The Vancouver Canucks announced the recipients of their annual team awards today, and it wasn’t without controversy.
There were a number of strong candidates for MVP, which is usually the most debated award among fans. But this year, the most talked-about award was the Unsung Hero (more on that later).
Here’s the rundown of this year’s winners:
Cyclone Taylor Trophy (Most Valuable Player) and Three Star Award: Jacob Markstrom
ANOTHER DOUBLE AWARD WINNER?! šš„@j_markstrom has been voted the #Canucks MVP! š pic.twitter.com/MezqdddDxi
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) July 8, 2020
After a season that put him in the Vezina Trophy conversation for some, Jacob Markstrom has been named Canucks MVP for a second straight season. He’s the first back-to-back winner of this award since Roberto Luongo, who was named team MVP during his first two seasons in Vancouver (2007 and 2008).
The backbone of the team on most nights, Markstrom also won the Three Star Award, for most Three Star selections.
Pavel Bure Award (Most Exciting Player): Elias Pettersson
Exciting is his middle name (probably). Give it up for @_EPettersson, the #Canucks Most Exciting Player! š pic.twitter.com/OjHs4cRfyA
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) July 8, 2020
If you’re not going to win MVP, the Most Exciting Player Award is a nice consolation prize. That’s what Elias Pettersson has to settle for again this year.
Walter “Babe” Pratt Trophy (Best Defenceman): Quinn Hughes
Congrats to Quinn Hughes, the rookie who plays like a veteran, on being named the #Canucks Best Defenceman! š pic.twitter.com/qQUSDZb8DZ
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) July 8, 2020
No surprise here. Quinn Hughes was clearly the Canucks’ best defenceman this season, leading all blueliners on the team in scoring by a wide margin. With 53 points in 68 games, he cleared Alex Edler’s total by 20 points, but the Calder candidate was also reliable in his own end.
Along with defence partner Chris Tanev, Hughes was used in a matchup role against the other team’s top line on many nights.
Fred J. Hume Award (Unsung Hero) and Cyrus H. McLean Trophy (Leading Scorer): JT Miller
š„ DOUBLE AWARD WINNER ALERT š„
J.T. Miller has been voted the #Canucks Unsung Hero! š pic.twitter.com/9FZ3WG12KG
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) July 8, 2020
This was the most controversial pick, which immediately sparked a debate among Canucks fans on Twitter.
It’s not that JT Miller didn’t have a good season; in fact, it’s just the opposite. The team’s leading scorer with 72 points in 69 games, you can make a strong case that Miller deserved MVP this year. Certainly he had to be “sung,” right?
Well, clearly he wasn’t sung enough this season for a large group of fans who voted him as the Canucks’ Unsung Hero.
Miller doesn’t fit the mould of the usual recipients of this award — guys like Antoine Roussel, Derek Dorsett, and Jannik Hansen — but he isn’t the highest-scoring Unsung Hero in team history. That distinction belongs to Cliff Ronning, who was named Unsung Hero in 1993 after putting up 85 points.
Daniel & Henrik Sedin Award (Community Leadership): Alex Edler
Alex Edler is the first ever recipient of the #Canucks new Daniel & Henrik Sedin Award for Community Leadership! š¦ š pic.twitter.com/My37aDfnFG
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) July 8, 2020
Alex Edler was an appropriate winner of the Daniel and Henrik Sedin Award, which is a new award this season.
A close friend of the Sedins, Edler has been putting in charity work for years, which includes the Eagle’s Nest, which hosts children and their families at every Canucks home game. The children chosen are typically those that are facing a challenging illness or injury, have done something special for someone, are dealing with a difficult situation, or who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to come to a game due to socio-economic circumstances.
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