NHL professional Michael Raffl prevailed for the third time in the election for Player of the Year by the ice hockey association. Anna Meixner won the race for women.
12.44 p.m., March 18, 2021
The year 2020 will be remembered by everyone due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In March, the majority of all championships were canceled without a championship title being awarded, and only a few were continued. The National Hockey League (NHL) was one of those leagues that dared to continue with a “bubble” in Canada in the summer of last year.
One of these athletes was in the “bubble” Michael Raffl, who fought his way to the conference semifinals with his Philadelphia Flyers, caught up 1: 3 deficit in the series against the New York Islanders and finally failed in the seventh game. His achievements in the last season – 58 games, eight goals, twelve assists and 14 penalty minutes – received a lot of attention from the Austrian ice hockey experts, so that he was able to win the election for the best Austrian ice hockey player for the third time after 2013 and 2014. With 57 points Raffl sat in front of the two U20 national team players Marco Rossi (43 / Ottawa 67s) and S.ebastian Wraneschitz (23 / EV Vienna Capitals).
For the first time a woman
For the first time, a vote for an Austrian player was cast in this election. Anna Meixner, Legionnaire at Brynäs in Sweden, was ranked second and thus three points.
Nice recognition
Raffl, who yesterday suffered a bitter 9-0 defeat at the New York Rangers with the Flyers, was happy about his success. “I am very proud to have been voted the best player. An award is always something beautiful. This pandemic was and is not easy for anyone. I’m sure many people are worse off than me. As ice hockey players we can still do our job, that’s a privilege. Compared to 2020, the situation for us players to play games has improved a bit. The league’s plan is pretty tight, physically it’s the toughest season I’ve ever played in the NHL from my point of view. “