After another weekend of excellent football in the CPL, some things are official but there is so much left unanswered before the regular season ends in less than a month.

We know that Forge and Atletico have punched their tickets to the CPL playoffs. 

We know Moses Dyer is unstoppable with goals in four straight games, matching his total scored in 13 matches with Vancouver FC (and he let them know it.)

We know that none of the bottom four were able to put themselves  closer to 5th place.

We know the final matchday is going to be nuts with all four matches played simultaneously.

We know CPL games on OneSoccer are more fun with Jimmy or Craig  on the call.

And we know CPL matches are better when the Footy Prime crew is  in the house.

We got invited out to a Canadian Premier League game: What did we think? 👀

What we don’t know is what the playoff bracket is going to look like.

We don’t know if anyone can catch Forge for the CPL Shield with only four matches left.

We don’t know what’s wrong in Langley after a fourth straight loss for Vancouver.

We don’t know if it’s possible for Halifax to play a match without some late drama.

We don’t know when the crew is finally going to let me on the pod! (although it could be soon.)

And we don’t know who will win any of the individual awards this year.

Since I am SO good at predictions (hopefully obvious sarcasm is obvious), why don’t we make our picks for some awards this season? 

Defender of The Year – Daan Klomp

As the season has been getting into the later stages, last year’s Defender and Player of the Year has reminded everyone why he picked up the hardware in 2023. He is an absolute beast on both sides of the pitch. Six goals, 22 blocks, 132 duels won and only six yellow cards while being third in minutes played. Dan Nimick gets a shout as well, but two red cards this year for me is enough to give it to the Dutchman for a second straight year. 

Golden Glove – Marco Carducci

This is a tough one to pick. Carducci is tied for the league lead with 7 clean sheets. He’s conceded 23 goals in 23 appearances and he’s third in minutes played. It’s a really tough call between Carducci and Pacific FC’s Emil Gazdov. You can’t go wrong with either, but I would give a slight nod to Carducci to win the Golden Glove for the third time.

Best U-21 Player – Emil Gazdov

He may not win the Golden Glove, but Emil Gazdov’s season certainly deserves some recognition. To be fair, if Kwasi Poku doesn’t move to Belgium, he wins this award without a doubt. But Gazdov between the pipes for a Pacific side who (until I brought it up) struggled to score was the  reason  they picked up a point in many matches they otherwise would have lost. Tied with Carducci with seven clean sheets and only 17 goals allowed in 19 appearances, he  may end up winning two awards, and  should get one for sure. 

Player of The Year – Manny Aparicio

There are a few guys who deserve a shout including Brian Wright, Tristen Borges, Ruben del Campo and Alex Achinioti-Jonsson. But for me, the choice has to be the box-to-box midfielder that runs the ship and that’s Manny. His contributions don’t show up on the stat sheet, but  let me throw some stats at you. He’s Top 10 in the league in minutes played, tackles won, recoveries, duels won and 11th in interceptions. I think he’s more likely to win Players’ Player of the Year but if I had a vote, I would give it to him. (How do I go about getting a vote by the way?)

Coach of The Year – Bobby Smyrniotis 

How in the world has Bobby never won this award? It seems almost impossible with how dominant Forge has been since the CPL’s origin and this year is no different. Forge sit on top of the table, have the best offense and three more wins than anyone else. It’s time he gets the recognition that is long-overdue.

I’m sorry to everyone I selected, you’ve been cursed because I’m terrible at predictions.

What about you, what players have stood out for you this season? As always, let me know how wrong I am.