In an announcement ripe for “wonder how he’ll celebrate?” jokes, Nashville Predators forward Alex Radulov has won the Golden Stick trophy, awarded annually to the KHL ‘s most valuable player.
This is the third straight Golden Stick for Radulov, who also won a “Golden Helmet” prize for being named to the league’s All-Star team. Radulov also won the league’s top scorer trophy, which is actually a Brazilian gold mine.
While it might sound like I’m making fun of Russian hockey and its fascination with metallurgy, I have to admit the league awards are pretty cool. For instance, the KHL gives out a “Sekunda” award (“Split Second” award) for scoring the earliest and latest goals in a game. There’s also the “Best Troika” award given to the highest-scoring forward trio in the league and the “Most Valuable Player” award that, for reasons unexplained, is given to the guy with the best plus-minus.