Mike Hosfield of the Mississippi MoJo has won his second straight USRBL Regular Season MVP, beating out Johnny Arundel of the Cannon Cup Champion Flying Sparrows by a single vote. In addition to being voted MVP by his competitors, Hosfield’s 37 goals in ten games won him the Golden Ball award as the League’s top goal scorer. Mikael Lickteig, consistently played at a high level all season, finishing second in the scoring race with 35 goals.

‘Hos’ is as big a game changer as there is in the U.S. Rink Bandy League. He plays at an elite level in both ends of the rink. His passing and creativity are unsurpassed, and his shot is accurate and effective. He can score from in close and far away from the net, making him a nightmare to defend. Hos sets up at least as many goals as he scores, and still always covers his defensive assignments. If takeaways were kept at a statistic, Mike would surely be among the league leaders.

Josh Swartout of the St. Louis Park Orioles has been voted as the USRBL’s Best Goalie in 2015. Swartout edged out Spanky’s United keeper Charlie Lindgren by one vote. Both goalies had exceptional seasons. Consistency was the name of the game for Swarty, backstopping the Orioles to a tie for second place in the regular season, and a run to the Cannon Cup Championship game. The Orioles surrendered the fewest goals of any team in the regular season, and Swartout is a big part of the reason why.

Swartout’s large body and strong hockey instincts make his net coverage as good as anyone. He is almost always in position, and when he is not odds are he is sprawling out to make a spectacular save. His experience from playing several seasons of rink bandy gives the Orioles an edge. Swarty communicates with his teammates more than most goalies, often allowing for easy defensive zone breakouts. He handles the ball with confidence and makes very few throwing mistakes, a must for an elite rink bandy goalie.

Michael Carman of Spanky’s United has been voted the first recipient of The Tom Howard Leadership and Sportsmanship Award. Carmen, along with teammate Jamie McBain, anchored Spanky’s to a hard charging five game win streak to close the regular season. Mike scored 10 of his 17 goals during those final 5 games, and tallied a hat trick in Spanky’s 10-4 playoff win over 2014 Cannon Cup Champion Minnehaha Maulers.

It would be a mistake in this case to equate a Leadership and Sportsmanship award with a player who is laid back, mild mannered, passive on the rink. Carmen is as competitive a guy as there is in the sport. His motor runs hot all the time, and can occasionally boil over, which in turn often leads to an even higher level of play. While Carmen can be animated and certainly vocal on the ice, his respect for the officials, his opponents, and the game are always abundantly evident.

Mike’s rink bandy game took a noticeable step up this summer following his debut on the U.S. National Bandy Team this past winter. His speed has always been amongst the game’s elite, while his development in ball handling and shooting have seen astronomical gains. Carmen can now shoot from anywhere, finding the upper corners often. His hat trick in the All-Star game earned him Best Player on the U.S. Team honors, propelling his team to a four-goal comeback that was ultimately surrendered in the last minute.

John Arundel of the Cannon Cup Champion Flying Sparrows has been voted the USRBL’s 2015 Manager of the Year. A regular season 1st place finish, Cannon Cup Championship, Bill Wood Playoff MVP Award, and 5th place (24 goals) finish in the scoring race were on the playing resume for this season’s Manager of the Year. Johnny A’s rink bandy game is one of the best there is. Big body, strong defensively, great set up man, consistent goal scorer, minute eater… he does it all.

However, this award is not for what John brings to the ice as a player, the 2015 Manager of the Year worked hard to assemble a roster that dominated all season long. With assistance from his uncle Jeff Arundel working behind the scenes, John and the Sparrows of Summer have gone from the bottom of the table to the very top in a short period of time.

The 2015 Sparrows was the franchises strongest group to date. Outdoor bandy’s 2015 MVP Jon Keseley led the way on the score sheet with his 34 goals, as well as showcasing an excellent all around game. Keseley assisted on many of the Sparrows biggest goals, and is still clearly one of the game’s best. Nate Condon’s 23 goals were better than any other team’s second leading goal scorer… and he was 3rd on the Sparrows! It seems like Condon’s rink bandy game gets better every time he is one the ice. Jesse Perron, Chase Nysted, Adam Meyer, and Greg Olson rounded out a 2015 Sparrows roster that lacked any type of weakness. While veteran Goalie Erik Kraska backstopped the Sparrows Cannon Cup run, he spent the first half of the season on the IR. This forced manager Arundel to use a revolving carousel of fill in goalies, while still not surrendering a defeat during the uncertainty in the net.

Congratulations to all of the 2015 USRBL award winners. This summer was one of the best rink bandy seasons on record, thanks to everyone who helped make it happen!