Post-Season Awards - Most Improved Player and Team MVP

And now, after excessive delay, here is the final installment of the Falcon Hockey Hooligan Post-Season Awards.

Award winners previously named:

Flying Under the Radar: Andrew Hammond
Runner(s)-up: Cameron Sinclair, Marc Rodriguez, and Max Grover, Ian Ruel

Freshman of the Year: Jordan Samuels-Thomas
Runner(s)-up: Nathan Pageau

Defensive MVP: Kyle Page
Runner(s)-up: Ian Ruel

Offensive MVP:Tomas Petruska
Runner(s)-up: Tommy Dee

This week's awards: Most Improved Player and Team MVP.

For those who don't remember or didn't see it at the time, the mid-season Most Improved Player was Tommy Dee.

The post-season award will go to someone who has already been named for a previous award - Tomas Petruska.

I won't go into too much detail, because Petruska's accomplishments this season have been spelled out pretty well over the last half-dozen posts or so. It's safe to say he went from a well-liked and respected role player last season, to a star this season, especially over the final few weeks.

Runner-up: Nick Eno

And, finally, after weeks and weeks of waiting, here it is - Team MVP.

Choosing the Team MVP was a very difficult decision. Among the players considered were Tomas Petruska, Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Kyle Page, and Nick Eno. Ultimately, I decided to stick with the mid-season winner, Nick Eno.

As is usually the case when I have put praise on Falcon goaltenders this season, I'm sure there are people out there who would simply look at the team's record and dismiss the pick. If you're one of those people, you're certainly entitled to that stance. The win-loss record was abysmal and that can't be ignored.

But it's important to also look beyond the record. Anyone who watched Eno (and Hammond, for that matter) in games would know that the team's goaltending kept them in a position to win, most of the time.

Nick Eno made great strides this year as he continued to get back to form after an inconsistent sophomore season. Eno deserves a ton of credit for his improvement and performance this season.

Runner-up: Dennis Williams

The awards are for the players, which is why I didn't consider Coach Williams for the Team MVP, but I think he's at least deserving of a runner-up nod. Coach took a team that was on the verge of non-existence and losing players, and managed to salvage a season of hard-fought games and a team that never gave up.

As the University conducts its hiring search for the next BGSU hockey head coach, I sincerely hope they take into consideration what Coach Williams did in such extreme circumstances, the energy he brought to the team, and the faith the fans have in the job he can do.

If you ask me, my vote is safely with Coach Williams.

Anyway, that concludes the Post-Season Awards for 2009-2010. As always, feel free to let me know your thoughts about the whole thing in the comments.