|
Handing Out Some 2021-22 Sabres Awards |
|
|
|
|
|
The Sabres' season is in the books which means it’s time to give out awards to various Sabres based on their 2021-22 seasons. Leave it to a millennial like me to hand out participation trophies to a non-playoff team because that’s how our self-worth is measured. I think I actually won most improved on my hockey team one year which essentially means that I was terrible to start the year and maybe a little bit less terrible by the end of the year. Talk about a great honor.
Anyway, let’s get into the Sabres awards.
Sabres MVP – Craig Anderson
People are already lining up to Will Smith me based on this choice, I’m sure, but maybe I can talk you down. The criterion for this award is that the player should be the most valuable to the team, and it’s hard to argue that Craig Anderson doesn’t best exemplify that due to his 17-12-2 record this season.
That’s a 95-point pace on a team that finished with 75 points.
Sure, the sample size is small, and no one is going to give the guy a Vezina based on an .897 save percentage, but when he was between the pipes, the Sabres were damn near on a playoff points pace, and that’s the definition of valuable. The rest of the goalies – combined – had 15 wins. That’s ridiculous considering Anderson only played 31 games and the other five goalies managed fewer wins than him in 51 combined games.
If you want to talk Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson or Rasmus Dahlin, that’s fine, but no single player had a higher impact on the wins and losses of this team than a 40-year-old goaltender. All of that said, the franchise desperately needs to look outside of the organization to find a goalie (or preferably two) to tend net next season.
Most Improved – Tage Thompson
I know what I said earlier, but Tage Thompson is actually *very* good, and he’s also a center now. All of his progress was nothing short of mind-blowing. Thompson had more goals this season (38) than he had points in the NHL during his first three seasons (35). The 6’7” center had 68 points in 78 games while averaging 17:53 in ice time per game under Don Granato this year. The Sabres have a bona fide top-6 center on their hands in the massive form of Tage Thompson. Sure, some might say that what he did this year is a flash in the pan or lucky, although when watching the games, it looked like his massive frame was finally on the same page as his brain and he was just able to put it all together.
That, coupled with Don Granato’s decision to put him in the middle of the ice where he has more room and can use his reach, means that Thompson is positioned to maintain this success over the coming years.
First Annual Ralph Krueger Synergy Award – Jeff Skinner
This award is given for the “Herausragendster Beitrag zur synergetischen und ganzheitlichen Nachhaltigkeit des organisationsübergreifenden Ökosystems,” or in English, “Most outstanding contribution to synergistic and holistic inter-organizational ecosystem sustainability.”
Hm, well, I’m not sure that corporate buzzword salad is English either. But it is authentic Kruegerspeak.
In any case, Jeff Skinner bounced back in a major way this season with 33 goals and 63 points in 80 games while primarily playing with Thompson and Tuch after being left for dead by the side of the road by the last coaching staff. In classic Monty Python fashion, Skinner proved that he’s not dead yet, and can still make a sizable impact on the team. He was also often the first guy to rush to the net to retrieve a puck associated with a teammate’s first point or goal.
Simply put, the world is a better place when Jeff Skinner is smiling and talking smack to the opposition.
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy – Kyle Okposo
This one is a real award and the Sabres nominated Okposo as their candidate to potentially win it. The award is given to the player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.”
If I may pull a Kanye West here, I’mma let you finish, other Masterton candidates, but Kyle Okposo had one of the best comeback seasons of all time.
He hadn’t scored 20 goals in the league since he was a member of the New York Islanders way back in 2015-16. Since then, he’s suffered numerous concussions, including one that resulted in a scary hospital stay due to post-concussion syndrome symptoms. He easily could have hung up his skates and went on LTIR rather than lace them up for the Buffalo Sabres. Instead of doing that, though, he moved to Buffalo full-time and bought into a rebuild at 34-years-old. This year, he had 21 goals and 24 assists in 74 games which tied his highest point total for the Sabres that he set back in 2016-17.
The Sabres are a low-visibility franchise mired in losing, so he almost certainly won’t win it, but he should, and it isn’t particularly close.
The Darcy Regier Suffering Award – Aaron Dell
Patrick Lalime went 0-5-0 in 2010-11 before being replaced mid-season by Jhonas Enroth; this performance set the bar for futility in the modern era for Sabres goaltending. This season, Aaron Dell threw his name into the ring with a 1-8-1 record and an .893 save percentage in what can only be described as the living embodiment of the term “suffering.”
Those 10 games were the absolute worst part of the season.
Lifetime Achievement Award – Rick Jeanneret
After 51 years, countless memorable calls and now with a banner in the rafters, Jeanneret can call it a career. His jersey retirement ceremony was perhaps the highlight of the season as presenters Rob Ray and Terry Pegula hit all the right notes before his banner was unveiled. Watching RJ hold back tears at that moment is an image that will stick with Sabres fans for decades to come. Best of luck in retirement, RJ.
Buffalo Sabres Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»