The 2017 Pony Awards. #OHL

Since the inception of AVBCB, we considered having an award themed post at the end of each OHL season. It has taken us about 3 years but FINALLY, we have put the idea into motion. 

What are 'The Pony Awards'? 

At the end of every season, starting this year, we will bestow Barrie Colts players with "awards". For the first season, we will have four categories. Here are those categories:

The Colin Behenna Award 

The Colin Behenna Award will be awarded to the most improved player of the year. Whether it is a player who has drastically improved his game this season or a guy who really stepped up from the previous year.

We chose to name this award after Colin Behenna because he perfectly fits the category. During his second season in Barrie during the 2009-10 season he registered 25 points which showed great improvement from the 15 he totaled the previous year. It wasn't until his third year that he managed to really step up his game putting up a total of 88 points (33 goals;55 assists). 

This award will be selected by the contributors of the blog.

The Joseph Blandisi Award (Fan Vote)

The Joseph Blandisi Award will be awarded to the fan favorite over the season. Very simple. 

Fans here in Barrie loved Joseph Blandisi and for good reason. Blandisi was so popular here in Barrie for a guy who spent a little over a season with the team. In his first full season with the Colts, he was named the team captain and put up 112 points (52 goals;60 assists).

This award will be selected by you, the fans! Head to the main page of the blog and from there you can select your favorite player from this season! The poll is available on the right side of the blog.

The Aaron Ekblad Award 

The Aaron Ekblad Award will be given to the rookie of the year. Selected will be the player who had the strongest year in his first season in the Ontario Hockey League. 

We chose to name this award after Aaron Ekblad because he went on to the NHL after 3 seasons here with the Barrie Colts, where he won the Calder Memorial Trophy which is awarded to the NHL player who had the best rookie season league wide. Ekblad put up 39 points (12 goals;27 assists) in his first season with the Florida Panthers. 

This award will be selected by the contributors of the blog.

The Mark Scheifele Award

The Mark Scheifele Award will be awarded to the Most Valuable Player on the Barrie Colts over the season. Whether it be point production, leadership or how he makes his team better, the MVP will go to the player who is most valuable to the Colts. 

We chose to name this award after Mark Scheifele for pretty obvious reasons. He was dominant here in Barrie. When the selection of names came around and we spoke with people looking for suggestions, EVERYONE said: "Name the MVP after Scheif!". Scheifele spent 3 seasons in Barrie where he would play in 158 regular season games. He totaled 217 points (84 goals;133 assists). He averaged 1.37 points per game. 

This award will be selected by the contributors of the blog.

We will allow some time for the fan vote and will regularly share to make sure everyone has a chance to get their vote in. We will have the announcement of the winners on Monday, March 27th.