Therien's Take: The Bundy and Bill Awards (Pt 1)

This has been quite a season for the Philadelphia Flyers. Up until the NHL schedule pause for the global Covid-19 pandemic, all signs pointed upward for this hockey team. Let's be honest here: There have been several recent seasons in which selecting the winners of the team awards has a no-brainer exercise. This year, there are cases to be made for multiple players (and the head coach) as potential winners of team awards and leaguewide honors.

Since the Flyers and the league have not yet handed out their awards for the 2019-20 campaign, I'm calling my selections the Bundy Awards. Check that. We'll call it the Bundy and Bill Awards, because I have asked my friend and colleague Bill Meltzer to select his own winners for each. Some of the awards are serious, some are tongue-in-cheek.

This week, we'll many focus on Flyers team awards. I picked my winners for two "real" awards (the Bobby Clarke and Barry Ashbee) and a series of self-created ones. Next week, we'll look at leaguewide awards.

Bobby Clarke Trophy/ Selke Trophy

Bundy: Sean Couturier

I would be unpleasantly surprised if Couturier doesn't win both the Flyers MVP award and the NHL's honor for the league's best defensive forward. Coots is a model of consistency, leadership by example, and two-way excellence.

Bill: Sean Couturier

This is a tough field this season, with first-time NHL All-Star Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov also having made strong cases for the award. In truth, the Flyers would be hard-pressed to be without any of these three players as each occupies a crucial place in the lineup. The vote here goes to Couturier as a back-to-back winner. I agree with Bundy here: It is the game-in and game-out consistency as a 200-foot player, the difficulty of the matchups he absorbs and generally wins, and his ability to bring out the best in most every linemate he centers that gives him the nod as the team MVP. He also should have the inside track for winning his first Selke Trophy after being a finalist two seasons ago.

Barry Ashbee Trophy

Bundy: Matt Niskanen

I know that Ivan Provorov is the consensus pick here, but I'm going to take his partner instead. The veteran Niskanen has been worth his weight in gold this season for the Flyers in general, and his impact on Provorov will be felt for years after Matt is no longer with the team. Need a clutch defensive stop? Niskanen makes it. Need a tone set in a big game? Niskanen will do it. Need to activate a D offensively in a vital situation? Niskanen has a way of stepping up when it matters most. Need someone to instill calm on the bench? He does it. Additionally, the addition of Niskanen has helped to balance the Flyers' defense pairs and enable Alain Vigneault and Mike Yeo to deploy all six starters in the best possible assignments for their abilities.

Bill: Ivan Provorov

To me, it would be a shock if Provorov does not capture the second Barry Ashbee Trophy of his four-year NHL career, and his first since his rookie season of 2016-17. Provorov absorbs the heaviest ice-time burden of any player on the team, and has more than bounced back from a somewhat down year last season to re-emerge as one of the top young all-around defensemen in the league. Provorov plays in all game situations and has improved on the power play side of the equation as he's gained experienced. Niskanen would be my first runner-up selection this season.

The Luke Richardson Award (unsung defensive defenseman)

Bundy: Robert Hägg

I'm going to step onto the soapbox here for a minute. You want to separate the people who actually know hockey from someone who just babbles out a bunch of boutique stats? Ask their opinion of Robert Hagg.

Professional general managers, coaches, scouts and players all understand that is it is still a necessity in our sport to have a big-bodied defenseman or two who takes the body, blocks shots and wins battles in the trenches. Hägg does all those things, and does them well. Not everyone is going to be a puck-mover or a so-called "play driver" (how I hate that term, unless you're talking about Bobby Orr or Wayne Gretzky). There are players who main value is to take on D-zone duties and help out their goalie.

Very few did those things better than Luke Richardson, which is how he played 1,400-plus games in the NHL. Other Flyers examples who performed strictly defensive D duties are Ed van Impe, Kjell Samuelsson, myself or, in more recent times, Nick Grossmann. Robert has become a regular starter for three separate NHL head coaches because they came to appreciate what he brings. He's quietly come into his own, especially this year. End of rant.

Bill: Justin Braun

The veteran got off to a little bit of a slow start this season but has been a rock of consistency as the year has progressed. Braun is a mainstay on the Flyers' penalty kill. Teammates marvel at his quick defensive stick and ability to keep a tight gap on his check. He has also chipped in 19 points (3g, 16a). In the locker room, Braun is a calming veteran presence.

The Jonesy Award (Best locker room presence)

Bundy: Kevin Hayes

Every team needs a player or two who keeps things loose in the room and is all-business between the whistles on the ice. I was fortunate to play with the likes of Keith Jones, Craig Berube and Shjon Podein. Scott Hartnell would be an example from the late 2000s to mid-2010s. I think I brought some of that myself on the humor side. But no one is in Jonesy's league when it comes to a quick-thinking quip or joke for every occasion balanced off by on-ice competitive drive.

On the current team, it's a no-brainer that Kevin Hayes would win this award. He might even give Jonesy a run for the money. We might have to eventually rename this award "the Hayesy".

Bill: Kevin Hayes

I agree completely with Chris on this one. There are other guys in the Flyers locker room with really good senses of humor -- Travis Konecny, Michael Raffl and Justin Braun being three examples -- but Hayes rules the roost in terms of helping to create an atmosphere that is both fun off-the-ice and on-the-bench and driven to win once the puck drops.

Kimmo Timonen Award (Most candid soundbites)

Bundy: Jakub Voracek

I named this award after Kimmo Timonen because he is one of the most honest hockey players and human beings that I've ever known. He only has two modes: his 100 percent honest assessment or declining comment so as to not throw someone else under the bus in public or behind his back. The combination of those two traits were what made him so deeply respected as a player. He always had his finger on the pulse of his team.

On the current team, Jakub Voracek has a very different personality than Kimmo's -- more gregarious, more emotional, less pre-measured, and completely unfiltered to the point of not caring one bit if he swears on live TV -- but a similar end result in terms of trustworthiness. If Jake says it, you know that he's telling you exactly what he thinks.

I also want to give Voracek some kudos for how important he's been in terms of getting buy-in and making sacrifices to play the way that Vigneault wants the team to play. He is a team-first guy and wears his heart on his sleeve.

Bill: Matt Niskanen

I see Bundy's point with his selection of Voracek but I'm going to go in a different direction here. I think Niskanen has a similar leadership style to Timonen. He may not say a whole lot, but what he says is insightful and hits the nail on the head about the reasons for a win or loss, and the state of the team in general.

The trick with Niskanen is to give him time to formulate his answer. He often has long pauses when answering questions, which can make for a few moments of awkward silence, but the eventual answer he gives is almost always worth the wait. Scott Laughton has become another player in that mold.

The Roddy Award (most prepared and versatile)

Bundy: Scott Laughton

I named this award in honor of my old teammate, Rod Brind'Amour. Roddy was often yo-yoed around the Flyers lineup during his years in Philly. Although second-line center was his most frequent spot, he also moved to left wing on a regular basis. His linemates changed frequently. When we first brought in Chris Gratton (1997-98), Brind'Amour was moved down for a time to third-line center (he wasn't happy about that, understandably) and then moved to Eric Lindros' left wing when John LeClair was placed on Gratton's line for two-plus months.

Thing was: No matter where he played, Brind'Amour got the job done; killing penalties, winning faceoffs, forechecking or backchecking. In terms of physical conditioning, he had no peer in that era (and very few even today).

To me, the Flyers player who best exemplifies those traits is Scott Laughton. He's always ready to compete and never uses adversity as an excuse. If you saw him in training camp this year, you might have thought he was a bubble player fighting for a roster spot rather than an established regular.

Scotty has been through a lot in his playing career. He's moved all around the lineup. He's played wing as well as center. He's had some injury issues this season. No matter what, he keeps pushing forward. He may not have the same level of physical strength (or goal-scoring ability) that Brind'Amour possessed but they are cut from the same cloth in terms of multi-purpose value and drive to compete.

Bill : Claude Giroux

Laughton is a fine -- and worthy -- choice for Chris' award named for Rod Brind'Amour. I also considered Couturier, because he has the ability to make everyone around him better; not all that different from Brind'Amour's knack for getting the most out of a rotating cast of linemates with very different playing styles (whether it was Kevin Dineen, Valeri Zelepukin or, in the second half of the 1995-96 season, Pat Falloon).

However, I think the Flyers' current captain deserves some recognition here. Whether it's shifting on demand from left wing back to center, taking a leadership by example role this year in shortening his shift times, moving back and forth from the right side to his preferred left half-boards role on the power play, dominating faceoffs or continuing his climb in the Flyers' all-time scoring leaderboard, Giroux has continued to build on his legacy as a future Flyers Hall of Fame shoo-in.

His stats may be down a bit this year, but Giroux is just as important to the team as he's ever been. Of all of the guys on the team that I'd love to see lift the Stanley Cup as the ultimate reward for their service to the team-- it's a long list -- I'd personally have Giroux at the very top.