The asshole.

Noah Welch  The two on one he got beat on in the ECAC final is a fitting way for him to close out his Harvard career.  I'm sure he's a great guy, but he's an over rated hockey player.  A good hockey player?  Yes.  One of the best defensemen in all of collegehockey?  Er, no.

Doug Dadswell Award, Most Valuable Freshman. Define it however you want. Open only to freshman, not transfers.

Topher Scott Topher became the QB of the PP and his fearlessness is fun to watch.  This class is awesome!  Two freshmen played every single game, Raymond Sawada and Topher Scott.  Sasha is clearly going to be a stud once he plays the body more (he has already improved in that area this campaign).  Krantz has one heck of a heavy shot.

Joe Nieuwendyk Award, Most Valuable Player. Again, define it however you want, as long as you consider only this year's performance.

a tie, why not? Matt Moulson and David McKee Someone needs to massage the stats and figure out who won us more games.  Everyone will talk about McKee (although impossible for the skaters, I find it amazing that he so successfully logged nearly every minute of the entire season) so I'll focus on Moulson.  A number of times this season, like at Union, I saw Moulson score a screamer on his back heels from the slot that picked out the upper corner and that absolutely changed the game.  22 goals, 42 points?  Nasty.  I thought Moulson used his body quite a bit more this season and he was Schafers representative to the refs.

[sockralex]

Peter Natyshak Award, Career Improvement.

MIKE IGGULDEN Although I believe he should have a new award named after him because of his awesomeness this year.  That's right, I said awesomeness.

Randy MacFarlane Award, Transcendent Beauty and Skating Prowess. Title says it all. Anne's favorite award.

CHRIS ABBOTT

Dave Shippel Award, Scrappiness and Effort.

TOPHER SCOTT

Terry Gage Award, Determination in a Supporting Role.

DANIEL PEGORARO

Mike Schafer Award, Leadership and Passion.

CHARLIE COOK I think it was a toss up between him and Knoepfli, but I believe he came on very strong towards the end of the season and his defense throughout the year was a very solid.

Pierre Belanger Award, Most Loathed Referee.

Anyone named MURPHY

John Carter Award, Most Respected Opponent.

No opinion on this one.

Kevan Melrose Award, Least Respected Opponent.

NOAH WELCH Harvard's captain, leader, goon

Doug Dadswell Award, Most Valuable Freshman.

TOPHER SCOTT I think Scott really stood out.  If Pokulok didn't get injured he would probably have this one and Krantz really stepped up this year, but Topher gets my nomination.

Joe Nieuwendyk Award, Most Valuable Player.

MIKE IGGULDEN I know a lot of people would say David McKee, after all he is nominated for the Hobey.  I will have to go with Iggy on this one.  SIX game winning goals, FOUR shorthanded goals (after a season with zero for the entire team) including the one which arguably turned our season around in Union.  He may not have had as many points as Moulson but I believe that he played with a lot of heart in every shift and thus gets my MVP nod.

[Dpperk29]

Jay Latulip