National Lacrosse League Announces Finalists for 2022-23 NLL Awards
May 16, 2023 - National Lacrosse League (NLL) News Release
PHILADELPHIA - 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 1st through 5th 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 - Calgary Roughnecks
Dhane Smith (Kitchener, ON) - Forward - Buffalo Bandits
Jeff Teat (Brampton, ON) - Forward - New York Riptide
Rookie of the Year
Brett Dobson (Oshawa, ON) - Goaltender - Georgia Swarm
Jonathan Donville (Oakville, ON) - Forward - Panther City Lacrosse Club
Jack Hannah (Milford, OH) - Forward - Las Vegas Desert Dogs
Goaltender of the Year
Christian Del Bianco (Coquitlam, BC) - Calgary Roughnecks
Nick Rose (Orangeville, ON) - Toronto Rock
Matt Vinc (St. Catharines, ON) - Buffalo Bandits
Transition Player of the Year
Reid Bowering (Coquitlam, BC) - Vancouver Warriors
Zach Currier (Peterborough, ON) - Calgary Roughnecks
Challen Rogers (Coquitlam, BC) - Toronto Rock
Defensive Player of the Year
Latrell Harris (St. Catharines, ON) - Toronto Rock
Graeme Hossack (Port Perry, ON) - Halifax Thunderbirds
Brad Kri (Acton, ON) - Toronto Rock
Sportsmanship Award
Kyle Buchanan (Nepean, ON) - Buffalo Bandits
Tom Schreiber (East Meadow, NY) - Toronto Rock
Lyle Thompson (Onondaga Nation, NY) - Georgia Swarm
Teammate of the Year
Kyle Buchanan (Nepean, ON) - Buffalo Bandits
Dan Dawson (Oakville, ON) - Toronto Rock
John LaFontaine (Whitby, ON) - Albany FireWolves
Les Bartley Award (Head Coach of the Year)
Mike Hasen - Rochester Knighthawks
Tracey Kelusky - Panther City Lacrosse Club
Curt Malawsky - Calgary Roughnecks
General Manager of the Year
Mike Board - Calgary Roughnecks
Dan Carey - Rochester Knighthawks
Jamie Dawick - Toronto Rock
Executive of the Year
Melissa Blades - Director of Business Operations, Calgary Roughnecks
Mark Fine - Chief Executive Officer, Las Vegas Desert Dogs
Matt Hutchings - Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, KSE, Governor, Colorado Mammoth
Tom Borrelli Award (Media Person of the Year)
Pat Gregoire - TSN/Halifax Thunderbirds color commentator and co-host, "Off the CrosseBar" Podcast
Teddy Jenner - TSN play-by-play and co-host, "Off the CrosseBar" Podcast
Adam Levi - Inside Lacrosse, NLLPA, and NLL.com contributing writer and host, "Lacrosse Matrix" Podcast
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.
Once nominations were finalized, each NLL team casted three ballots for each award by three members of its organization. Select media were eligible to vote for all awards except Teammate of the Year and Executive of the Year with the same voting system.
Each ballot allowed voting members to select their top five choices for each award among all nominated persons. Points were distributed for each first through fifth place vote as follows:
1st Place - 10 points
2nd Place - 7 points
3rd Place - 5 points
4th Place - 3 points
5th Place - 1 point
The person that accumulated the most points will be announced as the winner while the top three are the finalists. The All-League and All-Rookie teams are determined by the top vote getters in each correlating award. The All-Rookie team will be made up of six rookies, regardless of position. The All-League First Team and All-League Second Team will be made up of six individuals per team. Each Team will consist of two forwards, one transition player, two defenseman, and one goaltender.
National Lacrosse League Stories from May 16, 2023
- Carey, Hasen Named Finalists for Annual NLL Year-End Awards for 2022-23 Season - Rochester Knighthawks
- Smith, Vinc, Buchanan Among 2023 NLL Awards Finalists - Buffalo Bandits
- John LaFontaine Named Finalist for NLL Teammate of the Year Award - Albany FireWolves
- Desert Dogs Forward Jack Hannah Named National Lacrosse League Rookie of the Year Finalist - Las Vegas Desert Dogs
- National Lacrosse League Announces Finalists for 2022-23 NLL Awards - NLL
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