Player Of The Year Candidates

Perhaps I just stop caring once the IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship ends, but apparently the IIHF awards a Player of the Year award to one player every season. It seems similar to soccer's Ballon d'Or award where the player judged as having the best overall season will win the accolade, but I find it difficult to judge different players playing in different leagues as having the best overall season when the level of competition differs so greatly among those leagues. The IIHF doesn't seem to mind, though, so they're going to name a Player of the Year in both men's and women's hockey in a few days.

The criteria for winning the award come down to two variables:

• Players must have competed in at least one IIHF tournament at any level during the year as well as in a domestic league of the highest calibre for that country.
• Nominees will best exemplify skill, determination, team success, and sporting character on and off the ice during the preceding season.

These criteria will remove players like Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, and Jaromir Jagr from winning the award as none of them suited up in a IIHF tournament this season, but that might be good when one considers that it opens the door to other potential winners who had outstanding seasons. Again, I do struggle in justifying that the level of competition in the Czech Extraliga is the same as the NHL, but I'll leave that up to IIHF voters.

There are six men up for the award this season, including:

• Czech forward Roman Cervenka - captained Czechia to a gold medal at the IIHF World Championship while scoring had 40 points in 47 games with Rapperswil in the Swiss League.
• Czech goaltender Lukas Dostal - named as the IIHF World Championship's best goalie in backstopping Czechia to gold while posting a 14-23-3 record and a .902 save percentage with Anaheim Ducks in his rookie season.
• Swiss forward Kevin Fiala - named as the IIHF World Championship's MVP in helping Switerland win silver while scoring with 73 points with the Los Angeles Kings.
• Swiss defender Roman Josi - named as the IIHF World Championship's best defender in helping Switzerland win silver while posting 85 points with the Nashville Predators.
• Swedish defender Erik Karlsson - helped Sweden win the bronze medal at the IIHF World Championship while scoring 56 points with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
• Canadian forward John Tavares - helped Canada to a fourth-place finish at the IIHF World Championship while recording 65 points with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As you're likely aware, I get no vote in this competition for this award. Howver, my ballot would show Roman Josi as the winner as the Swiss defender was impressive at the IIHF World Championship while being a Norris Trophy nominee for his work in the NHL with Nashville. Of these six nominees, Josi had the most impressive season both internationally and in a domestic league.

There are seven women up for the award this season, including:

• German goaltender Sandra Abstreiter - named as the IIHF World Championship's best goalie where Germany won four games while playing thee games with PWHL Ottawa with a 3.05 GAA and a .913 save percentage.
• American forward Alex Carpenter - named as the IIHF World Championship's best forward in helping the US win silver while finishing for the overall lead in assists in the PWHL and finishing with 23 points for PWHL New York.
• American forward Kendall Coyne Schofield - finished second in scoring at the IIHF World Championship in helping the US win silver while captaining PWHL Minnesota to the Walter Cup.
• Finnish defender Jenni Hiirikoski - co-led Finland in points at the IIHF World Championship in helping Finland win bronze while captaining Luleå to the SDHL championship.
• Swiss forward Alina Müller - led Switzerland in points in keeping the Swiss on the A-side of the IIHF World Championship while finishing with 16 points with PWHL Boston.
• Canadian forward Marie-Philip Poulin - captained Canada to a gold medal at the IIHF World Championship while finishing with 23 points for PWHL Montreal.
• Canadian forward Natalie Spooner - helped Canada win the gold medal at the IIHF World Championship while finishing with the most goals and most points for PWHL Toronto.

Again, zero votes coming from this blogger, but I was torn between Natalie Spooner's effort this season and Jenni Hiirikoski's outstanding season. As much as Spooner had an incredible World Championship and phenomenal PWHL regular season, her team fell short in the playoffs. Because of this, my ballot would show Jenni Hiirikoski as the winner for her incredible play again this season.

For the record, "[t]he awards will be voted on by members of the media and appropriate members of the IIHF family. Media will account for 70% of the vote while IIHF Family voting will constitute the other 30%." Since the media sucks at voting for most things involving international hockey and women's hockey, I expect the winners of these awards to be deserving, but not the most deserving.

The 2024 IIHF Male Player of the Year will be announced on Monday, June 17 at 12pm ET while the 2024 IIHF Female Player of the Year winner will be announced on Tuesday, June 18 at 12pm ET. We'll see which of these 13 players emerges as the second-ever IIHF Players of the Year at those times!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!