TOLEDO, Ohio — It is another feather in the cap for the Toledo Walleye's Brandon Hawkins, who has earned another league-wide honor for his play this season.
The high-scoring forward from Macomb, Michigan, was named the ECHL League MVP for 2023-24, the league announced Friday. The title joins his second-straight All-ECHL First Team honors with Hawkins also finishing top of the league in goals with 40 and points with 93.
It was a record-breaking regular season campaign for 29-year-old Hawkins, whose final totals put him ahead of his own previous franchise record set last season of 39 goals and topped Shane Berschbach's Walleye franchise record of 86 points in a season that had stood since 2016-17.
Overall, Hawkins had at least one point in 54 of 70 games this season and was one of only two players to play all 70 games for the Walleye.
When asked about his achievements earlier this week when already carrying impressive honors, Hawkins was humble and acknowledged the work of everyone involved.
"I'm not big on individual records, I don't get to that without the team and it's a 'we over me' type of thing," Hawkins said. "If I'm playing to the best of my ability and the guys are playing to the best of their ability, we're collecting wins that's all I care about."
Hawkins, an alternate captain in Toledo, was also selected for the 2024 ECHL All-Star Classic and named captain of his team during the appearance.
The Most Valuable Player award is determined by a vote of ECHL coaches, broadcasters, media relations directors and members of the media.
"We were excited when we heard. It’s one of those things that when I came here to Toledo I knew I had a special player and a great opportunity to coach someone like him that understands the league so well," Walleye Head Coach Pat Mikesch said Friday evening. "He’s somebody I talk to all the time about what we’re looking like as a group and how we can be better and he just represents all of us so well, and the entire organization and the city."
Hawkins has spent the past three seasons suiting up for the Walleye for a total of 188 games played. Prior to joining the team, the fifth-year pro played college hockey for two seasons at Bowling Green State University.
Hawkins is one of only three Toledo players in ECHL history to be honored as league MVP and second in franchise history following Josh Kestner in 2019-2020. The first, Andrew Williamson, earned the title with the Toledo Storm in 1999-2000.
The Toledo Walleye open the playoffs at the Huntington Center on Friday at 7:15 p.m. with game two at home on Saturday. Tickets are available at toledowalleye.com.
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