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 the awards were handed out on the orange carpet!
Mike Knuble Most Improved Player
Staff vote- Bobby Brink
Brink posted 41 points in 79 games this year, which nearly doubled his production from his rookie season. He’s been one of the guys who struggled to get out of the John Tortorella doghouse, but he did manage to find chemistry alongside Noah Cates and Tyson Foerster. So between new linemates and a coach that will treat him better, Brink could be a meaningful contributor at the NHL level after all.
Kimmo Timonen MVP
Staff vote- Matvei Michkov
The 19-year-old came to a new country with a language he didn’t speak and had all the expectation in the world on his shoulders and had to overcome his own head coach who seemingly had it out for him and the general anemic state of the Flyers’ offense and powerplay and he still managed to score 26 goals and hit 63 points. There may not be a lot of tangible positives around the Flyers these days, but Michkov is definitely one of them.
Simon Gagne Offensive Player
Staff vote- Matvei Michkov
Michkov led the team in goals with 26 and was second on the team with 63 points. He scored most of those points when he was playing eight minutes a night under Tortorella and then broke out later in the season with three multi-goal games after Torts was fired. This probably isn’t the last time he will win this award. In fact, he may win this every year for the remainder of his career at this rate.
Samuel Morin Defensive Player
Staff vote- Travis Sanheim
Sanheim averaged 24:30 of ice time this season, which was not only his personal best by nearly a full minute, but it was also four minutes more than runner up Cam York. The highs and lows of Sanheim are still there, but he has largely rounded out his game and will provide competent hockey most nights. That’s about all you can ask from someone on this team these days.
Steve Mason Goaltender of the Year
Staff vote- Sam Ersson
Hey, somebody had to win it, right? For what it’s worth, Ivan Fedotov, Nick Seeler, the post and Yegor Zavragin all got votes from our staff this season.
Richards/Carter Duo of the Year
Staff vote- Aleksei Kolosov and the Press Box
On the ice, the Flyers lacked a real dynamic duo this season, but there were two inseparable parties within the Wells Fargo Center, being goalie Aleksei Kolosov and his seat in the press box of the Wells Fargo Center. Kolosov spent a vast majority of the season on the NHL roster, inducing an over five-week stint from late January to early March where he didn’t dress for a single game. He and the popcorn machine are BFFs now and rumor has it that he tried to smuggle it back to Belarus with him. No word on the outcome of those rumors.
Eric Desjardins Unsung Hero
Staff vote- Slava Kuznetsov
The Flyers’ skating coach did a vast majority of the translating for Matvei Michkov, Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov this season because the organization refused to hire a real translator despite their influx of Russian players. That is an unsung hero if there ever was one.
Ilya Bryzgalov Most Quotable Award
Staff vote- John Tortorella
Tortorella won this award all three seasons he was around, and he ultimately got fired because of a wild media quote. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.
Gritty WTF Moment
Staff vote- John Tortorella vs Matvei Michkov
Tortorella dumped praise on Michkov before the season started, then almost immediately tried to pigeonhole him into a middle-six two-way player and spent months scratching and benching him until he conformed to his desired style. It was totally incompetent handling of the one guy that the organization can’t afford to screw up.
Wayne Simmonds Leadership Award
Staff vote- Danny Briere
The vibe could change around here over the following months depending on how this offseason shakes out, but Briere trading Frost, Farabee, and Laughton then firing Tortorella and now Thompson and a bunch of assistants, proved that he may actually be willing to step up and take control of his team. (The team may have been out of control in the first place because of his lackluster 2024 offseason but hey, live and learn for an inexperienced GM.)
Brotherly Puck Contributor of the Year
Staff vote- Manny Benevides
Manny’s super in-depth junior prospect report returned this year keeping tabs on all the notable young guns in the CHL providing assessments you won’t get anywhere else.
Brotherly Pod Co-Host of the Year
Staff vote- Nick Costa
Nick stayed up past his bedtime for his sixth season behind the mic on Brotherly Pod to rant and rave about the Flyers as only a hot-blooded Italian could.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
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