Spring Season Awards

It's been a hectic week here in Helsinki, Finland, where the International Blue Surface Hockey League (IBSHL) is hosting its seasonal awards ceremony. Several of the Red Army players made the trek across the pond to take part in the festivities, and a few of the Comrades were even nominated.

Mark Hendricks was nominated for two awards, including "Worst Trash Talk" and the highly coveted "Peter Forsberg", which is handed to the player who best helps his team with a playoff push. "Winning the Forsberg has always been a dream of mine." Hendricks said. "If you look at the history if its winners, there are some great bailers turned saviors on that list. I'd love to join that list of flaky skaters."

Steve Hand, who finished the season averaging over a point per game for the first time since his rookie year, is up for the "Pearson", the award given out by fellow Russian Cara Pearson to the player she deems most valuable to her.

Pat King was nominated by the fans for the "Butter" award. Arguably the most interesting shaped piece of hardware in the sports world, the Butter award is shaped like a stick of butter and can actually be spread over toast. King's knack for scoring goals in high traffic areas and getting into tussles at face off circles earned him a high percentage of votes from the Asian demographic.

Tony Horton is up for one award as well, thanks to his second round tally versus the Grenades. That goal, seen on Youtube everywhere, has been nominated for the Goal of the Year. "My teammates keep giving me (flack) saying that they should be nominated for the passing." Tony told CBC on Wednesday. "But at the end of the day I was the one that put it in. Think of it this way, if an architect builds an exhibit that takes years and years of hard work and planning, and at the unveiling ceremony the mayor of the town cuts the ribbon declaring it open to the public, the mayor should get credit. Without him, no one could get past that ribbon. You hear that Steve!"

It's been a great atmosphere this week and the winners are set to be announced tomorrow. No one is sure if any of Mother Russia's boys will be taking some hardware with them, but the offseason recognition is well deserved. As Steve Hand said, "After a grueling 14 game season, it's nice to get some rest and fool around with some Finnish whores."

It's unknown if those last comments will hurt the centerman's chances at the Pearson.