Elite League award shortlists announced
The nomination shortlists for the official Rapid Solicitors Elite League 2012-13 season awards have been revealed.
Coaches and officials from the 10 Elite League clubs voted in six awards and the narrowed down shortlist in each category are listed below.
Voting is continuing for the Fans’ Player of the Year (to cast your vote click here)
The winners will be announced at the special awards ceremony on play-off Sunday (2:30pm). In addition, the First and Second All-Star teams will be revealed, and awards will also be presented to the top points-scorer and top goalscorer (League only).
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Mac Faulkner (Cardiff Devils)
Faulkner finished the season with 52 points in 38 League matches with 30 goals and 22 assists. This included a fantastic 10-goal burst in September. His tally would’ve been far higher but his season was ended by injury.
David Ling (Nottingham Panthers)
Ever-present Ling led the Elite League with 89 points in 52 league matches (34 goals and 55 assists) as Panthers won the title. The forward also contributed seven game-winning goals to Nottingham’s season – the highest in the league.
Jereme Tendler (Hull Stingrays)
The Hull Stingrays forward scored 43 goals in all competitions, including 36 in 52 Elite League games. Tendler has now scored 129 goals in 170 regular-season games for the Stingrays in three years.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Todd Dutiaume (Fife Flyers)
Dutiaume led the Flyers to a seventh-place finish in the Elite League in only their second season back in the top flight and with it a place in the end of season play-offs. Fife’s home form was good and they beat both Belfast and Sheffield on their own ice.
Richard Hartmann (Edinburgh Capitals)
Edinburgh Capitals were the highest-placed Gardiner Conference side in sixth. Hartmann led his team to some memorable scalps this season, including victories over Belfast, Nottingham and Sheffield.
Corey Neilson (Nottingham Panthers)
Neilson ended Panthers’ long wait for an Elite League title when his side won in Belfast on Friday 15th March 2013. It took his tally of trophies as player and coach at the National Ice Centre to eight.
BRITISH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
David Clarke (Nottingham Panthers)
The Peterborough-born forward was the highest British scorer for goals (22) and points (53) this season in Elite League matches. Now at the end of his ninth season at the National Ice Centre, Clarke is about to enter his testimonial year.
Robert Lachowicz (Nottingham Panthers)
Lachowicz continues to go from strength to strength with the Panthers and impressive domestic performances were backed up in Latvia at the Olympic final qualifiers. The forward now has 133 regular-season career points for his home-town club.
Jonathan Weaver (Nottingham Panthers)
Weaver made the move from the Skydome in Coventry to Nottingham’s National Ice Centre and won the Elite League in his first season as a Panther. He chipped in with nine league goals, five of which were on the powerplay.
NETMINDER OF THE YEAR
Craig Kowalski (Nottingham Panthers)
Now in his third season with the Panthers, Kowalski added a league championship to two play-off and two Challenge Cup wins. Kowalski led the Elite League in save percentage (92.2%) and goals against (1.96).
Bryan Pitton (Fife Flyers)
Pitton arrived in Fife from the ECHL and impressed many across the Elite League. He led the Flyers to 22 league wins this season and faced 1,486 shots throughout the campaign.
Nic Riopel (Dundee Stars)
Riopel was one of the finds of the season as he kept two shut-outs on the way to helping Dundee win 19 matches in the Elite League with him in between the pipes. Riopel iced for a total of 3,012 minutes, only bettered by Coventry’s Peter Hirsch (3,089).
DEFENCEMAN OF THE YEAR
Robby Sandrock (Belfast Giants)
Sandrock returned to Belfast after a nine-year absence and helped the Giants to a second-place finish in the Elite League and the final of the Challenge Cup. He was the club’s fourth-highest leading points-scorer with 40 points in 45 matches.
Mike Schutte (Coventry Blaze)
Schutte was one of the league’s standout players from the start. He was reliable at the back but also contributed massive points. The d-man was the Blaze’s joint-leading scorer in the league this season (49 points in 50 matches), alongside Greg Leeb (49 points in 52 matches).
Eric Werner (Nottingham Panthers)
Werner was another player who shone within weeks of arriving in the UK. The defenceman was named Player of the Year by Nottingham Panthers supporters, as well receiving the club’s Most Consistent award.
FORWARD OF THE YEAR
Mac Faulkner (Cardiff Devils)
Despite missing 14 games in the League this season, Faulkner still managed to finish as Cardiff’s third-highest scorer behind Chris Blight and Stuart Macrae.
David Ling (Nottingham Panthers)
Ling scored a goal and an assist on the night Panthers secured the Elite League title in Belfast on Friday 15th March 2013.
Jereme Tendler (Hull Stingrays)
Tendler led the Elite League in shorthanded goals this season with seven, one ahead of Cardiff’s Stuart Macrae.
