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OHL awards leaderboard: Colts' Blandisi, Knights' Dvorak among front-runners for top honours

There is a way to recognize the comeback season of London's Christian Dvorak (Terry Wilson, OHL Images)
There is a way to recognize the comeback season of London's Christian Dvorak (Terry Wilson, OHL Images)

There is no debate over who will be named the Ontario Hockey League's most outstanding player, because Connor McDavid.

With 25 days left in the season, though, there is some robust debate around the league's other subjective honours, such as coach, overage player, rookie, defenceman and goalie of the year. Since no two people's criteria for making a pick are exactly alike, there's bound to be a wide variance in who should be recognized.

There is also still time for opinions to, well, evolve. With March around the corner, here's a survey of who ought to be in the driver's seat for the league's major awards.


Matt Leyden Trophy (coach of the year) — Jeff Brown, Ottawa 67's

Brown has turned around the 67's, who have gone from last in the Eastern Conference to pushing for third with nearly the same cast as 2013-14. The former NHL defenceman inherited a team that had no returning 30-goal scorer, two drafted defencemen (Alex Lintuniemi and Jacob Middleton) whose past seasons were each a mixed bag, and two young goalies with a combined 10 games' OHL experience. Yet with a Brown-imposed attitude adjustment, the continued blossoming of 17-year-old captain Travis Konency and some minor roster tweaks, the 67's have become a competitive team. They kept improving even after moving their best overage scorer, Erik Bradford. Coaching might have been a factor.

Sault Ste. Marie's Sheldon Keefe, Erie's Kris Knoblauch and reigning coach of the year D.J. Smith of Oshawa all have strong arguments. Just look at the standings.

Emms Family Award (rookie of the year) — Jakub Chychrun, Sarnia Sting

This is written with every expectation the award will go to Erie's Alex DeBrincat, whose 39 goals and 77 points are each nearly double that of the second-leading rookie scorer. Chychrun, though, has been stellar for Sarnia as a budding offensive defenceman in spite of extenuating circumstances, which include missing a third of the schedule due to an injury. Chipping in 13 goals and 27 points over 37 games as a first-timer on the blueline is an indication of a very advanced 16-year-old.

Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy (overage player of the year) — Joseph Blandisi, Barrie Colts

Traded in each of the previous two seasons and injured at the end of last year, Blandisi has found salvation and a contract with the New Jersey Devils organization. The centre has an outside shot at setting a Colts club record for goals in a season.

William Hanley Trophy (most sportsmanslike player) — Christian Dvorak, London Knights

This tends to be the compromise/consolation award, where clubs tend to get a little creative with their nomination. Dvorak lost nearly his entire 17-year-old year to knee surgery and has returned to put up 100 points after inheriting a top-end role in London alongside Mitchell Marner, the front-runner to win the scoring title. It's a feat that should be recognized, and since the Arizona Coyotes draft pick has only 20 penalty minutes, here's one way to do it.

Sault Ste. Marie's Sergey Tolchinsky, at this writing, is on the cusp of the top 10 in scoring and has been whistled for only three minor penalties.

Max Kaminsky Trophy (defenceman of the year) — Chris Bigras, Owen Sound Attack 

Bigras' steadiness wasn't suited to Team Canada, yet it has been cold comfort over the past four seasons for the Attack. The Colorado Avalanche second-rounder has scored more than a point per game while doing a great deal to help Owen Sound keep foes to just more than three goals per game. There might be some sentiment to throw support to the 19-year-old after he became the first potential returning player in seven years to be cut from the national under-20 team.

There's a nagging thought that Sault Ste. Marie's Anthony DeAngelo, the top blueline point-getter, is also worthy of the nod. The trickiness of making a case for a player who had a split season could work against him.

OHL Goaltender of the Year — Lucas Peressini, Kingston Frontenacs

Peressini, with a 2.43 average and .921 save percentage over 49 games, just seems more vital to his team than Ken Appleby of league-leading Oshawa, who leads the OHL in both rate stats (2.12, .923) and has been credited with a league-most 35 wins. Kingston's ability to exist on the margins has been highly contingent on their goaltender keeping them in innumberable low-goal games. Peressini's also won 5-of-6 starts against Appleby's Generals. He's also stopped 24-of-30 shootout attempts, which should be part of the discussion about a regular-season award.

Now that Sam Bennett has returned, Peressini might be able to add a few more wins in order to polish up his application.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.