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A Second Team All-Pro last year, has Matt Vinc done enough for more end-of-year praise this year? (Photo: Dave Sanders)

One week left of some pretty important ball for players to make their mark on the 2009 National Lacrosse League season.

And just like the last spots in both the East and West standings, this year’s hardware chase is far from set in stone, and definitely everything from the top tender to the MVP chase is up for grabs.

This week, we look at the five favorites in each major hardware race (check back next week for Steve Kojima’s All-Rookie rundown and our picks for best coach and GM as well), with some honorable mentions to make things even tougher on picking this year’s best.

GOALIE

Matt Disher, Portland Lumberjax
Disher was back in the Jax’s lineup last weekend, holding the high scorin’, freewheelin’ Necks to under ten goals and then doing not too shabby against the Swarm before making way for Joel Weber. With Dish not playing on a high profile Eastern team like a Buffalo or Rochester, it should be interesting to see how much love he gets from voters at the end of the year. Note: A BC based tender has never been named the pro games best keeper, while only two Western based teams have had their backstop win the nod, that being Gee Nash with Colorado in 2004 and Anthony Cosmo with San Jose in 2007. With Disher likely the West’s best bet, can he buck the trend this year?

Kenny Montour, Buffalo Bandits
Monster came up huge in a slick 52-save performance against the hungry Hawks, with almost 20 stops in the last period alone. Easily the most clutch game of any tender last week.

Pat O’Toole, Rochester Knighthawks
Had some rough spots over the weekend, but for the most part, O’Toole gave the Hawks enough to eek out some important W’s (obviously that never happened though). He’ll be lacking the big time stats some voters probably look for, but when you shave past that and the Hawks’ weak 6-9 record (O’Toole himself is 6-6 however), Paddy has had a strong ‘09. His season has actually been pretty comparable to Bob Watson’s Keeper of the Year performance last year (playing lights out for a team struggling to make the playoffs).

Matt Vinc, New York Titans
Stats-wise, Vinc’s ‘09 looks like it will be pretty similar to his ‘08, when he was named to the NLL All-Pro Second Team, presumably the runner up behind Whipper in the GOY race. Like we said last week, he’s been steady again this year and has arguably been one of this season’s most consistent tenders. Unless Disher starts and gets abused for like 70 plus shots against the Roughnecks, Vinc should be this year’s saves leader.

Anthony Cosmo, Boston Blazers
That 10-5 win over Rochester was the sixth full game Coz has played this year where he’s held the opposition to under ten goals. Can an expansion keeper actually win a GOY nod? A huge game and win over Buffalo on Saturday night could definitely sway some voters.

DEFENDER

Andrew McBride, Calgary Roughnecks
One of this year’s best shut-down defenders and D anchors. After 15 weeks of being in the Trophy Case Chase, kinda getting tough to describe how solid McBride has been, playing in a position where going unnoticed usually means you’re doing a pretty decent job.

Jeff Moleski, Calgary Roughnecks
Has Jeff Moleski been one of this year’s best defenders? Hell yeah he has. Will he win the D-man of the year nod? Depends on how many Eastern voters throw his name into the hat. With a low profile Jr. A and Sr. career in BC and Alberta, Moleski doesn’t have the resume most previous DOY’s have had, but if you’re basing the award on simply 2009, Jeff has to be near the top of the heap without a doubt.

Chris White, Buffalo Bandits
He’s the D anchor on one of the best high pressure D’s in the game and has to be the East D favorite for some love on the All-Pro Team. At his best, few compare.

Kyle Sweeney, Philadelphia Wings
Some questioned us when we ranked Kyle Sweeney ahead of Canuck Wing teammate defenders like Taylor Wray and Tom Hajek in our NLL Top 50, but for anyone that has watched Sweeney this year, you’ll know why. He’s one of the most athletic, mobile D guys in the league and could very well set career best numbers across the board after the K’Hawks tilt. He’s very rarely talked about, but brings so much to the Wings’ D and O press.

Kyle Sorenson, San Jose Stealth
The Stealth D and short-man may had shown some holes in their game earlier in the year, but Sorenson has been a solid presence from start to finish. He’s big, tough, smart and has been one of the best meat and potatoes D guys this season.

Jack Reid, Boston Blazers
Just like last week, gotta put in a sixth option here too. Everyone all year keeps asking Tom Ryan on the coach’s conference call who the Blazers best kept secret is on their dominating D game (held the Hawks to just five). TR stops short of mentioning anyone specific; giving praise to his entire lunch pail D instead, but in all honesty, Jack Reid has been a ROCK for the Blazers and has quietly become one of the pro game’s best D leaders. Kyle Ross and Mitch Belisle have also looked great this year (along with rook Jon Harnett), but Reid leads the pack and might be the most under-hyped and over-looked guys in ‘09. A lot of people thought Ryan got fleeced on a swap that saw expansion pickup Kyle Laverty sent to Rochester for the seldom used Reid, but…

Honorable Mentions: Nick Inch, Kyle Ross, John Gallant, Mike Carnegie, Tyler Codron

TRANSITION

Brodie Merrill, Portland Lumberjax
Would have to think that Merrill is the heavy fave for tranny of the year. Obviously he doesn’t post as many O digits as a Steenhuis or Hall, but few are as versatile and play as many minutes as Brodie, who has been one of this year’s biggest impact ball players, easy.

Mark Steenhuis, Buffalo Bandits
He’s the equivalent of Brodie, just on the other end of the court. Virtually impossible to even slow down blasting outta his own end and could probably be one of the best D heavy two-way guys, if his O skills weren’t  so needed at the other end.

Jordan Hall, New York Titans
Like the two guys above, when it comes to versatility and athleticism, Hall has been hands down one of this year’s best. One stat we’d love to see is a minutes played number, cuz with the amount of action Hall sees on both sides of the floor, he’d have to be at the top of the rundown. One of the best soph seasons in the history of the league.  

Geoff Snider, Philadelphia Wings
He continues to be a massive difference maker for the Wings since his return off the shelf. Many were ready to string him up early in the year after some undisciplined penalty minutes, but hard to argue with his game right now. Snider averaged 8PIM in the first four this year. His last four? Just three minutes in the box per game. The Wings are also 3-1 in those last four too, and only 1-3 to start.

Scott Stewart, Portland Lumberjax
He caught a ton of ink earlier in the year, but seems to have been put back on the mainstream burner partially due to the kinda year Merrill is having in ‘09. With that said though, Stewart has been one of the most steady D heavy two-way guys in the league this season and showed again this past weekend, with seven goals in two, that he can be deadly on the rush if the opportunity presents itself. Smart, strong, athletic and dedicated to a Jax system that he’s fit into really nicely.

Honorable Mentions: Jeff Sattler, Ian Hawksbee, Jason Bloom, Steve Toll

MVP

Colin Doyle, San Jose Stealth
Took some heat from some for naming Doyle #1 in our Top 50, but guess he’s done a not too shabby job of living up to that title. The record breaks have been super impressive, but to get the Stealth into a post-season that at many points during the year they looked like they had no business being in, might be what shores up an MVP nod. A lights out show in his old backyard would be one helluva close-out.

Dan Dawson, Boston Blazers
A couple weeks back, the Player Poll had Daws as the MVP fave, and although Doyle and Powell have upped their stock over the last couple weeks, would have to think Dawson is still right up there for MVP consideration. Although Doyle has been catching most of the ink the last couple weeks, Daws could end up single season helper king too.

Mark Steenhuis, Buffalo Bandits
The MVP hype has kinda quieted down for Steenhuis during the second half of the year, but hopefully voters don’t forget the record setting stuff he threw-down early and the clutch showings he continues to have all season.

John Tavares, Buffalo Bandits
Like Dowling mentioned earlier today, it looks like JT will be one of only two players that touches that all important 50-goal mark. Tavares has probably been the most consistent O guy anywhere in the league this year and owns a shooting percentage that just dwarfs any other full-time O guy’s digits. Don’t think many would be complaining if Tavares is named this year’s best.

Casey Powell, New York Titans
The only knock anyone could possibly have on Powell is that he’ll only fit into 13 games max this year. Previous MVP’s have missed next to no time during their respective winning seasons. Few have made as big a difference in games this year, and that goes all the way back to that insane showing he had in Florida. Powell has 17-points over his last two, which included nine against Buffalo on Saturday, the second highest point total against the Bandits this year next to Shawn Evans‘ ten (Sean Pollock also had nine on Buffalo). 

Honorable Mentions: Brodie Merrill, Matt Disher, Kenny Montour, Josh Sanderson, Pat O’Toole, Tracey Kelusky

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