National Lacrosse League Announces Finalists for 2022-23 NLL Awards

PHILADELPHIA - May 16, 2023 - PRLog -- The National Lacrosse League (@NLL), the largest and most successful professional lacrosse property in the world, today announced the finalists for its annual season-end awards honoring the best players, coaches, and executives for the 2022-23 NLL season.

Reigning NLL Most Valuable Player, Buffalo Bandits forward Dhane Smith, looks to repeat against last year's NLL Rookie of the Year, New York Riptide's Jeff Teat, and Calgary Roughnecks' standout goaltender, Christian Del Bianco.

All 11 award categories are based on 2022-23 regular season stats and performances, with voting taking place prior to the start of the 2023 NLL Playoffs. Voters ranked their choices from 1^st through 5^th place with those votes correlating with a point total (noted below). The top three vote getters for each award are listed as the finalists.

The winners will be announced next week leading into Game 1 of the NLL Finals.

Most Valuable Player

• Christian Del Bianco (Coquitlam, BC) – Goaltender –  
• Dhane Smith (Kitchener, ON) – Forward – Buffalo
• Jeff Teat (Brampton, ON) – Forward – New York

Rookie of the Year

• Brett Dobson (Oshawa, ON) – Goaltender – Georgia
• Jonathan Donville (Oakville, ON) – Forward – Panther City
• Jack Hannah (Milford, OH) – Forward – Las Vegas

Goaltender of the Year

• Christian Del Bianco (Coquitlam, BC) – Calgary
• Nick Rose (Orangeville, ON) – Toronto Rock

Matt Vinc (St. Catharines, ON) – Buffalo

Transition Player of the Year

• Reid Bowering (Coquitlam, BC) – Vancouver
• Currier (Peterborough, ON) – Calgary
• Challen Rogers (Coquitlam, BC) – Toronto

Defensive Player of the Year

• Latrell Harris (St. Catharines, ON) – Toronto
• Graeme Hossack (Port Perry, ON) – Halifax
• Brad Kri (Acton, ON) – Toronto

Sportsmanship Award

• Kyle Buchanan (Nepean, ON) – Buffalo
• Tom Schreiber (East Meadow, NY) – Toronto
• Lyle Thompson (Onondaga Nation, NY) – Georgia

Teammate of the Year

• Kyle Buchanan (Nepean, ON) – Buffalo
• Dan Dawson (Oakville, ON) – Toronto
• John LaFontaine (Whitby, ON) – Albany

Les Bartley Award (Head Coach of the Year)

• Mike Hasen – Rochester
• Tracey Kelusky – Panther City
• Curt Malawsky – Calgary

General Manager of the Year

• Mike Board – Calgary
• Dan Carey – Rochester
• Jamie Dawick – Toronto

Executive of the Year

• Melissa Blades – Calgary
• Mark Fine – Las Vegas
• Matt Hutchings – Colorado  

Tom Borrelli Award (Media Person of the Year)

• Pat Gregoire
• Teddy Jenner
• Adam Levi

Each NLL team had the opportunity to nominate and vote for each of the awards with the exception of Teammate of the Year, as each NLLPA Player Representative nominated a player from their team for this honor that was voted on by the NLLPA and its 15 Player Representatives.

http://www.nll.com