It’s that time of year again! The Brotherly Puck Awards are here! All members of the Brotherly Puck and Brotherly Pod staff were given a vote, and from those results Twitter polls were crafted so you, the Brotherly Puck fans, could weigh in too!
Mike Knuble Most Improved Player Award
Staff Vote- Carter Hart
Fan Vote- Travis Sanheim
The most improved player was a split decision between the staff and fans, but at the end of the day, both of the top candidates walked away with their award. Despite neither one of their individual numbers being overly impressive, both Hart and Sanheim made huge personal gains this season and were the backbone of the backend on this team.
Kimmo Timonen MVP Award
Staff Vote- Carter Hart
Fan Vote- Cam Atkinson
As noted, Hart’s numbers may not have been spectacular, but he absolutely game the team a chance to win every night with his play. Atkinson took a page straight out of the Bryce Harper playbook and embraced the city of Philadelphia, and was a big success on the ice. He led the team in both goals and points until a late season injury forced him to miss the last nine games, where he was ultimately passed in both categories.
Simon Gagne Offensive Player of the Year
Staff Vote- Cam Atkinson
Fan Vote- Cam Atkinson
With 23 goals and 50 points in 73 games, Cam Atkinson was easily the most well rounded offensive player on the ice for the Flyers this season. He was one third of the only notable line, the F-A-B trio alongside Farabee and Atkinson. Had those two stayed healthy all season, or the team was better in general, Atkinson probably could’ve looked ever better.
Samuel Morin Defensive Player of the Year
Staff Vote- Travis Sanheim
Fan Vote- Travis Sanheim
Travis Sanheim’s emergence as a competent NHL defenseman was one of the only pleasant surprises of the 2021-22 season. He finally found his offensive ability that we haven’t seen since his days in Lehigh Valley, and he wasn’t a complete disaster in his own end either.
Steve Mason Goaltender of the Year
Staff Vote- Carter Hart
Fan Vote- Carter Hart
Hart’s numbers may be pedestrian, rocking just a 3.16 goals against average and .905 save percentage, but it was a huge increase from his 2020-21 season and don’t tell the story as to just how good he really was this year. And besides, who was his competition for this award?
Richards/Carter Duo of the Year
Staff Vote- Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen
Fan Vote- Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen
Going into the season, it’s safe to say a vast majority of people didn’t think the odd couple pairing of Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen would work. To everyone’s surprise, they were a great duo throughout the year and both players had better than expected campaigns. You can argue who was more responsible for the turnaround, but at the end of the day, they worked well together. That is undeniable.
Eric Desjardins Unsung Hero Award
Staff Vote- Justin Braun
Fan Vote- Zack MacEwen
Justin Braun absolutely deserves the nod as unsung hero, he’d been playing over his head on the top pair for the better part of two seasons before he was traded to the Rangers, but giving Zack MacEwen his credit is more than fair. He may have been the only guy to show up on a nightly basis and do his job. He may not have been the best player on the ice, but he was one of the hardest working.
Ilya Bryzgalov Most Quotable Award
Staff Vote- Dave Scott
Fan Vote- Dave Scott
“You see that Gerry Mayhew” and “blank check” are definitely some of the more memorable lines delivered throughout the season. So well done, Dave Scott, you did one thing right, we guess.
Gritty WTF Moment of the Year
Staff Vote- The disappearance of Ryan Ellis
Fan Vote- The McCrossin lawsuit
There was about a dozen different options to choose from in the “WTF” category, but their big 2021 offseason acquisition only playing four games with a mystery lower-body injury and two longtime team employees suing the team after being diagnosed with rare cancer are atop the list.
Wayne Simmonds Leadership Award
Staff Vote- Cam Atkinson
Fan Vote- Nobody
Nobody is a more than fair answer given how awful the team was, but Cam Atkinson’s arrival and subsequent rise to the top of the stat sheet makes his vote just as valid. He’s a new voice in the room and seemingly one of the more genuine human beings on the team.
Staff Awards
Brotherly Pod Co-Host of the Year
Phyllis Ceci
Phyllis has actually been a member of Brotherly Puck for a few years now, but this was her debut season for Brotherly Pod as one-third of Sisterly Pod. She fit right into a tight knit group of hosts and brought a comedic and straight forward approach to the show.
Brotherly Puck Contributor of the Year
Manny Benevides
For the second straight year Manny has led the contributors with his in-depth analysis of CHL prospects.
Past award winners
| 2018-19 | 2019-20 (staff/fan) | 2020-21 (staff/fan) | |
| Most Improved | Scott Laughton | Konecny/Konecny | Farabee/Farabee |
| MVP | Carter Hart | Couturier/Couturier | Giroux/Giroux |
| Offensive Player | Sean Couturier | Konecny/Konecny | Farabee/Farabee |
| Defensive Player | Travis Sanheim | Provorov/Provorov | Couturier/Couturier |
| Goaltender | Carter Hart | — | Gostisbehere/the post |
| Duo of the Year | Patrick/Konecny | Provorov-Niskanen/Hayes-Konecny | Gostisbehere-Morin/Jackson-Jones |
| Unsung Hero | Oskar Lindblom | Laughton/Laughton | Braun/Gostisbehere |
| Most Quotable | Travis Konecny | Alain Vigneault/Hayes | Voracek/Voracek |
| WTF Moment | — | Flyers are good/Lindblom’s diagnosis | Month of March/9-0 vs NYR |
| Leadership | Claude Giroux | — | Giroux/Giroux |
| Co-Host of the Year | Katie Bogan | ||
| Contributor of the Year | Manny Benevides |
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: Ryan Meyer
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