Once again, the Worcester Railers’ season ended without making the playoffs, so as we do when the Railers fail to make the second season we get an all-too-early posting of the “210 Awards”. As has sort of become a thing here lately on 210Sports, we split these awards up into two posts because inevitably I’ll have missed a few the first time around.
For those new to the “210 Awards”, they are a mix of serious and (hopefully) slightly humorous awards named for the moniker this writer used to use on many message boards. Just remember, for the most part, these are just one man’s opinion and I like to spread these around a little so one player doesn’t get every award.
This season’s winners are…
Best Forward: Anthony Repaci is the easy pick here. Led the team in goals, points, power play goals and points, and overtime goals. The Railers were a completely different team when he wasn’t in the lineup. As an ECHL veteran he can now choose to play anywhere in the league he wants. Worcester fans hope it’s still here.
Best Defenseman: Two great candidates for this one, but I’m a firm believer that playing great defense is the primary role of a defender, and on this team that’s Griffin Luce. Yes, Connor Welsh and his 57 points deserves some sort of recognition, but I like my guys to play defense, and that’s Luce.
Tough Guy Award: Kolby Johnson is another easy pick. When his head is in the game Johnson is a decent fourth line player that provides a significant physical presence. When it’s not he’s sitting in the stands suspended with the Railers skating a player short. Johnson has the physical tools to play in the ECHL. Now he needs to work on the mental ones.
Best Single-Game Performance: It happened too late to be included on the Booster Club ballot, but Justin Gill‘s hat trick, including the overtime game winner, vs Trois-Rivières on March 22, 2025 stands out the most, both for what he did and the situation he did it under.
Most Improved: Matias Rajaniemi looked absolutely lost out there during the beginning of the season, so much so many fans were hoping Bridgeport would recall him just so he wouldn’t need to play here. By the end of the season Rajaniemi was a solid second-pairing defenseman and one of the team’s top penalty killers, often playing, teamed with Griffin Luce, for the most of the two-minute shorthanded situations.
Seventh Player Award: I hemmed and hawed over this one, three times changing my pick, and then changed it a fourth time to this year’s winner, Connor Welsh. There were three great candidates for this one, but the best of the three is indeed Welsh.
Best Mid-season Addition: If you’d asked me in the middle of February I’d have picked differently, but since it’s April and I can look back on the whole season I think this one belongs to Tyler Kobryn He had a career season in just a third of a season here.
The “Mike Moore Award”: For the player that gives 100% every single shift no matter the score or the situation, Lincoln Hatten. He so embodies the “Mike Moore Award” that he’s not only was my #1 pick, he’s my #2 pick too. If you watched the kid play, I don’t need to explain anything. If you didn’t, you missed out. I’m looking forward to seeing him in a Railers’ jersey next season.
Rookie of the Year: Griffin Loughran is this year’s winner in a field that’s a lot more wide-open that some would think. Nothing against Loughran, but this award had Jack Randl’s name penciled in until Bridgeport recalled him at Christmas time, where Randl suffered an injury.
Most Valuable Player: It’s obviously Anthony Repaci.
The 210Sports Player of the Year: Connor Welsh was the 210Sports “Player of the Game” nine times last season, the most of any Railers player. The next closest had five. As I now usually note, “no one” tied for third with four. Eleven times this season we didn’t make a post, but looking at the box scores i don’t think it would have changed the outcome here at all.
So now that we’ve gotten the serious awards out of the way, here are a few that this writer thinks should be handed out…
The “Three Stars Award”: Using 5-3-1 scoring, Anthony Repaci is this season’s #1 star with 45 points, Anthony Callin finishes at #2 with 42 points, and Matthew Kopperud lands at #3 with 24 points.
The “Two-By-Two Award”: Matias Rajaniemi wins this award that goes to the player with the most penalty minutes without receiving a major or misconduct with 18 PIMs. Not even close to being impressive considering some of the high-minute total winners of years past, but the Railers had a lot of fight and misconducts this season, and Rajaniemi didn’t have either of those.
The “Iron Man Award”: Both Connor Welsh and Mason Klee played in all 72 Railers game this season, so they’ll share this award. A shout out should be given to Griffin Luce, who missed a single Worcester game due to a PTO with Hartford, where he played in one game.
The “Man In The Box Award”: For being in the penalty box for the most power play goals scored against the team, Lincoln Hatten‘s five make him the “winner” here. Of the five, two were on five-on-three play.
The “Dead-Eye Award”: Cam McDonald for having the lowest shooting percentage of any player with 50 or more shots on goal at 0.0% (Oh-fer 59).
The “Buzzer Beater Award”: For the first time ever, we have a tie for this award with Anthony Repaci officially scoring at 19:59.9 of the second period November 30, 2024 at Wichita, and Anthony Callin who scored at 6:59.9 of overtime February 07, 2025 vs Atlanta.
We’ll have part two early next week.
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