2009-10 Crowder Award: Rookie of the Year

[Merlin401]

This year's rookies were a bit more exciting than last year, so we have a few solid choices to debate between.

Nominees:

Paul Bissonnette - Phoenix Coyotes
Bizz Nasty got his first semi-full-time gig in the NHL and made the most of it, recording 19 fights for the Coyotes while recording 117 penalty minutes in 41 games of action. He fought a solid helping of middleweights (including a thousand or so fights against Krys Barch it seemed), while stepping up to fight heavyweights too, including two draws with Raitis Ivanans, draws with Jody Shelley and George Parros, and a good fight with Darcy Hordichuk. Bonus points for the nickname.

Matt Carkner - Ottawa Senators
After churning in the AHL for nearly a decade, Matt Carkner finally got his chance in the show and made the most of it. The rugged defenseman was most famous for his humongous four fight series with Colton Orr in which knockdowns both ways dominated the scoring. He added a lot of toughness to the lineup and had plenty of fun and exciting fights throughout the year.

Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond - New Jersey Devils
After being blocked and/or injured for some time, Leblond finally got his chance in the NHL and had a very exciting 8-fight campaign. His highlight was the marathon-to-end-all-marathons vs. Cam Janssen in which he showed incredible stamina. He also went toe-to-toe with the likes of Jody Shelley, Trevor Gillies and Jay Rosehill with favorable results in exciting contests. P3L also sports a fun little nickname (which saves us the trouble of typing out a name that has as many letters as the whole damn alphabet. Not even kidding: 26, not including dashes)

Zenon Konopka - Tampa Bay Lightning
Ok, we first have to explain some things here. Clearly we are not using the same 'Rookie' rules as the NHL as Zenon would clearly not qualify, having played here and there over the last 4 years. But this was his first real chance to shine, and so we award him rookie status. We always knew Zenon had the capability of creating mayhem. Everytime he was called up for a cup of coffee, he'd put up a quick 20 penalty minutes in a few games and disappear. This time there was no stopping him: collecting and incredible 33 fights and 265 penalty minutes, Zenon was mayhem incarnate all year long. He fought everyone from massive heavyweights (Ivanans) to no-names to season vets (Bill Guerin) to skilled guys (Brian Boyle) and everyone in between.

John Scott - Minnesota Wild
Again, technically not a rookie but close enough as this was the first year he made any sort of real fighting impact. The 6'6" monster turned in a productive years in Minnesota with 8 fights including preseason and 8 wins. He announced his presence by dropping George Parros. And he can look Derek Boogaard in the eye. Enough for a nomination in my book.


My Pick:
My first inclination is to go with Zenon Konopka because of the sheer volume of mayhem he induced. But since he's technically not a rookie, I think I'm going to defer to an equally good choice in Matt Carkner who is really the only new heavyweight starter the league has added in a few years.


Previous Winners:

2003-04: Andrew Peters
2005-06: Brian McGrattan
2006-07: D.J. King
2007-08: Riley Cote
2008-09: B.J. Crombeen

[The Crow]

well if Z's not a rookie I don't think he should be an option

I'd change it to Carkner in that case.

[Killah_punk]

Went with Carkner he was a rookie and cracked the top 10 in his first season. Very good year for Matt not to mention he was also a defenseman who normally don't fight as often.

[ThrowdownSJ408]

Carkner easyyy

[ghjkfdhgfd]

z shouldnt be an option

[brawl lover]

Easily Carkner.

[zoli]

I am going with Carkner too. His rivalry with Orr was epic and he showed some serious punching power, dropping quite a few guys. Hope he understands his role and wont end up like McCarthy and co.

[Isles4life]

Since Konopka technically wasn't a rookie, I've gotta jump on the Carkner bandwagon for this one. He made a bigger impact during his first season on the heavyweight fighting landscape around the league than we've seen from anyone in several years.

[leafs_fan77]

Should be Konopka just for his willingness.

[BullyFan]

Carkner.

[stevecanuck16]

Unless I'm mistaken, Carkner isn't technically a rookie either...too old.

[Two-Four]

I was very impressed with Carkner.

[DaveBrown69]

If Konopka really was a rookie it'd be him. Since Carkner is "Technically" a "Rookie", he gets my vote!

[Blouin]

Carkner

[bruiser11]

Yes Carkner, the others are tough too, Konopka is kind of a rag-doll.