BY: Jason Chaimovich, AHL
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that forward T.J. Tynan of the Colorado Eagles was voted the winner of the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s most valuable player for the 2020-21 season.
The award was voted on by coaches, players, and media members in each of the league’s 28 active cities.
Tynan recorded 35 points in 27 contests for the Eagles in 2020-21, good for a 1.30 points-per-game average that ranked first among all AHL skaters who played at least half of their teams’ games. Tynan finished second in the league with 27 assists – his third straight top-3 finish – and recorded assists in eight straight games from Mar. 12 to Apr. 11 and nine straight from Apr. 14 to May 9, the two longest such streaks in the league this season. Tynan, who was named team captain before the Eagles’ home opener on Feb. 24, added one goal and two assists in two postseason games for Colorado.
A native of Orland Park, Ill., Tynan has played 436 AHL games over seven pro seasons and has totaled 71 goals and 277 assists for 348 points, tied for the most in the league since the start of the 2014-15 season. The three-time AHL All-Star won a Calder Cup championship with Lake Erie in 2016, reached the Finals with Chicago in 2019, and amassed 24 points in 44 AHL playoff games. Tynan was a third-round selection by Columbus in the 2011 NHL Draft and has skated in 19 career NHL games with the Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche, posting one assist.
The AHL’s most valuable player award honors the late Les Cunningham, a member of the AHL Hall of Fame who was a five-time league All-Star and three-time Calder Cup champion with the Cleveland Barons. Previous winners of the award include Carl Liscombe (1948, ’49), Johnny Bower (1956, ’57, ’58), Fred Glover (1960, ’62, ’64), Mike Nykoluk (1967), Gilles Villemure (1969, ’70), Doug Gibson (1975, ’77), Pelle Lindbergh (1981), Paul Gardner (1985, ’86), Tim Tookey (1987), Jody Gage (1988), John Anderson (1992), Don Biggs (1993), Derek Armstrong (2001), Jason Spezza (2005), Keith Aucoin (2010), Cory Conacher (2012), Tyler Johnson (2013), Travis Morin (2014), Chris Bourque (2016), Kenny Agostino (2017), Phil Varone (2018), Daniel Carr (2019) and Gerry Mayhew (2020).
Since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 31 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
