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
Staff vote- Owen Tippett
Fan vote- Owen Tippett
Owen Tippett had a heavy cross to bear from the Flyers’ faithful as the man the organization received in return from the Giroux trade and he superseded expectations with 27 goals and 49 points in 77 games during his first full year with the Flyers. He was one of their most consistent performers during the season and still left hints that we haven’t seen the best the 24-year-old has to offer.
Kimmo Timonen MVP Award
Staff vote- Carter Hart
Fan vote- Carter Hart
There were really only three options for this award- Carter Hart, Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett. While all three garnered votes, Hart easily won both the staff and fan polls. Hart finished with a 2.94 goals against average and a .907 save percentage, his best statistical season since 2019-20, while posting 22 wins in 55 games. He’s the only reason this team remains relevant in any game they play, and even though some fans have turned on him, he’s still the backbone and most important player on the team.
Simon Gagne Offensive Player of the Year
Staff vote- Travis Konecny
Fan vote- Travis Konecny
Not much of a surprise here. Travis Konecny set a new high in goals with 31 and tied a career high in points with 61 in 60 games. Nobody else even came close to a point-per-game pace, and Kevin Hayes was the only other forward to break the 50-point plateau.
Samuel Morin Defensive Player of the Year
Staff vote- Cam York
Fan vote- Nick Seeler
22-year-old Cam York played 54 games with the big club after starting the season in the AHL. While his play was up and down throughout the year, he did establish himself as the young stud of the future. Meanwhile grizzled veteran Nick Seeler, who was expected to be the seventh defenseman heading into the season, ended up playing in 77 games and looked very good doing so. Yeah, he may top out as a sturdy number six, but when the five dudes above him all play not so great hockey, his slightly above average depth play really stuck out.
Steve Mason Goaltender of the Year
Staff vote- Carter Hart
Fan vote- Carter Hart
Carter Hart won the staff vote unanimously and also snagged 82% of the fan vote. He played in 55 games and was better statistically than either Felix Sandstrom or Sam Ersson. Wasn’t exactly much of a battle for the award this season.
Richards/Carter Duo of the Year
Staff vote- Noah Cates & Owen Tippett
Fan vote- Noah Cates & Owen Tippett
It’s been a few years now since the Flyers genuinely had a one-two punch on the team worthy of winning this award, but the duo of Noah Cates and Owen Tippett played together quite a bit down the stretch and looked promising doing so. Cates, the young shutdown center and Tippett, the up-and-coming scorer highlight the future at forward for the club.
Eric Desjardins Unsung Hero Award
Staff vote- Noah Cates
Fan vote- Noah Cates
Cates was transitioned to center during his first full NHL season and even though it took awhile for him to get going, he ended the season as a one of the top shutdown centers in the league. He finished in the top ten of most defense-first forward categories. Cates may not garner significant Selke votes this season, but if he keeps this play up for years to come, he could very well etch his name in the history books in the near future.
Ilya Bryzgalov Most Quotable Award
Staff vote- John Tortorella
Fan vote- John Tortorella
We all knew what we were in for when the Flyers hired Tortorella and he didn’t disappoint when it came to his quaint, straight forward, colorful dialogue.
“Holy shit guys. Half full, not half empty.”
“We suck” during an in-game interview.
calling Morgan Frost a toilet seat.
Something tells me he’s going to win this award a few more times during the remainder of his tenure in Philly.
Gritty WTF Moment of the Year
Staff vote- Ivan Provorov on Pride Night
Fan vote- Fletcher’s trade deadline
Ivan Provorov refusing to wear a pride jersey and sit out of warmups sparked a league-wide rise of homophobic players pulling the same stunt.
Then there was Chuck Fletcher’s trade deadline when he failed to move James Van Riemsdyk which ultimately sealed his fate as general manager as he was fired a week later.
They were two “highlights” of a season filled with WTF moments.
Wayne Simmonds Leadership Award
Staff vote- Scott Laughton
Fan vote- Scott Laughton
The 10-year NHL veteran was the only player to wear the “A” this season as the de facto captain both on and off the ice. He also managed to set a new career high in both goals and points with 18 and 43 respectively.
Staff Awards
Brotherly Puck Contributor of the Year
Dylan Robillard
Dylan is new to the team and hit the ground running with his in-depth gameday coverage and regular contributions to the site.
Brotherly Pod Co-Host of the Year
Manny Benevides & Mike Aceto
Frequent Flyer lived up to its name this with almost 60 shows produced during season 5 and a whopping 109 episodes during the last two seasons, both Manny and Mike deserve recognition for their dedication to the Brotherly Pod brand with their multi-hour marathon recordings every other week to keep the content flowing.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
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