OHL Coaches Poll - My Ballot (2015)

The 2015 OHL Coaches Poll should be released sometime next week, or the week after. Each year, I've made it a habit of creating my own ballot to try and predict what the results would look like. When putting together this year's ballot, the Western Conference was incredibly difficult. It's remarkable how much individual talent the Conference has. For some of the categories, players I left off of the top 3 (with ties) would have been number 1 or 2 in that same category if they played in the East (like best playmaker for example). Also worth noting that I didn't include Sam Bennett in any of the categories because he's barely played this year. If he had, he'd been at or near the top of almost every category for his Conference.

Of course, I feel like I need to repeat that this is my own subjective list and NOT the official results for the poll.

Without further ado, here's my 2015 ballot.

Most Underrated Player

EAST
1. Chris Carlisle
2. Lucas Peressini
3. Justin Scott & Bradley Latour

WEST
1. Kyle Platzer
2. Pius Suter
3. Erik Bradford

Most Improved Player

EAST
1. Kevin Lebanc
2. Michael McCarron
3. Joseph Blandisi & Matt Schmalz

WEST
1. Christian Dvorak
2. Chris Bigras
3. Dylan Strome

Smartest Player

EAST
1. Michael Dal Colle
2. Andrew Mangiapane
3. Carter Verhaeghe

WEST
1. Connor McDavid
2. Chris Bigras
3. Christian Dvorak

Hardest Worker

EAST
1. Cole Cassels
2. Travis Konecny
3. Kevin Lebanc & Joseph Blandisi

WEST
1. Remi Elie
2. Zach Nastasiuk
3. Dylan Sadowy & Alex Debrincat

Best Playmaker

EAST
1. Kevin Lebanc
2. Josh Ho-Sang
3. Andrew Mangiapane & Michael Dal Colle

WEST
1. Connor McDavid
2. Anthony DeAngelo
3. Sergei Tolchinsky, Mitch Marner & Max Domi

Most Dangerous in the Goal Area

EAST
1. Michael Dal Colle
2. Michael McCarron
3. Brendan Lemieux

WEST
1. Connor McDavid
2. Tyler Bertuzzi
3. Robby Fabbri & Mitch Marner

Best Skater

EAST
1. Travis Konecny
2. Sean Day
3. Joseph Blandisi

WEST
1. Connor McDavid
2. Anthony DeAngelo
3. Nick Baptiste, Sonny Milano & Max Domi

Best Shot

EAST
1. Michael Dal Colle
2. Brendan Perlini
3. Jordan Subban

WEST
1. Justin Bailey
2. Connor McDavid
3. Jared McCann & Max Domi

Hardest Shot

EAST
1. Brandon Devlin
2. Brendan Perlini
3. Kyle Wood

WEST
1. Trevor Murphy
2. Darnell Nurse
3. Justin Bailey & Max Iafrate

Best Stickhandler

EAST
1. Josh Ho-Sang
2. Michael Dal Colle
3. Andrew Mangiapane & Jordan Subban

WEST
1. Connor McDavid
2. Sergei Tolchinsky
3. Max Domi & Sonny Milano

Best on Faceoffs

EAST
1. Nick Paul
2. Carter Verhaeghe
3. Cole Cassels

WEST
1. Jason Dickinson
2. Jared McCann
3. Connor McDavid

Best Body Checker

EAST
1. Hunter Smith
2. Chadd Bauman
3. Josh Brown & Cameron Lizotte

WEST
1. Nick Ritchie
2. Mitch Jones
3. Kurtis MacDermid

Best Shot Blocker

EAST
1. Josh Brown
2. Marcus McIvor
3. Will Petschenig

WEST
1. Travis Dermott
2. Zach Nastasiuk
3. Darnell Nurse

Best Defensive Forward

EAST
1. Nick Paul
2. Joseph Blandisi
3. Lawson Crouse

WEST
1. Jason Dickinson
2. Christian Dvorak
3. Zach Nastasiuk & Jared McCann

Best Penalty Killer

EAST
1. Joseph Blandisi
2. Josh Brown
3. Nick Paul

WEST
1. Darnell Nurse
2. Dylan Sadowy & Zach Nastasiuk
3. Jared McCann

Best Offensive Defenceman

EAST
1. Jordan Subban
2. Mitchell Vande Sompel
3. Vince Dunn

WEST
1. Anthony DeAngelo
2. Trevor Murphy
3. Darnell Nurse & Chris Bigras

Best Defensive Defenceman

EAST
1. Marcus McIvor
2. Josh Brown
3. Evan McEneny

WEST
1. Darnell Nurse
2. Chris Bigras
3. Travis Dermott

Best Puck Handling Goalie

EAST
1. Jake Smith
2. Mackenzie Blackwood
3. Spencer Martin

WEST
1. Brandon Halverson
2. Jake Paterson
3. Michael Giugovaz

Best Shootout Shooter

EAST
1. Josh Ho-Sang
2. Jordan Subban
3. Sam Babintsev

WEST
1. Max Domi
2. Connor McDavid
3. Petrus Palmu

Best Shootout Goalie

EAST
1. Spencer Martin
2. Mackenzie Blackwood
3. Lucas Peressini

WEST
1. Jake Paterson
2. Alex Nedeljkovic
3. Brandon Halverson