Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
Do Leafs media have more votes than other teams? I really don't know how anyone could make a case Rielly has been better than Gio. At this point Leafs media is the only thing that should prevent Gio from finally getting his due.
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I think the media thing is overblown. There are something like 180 PHWA members. There are 20 PHWA chapter members in Toronto and there are maybe 4 lifetime members who I'd call Toronto based. Now that's more than other cities (but come come close, like Philly, NY-NJ, Boston).
I don't think Eastern media is disposed towards Toronto players - just Toronto media, and a lot of those guys aren't PHWA members.
Also, we can't just assume they are shills or anti-Gio. In 2014 James Mirtle, who is a member, published his ballot and Gio had his first place Norris vote (over Chara and Doughty). He was pretty heavy into analytics for his selections.