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Gonna switch gears a bit this week with the thumbs.

Instead of handing out any thumbs that are pointing to the floor, gonna go over my top five faves for all the major hardware this year. So basically 30 thumbs up comin’ atcha.

We’re past the halfway mark and the All-Star Game has been put to bed (some may say thankfully), so now we have a pretty decent idea of who’s been legit this year and who was just an early season flash in the pan.

Outside of maybe Athan Iannucci being most people’s consensus top dawg for the MVP nod, the other five remaining major categories are a lot more up in the air. Don’t think there’s an overwhelming favorite really in any other category. I’m sure some would even argue givin’ Nooch the big one at this point.

Here’s my breakdown of who I think at about the 2/3 mark of the season I see as the top ballers in their respective area of expertise (ranked ‘em in order for each cat too).

MVP
Like I just said, Nooch has gotta be the fave here. On a night some are calling an “off” one for the Wings’ sniper, he still just full-out abused the Stealth in that insane come from behind fourth period. He can beat you so many ways, it’s almost impossible to even contain him let alone stop him. Think JT is right up there too and if Ryan Ward can steer that Swarm ship back to the top of the East, think he’ll get heavy consideration at the end of the year too. Tough for guys like Ward to get full credit since he plays on a team with so many options, but he definitely deserves some love for his 08. I’d have guys like Doyle, Bergey and Steenhuis just on the outside lookin’ in.

1. Athan Iannucci
2. John Tavares
3. Gavin Prout
4. Jeff Zywicki
5. Ryan Ward

Defender
Think the race for defender of the year might be the most interesting. There are probably about ten guys that are having the kinda seasons that’ll have them getting looks for the D nod in the spring. Think last year’s winner, Ryan Cousins, is the slight favorite, but after giving him some hype a number of weeks back, sounds like everyone’s finally woken up to the fact that Eric Martin is easily one of this year’s best defenders too. Think Peter Lough’s value has never been more evident than it is in TO this year, which is saying something, and I’m gonna go out on a bit of a limb here and also say that Kyle Sweeney continues his torrid pace and is right up there are the end of the year too. Tough to pick a single defender out of the Wings’ starting back four (Wray, Hajek, Nadelen and Sweeney), but I think right now, the best of the bunch is Sweeney.

1. Ryan Cousins
2. Eric Martin
3. Peter Lough
4. Chris White
5. Kyle Sweeney

Goaltender
For me right now, the top tender is really a three horse race. Watson, Patterson and Blasdell are the top three most relied on goalies in the league, easily. Watson maybe had his worst game of the year this past weekend, and with that said, was still better than 90% of the keepers this season. Whipper’s worst this year has been most other guy’s best. Both Patterson and Blazer play on teams that continuously push the pace and are always gonna be in high scoring games, so to just look at their stats isn’t even close to the full story for either guy. I slipped Kenny Montour in the top five too, but we’ll see how he goes the rest of the way. Over the past month, Monster is definitely right up there, but after playing behind Thompson and then sitting with a concussion, not sure if he’s had the opportunity to show his consistency just yet. Not even sure Buffalo’s labeled him as their legit #1 at this point either. To call him the best tender of the year is a bit premature in my opinion. My other wild card… Matt Vinc. Outside of a couple Titans’ stinkers early on, Vino has looked so F’n good this year and for anyone that’s still wonderin’ if he’s been able to make the transition from Jr. to the bigs, take my word for it, he’s made it and then some.

1. Bob Watson
2. Nick Patterson
3. Rob Blasdell
4. Anthony Cosmo
5. Kenny Montour

Transition
This ones a hard one to gauge for me. Are voters at the end of the year looking at how these guys do in their primary roles? Are they looking at the kinda digits they get on the press? Are they lookin’ at how guys hold up the opposition’s press? It’s not as black or white as most of the other awards handed out by the NLL. I think Merrill’s back in the same form we saw him in his rook season, but with not many watching a ton of Jax’s games, sure that’s gone a tad unnoticed. Steenhuis obviously has the digits, but that’s cuz he plays an O primary role versus most other guys people consider trannies in this sport. Jarret Park is probably the sleeper in the group, but his value to the Titans might be bigger than any other two-way guy on the list below, so maybe he’s not as big of a sleeper as I think. One guy that I really wanted to add, but just couldn’t put him over Rob Van Beek, is Nick Carlson. With all the focus on Josh Sims and Nenad Gajic in Colorado, the most consistent cross court presence, for me at least, has been Carlson. Even in the Mammoth’s stinkers this year, Carlson has looked damn good. I think it’ll be tough for him to catch a lot of ink based on the star studded team he plays for, but he definitely is right up there as far as this year’s top two-way studs go.

1. Brodie Merrill
2. Mark Steenhuis
3. Geoff Snider
4. Jarret Park
5. Rob Van Beek

Rookie
For me, this is a two horse race. Jordan Hall versus Craig Point. It’s that simple. Both are playing huge roles this year and are playing as composed and consistent as any vet. I only pick Hall cuz I just love the style of the game he’s playing. We’ve seen him kill teams on the run this year but for anyone that saw him destroy the Rock in set 5v5 on Friday night, you’ll know why I think this kid is so versatile. He’s tying up flat footed D guys and showing teams that in today’s NLL, you better have defenders who have a decent first step, cuz if you don’t, you’re gonna go the way of the do-do bird. Also think that with the high power O guys this year’s rook class has developed, everyone’s ignoring some amazing first year defenders that have been just as crucial to their team’s play (Ross, Carnegie, Norbraten, etc…). Think it’ll be a bitch to pick this year’s All-Rookie team with a lot of deserving guys missing out on a spot.

1. Jordan Hall
2. Craig Point
3. Kyle Ross
4. Jamie Rooney
5. Merrick Thomson

Coach
I hate trying to pick coach of the year, cuz I’m totally of the belief that an outsider really has no idea what this dude is doing in pracky and behind closed doors, where many times, the real “coaching” takes place. Think Darris has to be the fave right now, simply for the fact that he’s squeezed absolutely everything outta that team this year. Huntley obviously is right up there too, for the total facelift he’s given the Wings. And my sleeper pick is Adam Mueller. Not sure people realize just what it is Mueller’s done in New York. To have so many guys he’s showing the game to for the first time and to be where the Titans are in the standings now is just unreal. Not only was he dealing with the same stuff other coaches had to in training camp and beyond, but he also had to teach the fundamentals, FOR THE FIRST TIME, to guys who right now are on the verge of knocking Toronto and Rochester from the playoff picture. Beauty job by Mueller and the rest of that coaching staff.

1. Darris Kilgour
2. Dave Huntley
3. Adam Mueller
4. Dewey Jacobs
5. Walt Christianson

Really interested to know what everyone else is thinkin’, especially from the fans that have made use of B2 this year and watched more than just their home team. So make sure to chime in on the boards and let me know how wrong (or hell, right) I am.

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