Tuesday night at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville the NLL will hand out their 2015 season awards, along with naming their All-Pro and All-Rookie teams. The ceremony, honouring the best of the best, begins at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The night will also feature a tribute to Terry Sanderson as he is inducted into the NLL Hall of Fame, the lone member to be inducted in 2015. Sanderson is also nominated in the General Manager of the Year category for the work he did to to make Toronto a competitive team. Sanderson was a true lacrosse legend so expect to see tears as he is remembered during his induction. His son, Josh, is a double nominee as Teammate of the Year and Wingman of the Year. Josh had 102 points in 18 regular season games including 83 assists, which set an NLL record for assists.
It will be a melancholy celebration for the people of Edmonton, as they mourn the loss of their championship Rush, who moved to Saskatchewan. Seven members of the Rush are nominated for awards. Head coach Derek Keenan is nominated for Coach of the Year for leading the Rush to the Cup. For the new Rush to start out their time in the league with so many nominations, and coming off a championship, should be exciting for Saskatchewan lacrosse fans.
Evans had 130 points this season, 47 goals and 83 assists in just 18 regular season games, breaking the record of 116 set by John Grant Jr. He tied Sanderson for the assists record while leading in total points. The other two candidates for MVP are Mark Matthews and Ryan Benesch, both of who are phenomenal players who could easily take the award. Matthews finished with 115 points and Benesch 113.
List of Nominees from NLL.com
Predictions are in bold.
Teammate of the Year Award:
Jarrett Davis (Saskatchewan Rush)
Joel McCready (Vancouver Stealth)
Josh Sanderson (Toronto Rock) – It’s hard to argue with a guy who played every game this season just a few months after losing his father. Sanderson is the ultimate teammate and deserves this award.
Pinty’s Wingman of the Year Award:
Shawn Evans (Calgary Roughnecks)
Josh Sanderson (Toronto Rock) – While Evans and Sanderson tied in assists, Sanderson did it under the worst of circumstances. His courage fuelled his ability and even as one of the longest serving players in the NLL, he showed no signs of slowing down.
Dhane Smith (Buffalo Bandits)
Sportsmanship Award:
Kyle Buchanan (New England Black Wolves) – Buchanan had 0 penalty minutes in 18 games.
Jordan Hall (Rochester Knighthawks)
Curtis Hodgson (Vancouver Stealth)
Executive of the Year:
Scott Loffler (Buffalo Bandits)
Lewis Staats (Rochester Knighthawks)
Bruce Urban (Saskatchewan Rush) – Edmonton fans may not be a big fan of Bruce Urban right now, but he did help build a championship team for them in 2015.
General Manager of the Year:
Steve Dietrich (Buffalo Bandits)
Terry Sanderson (Toronto Rock) – Built a team that competed for the Champions Cup for the first time since 2011, and left a lasting legacy in the league.
Curt Styres (Rochester Knighthawks)
Head Coach of the Year (Les Bartley Award):
Mike Hasen (Rochester Knighthawks)
Derek Keenan (Saskatchewan Rush) – Lovell’s Rock finished first in the league but the Rush were a close second and edged the Rock in the playoffs.
John Lovell (Toronto Rock)
Defensive Player of the Year:
Chris Corbeil (Saskatchewan Rush)
Steve Priolo (Buffalo Bandits)
Kyle Rubisch (Saskatchewan Rush) – Very hard to pick between Corbel and Rubisch, both members of the Cup winning Rush, but edge to Rubisch for playing the most solid defensive games in the league.
Transition Player of the Year:
Joey Cupido (Colorado Mammoth)
Karsen Leung (Calgary Roughnecks) – This may be the hardest category to call, so I’m not confident in this prediction.
Brodie Merrill (Toronto Rock)
Goaltender of the Year:
Aaron Bold (Saskatchewan Rush) – Any of the three tenders nominated are deserving of this award, but Bold led the Rush in the face of a family crisis and still won the team a championship.
Brandon Miller (Toronto Rock)
Matt Vinc (Rochester Knighthawks)
Rookie of the Year:
Ben McIntosh (Saskatchewan Rush) – McIntosh had 86 points on a stacked Edmonton team. Noble and Thompson are two of the best young players in the game today but I’m giving the edge to McIntosh for really making a difference on a contending team.
Jeremy Noble (Colorado Mammoth)
Miles Thompson (Georgia Swarm)
Most Valuable Player:
Ryan Benesch (Buffalo Bandits)
Shawn Evans (Calgary Roughnecks) – Can’t really argue with this one.
Mark Matthews (Saskatchewan Rush)
