Our <b>3-2-1 Award</b> is AFTN's 'Player of the Year' trophy.
After every Whitecaps game we give three points to who we feel was the best Whitecaps player of the match, two for the second best, and then one for the third (you can usually find them in our <i>"In The Cold Light Of Day"</i> pieces when we do those).
With the season over following the loss in LA, we now have our winner.
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Step forward <b>Joe Cannon</b>.
The 3-2-1 voting system does create some anomalies. Players who maybe have a few outstanding games score highly, despite many people not thinking of them as being players of the season (Camilo). Others who do hard work every game, but maybe don't stand out suffer a little (Davidson).
The cream usually does rise to the top and overall, we feel that Joe is a very worthy winner.
If it hadn't have been for all his clean sheets and game/point winning saves earlier in the season, the Whitecaps would not have a been a playoff team.
He was the AFTN 3-2-1 runner up in 2011 to Camilo, but this year, with the positions reversed, he's very deserving. It's just a shame he never got to see the season out as the starter, although we can't fault Brad Knighton's performances and he will surely be up amongst the challengers in 2013.
If he'd joined earlier, or the season still had time to run, then Andy O'Brien may have caught Joe, as the big Irishman put in a late surge with points galore. Another one to watch for next season.
So congratulations Joe and here's the final standings....
<b>Winner: Joe Cannon - 30 points</b>
<b>Runner-up:</b> Camilo Sanvezzo - 25
<b>3rd:</b> Young-Pyo Lee - 21
Gershon Koffie - 18
Davide Chiumiento - 16
Andy O'Brien - 15
Alain Rochat - 15
Brad Knighton - 11
Barry Robson - 10
Jun Marques Davidson - 9
Jay DeMerit - 8
Darren Mattocks - 8
Martin Bonjour - 7
Sebastien Le Toux - 7
Dane Richards - 6
Matt Watson - 6
Jordan Harvey - 5
Omar Salgado - 5
Eric Hassli - 4
John Thorrington - 4
Russell Teibert - 2
Caleb Clarke - 1
Greg Klazura - 1
A staggering 23 Whitecaps players earned mentions over the course of the season.
Will Joe be around to defend his trophy next season? Unlikely, but I wouldn't write him off just yet.
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