ALBANY, N.Y. — The National Lacrosse League (NLL) announced five members of the Albany FireWolves were nominated as finalists for end-of-season awards.
Alex Simmons and Tye Kurtz are both finalists for Rookie of the Year. Doug Jamieson is a finalist for Goaltender of the Year for the second time in his NLL career. Glenn Clark is a finalist for the Les Bartley Award (Coach of the Year) and General Manager of the Year. FireWolves’ CEO and Owner Oliver Marti is a finalist for Executive of the Year.
Alex Simmons – Rookie of the Year Finalist
Simmons finished the regular season with 96 points, the second most by a first-year player in NLL history. Simmons leads the FireWolves in goals (38) and assists (58) while picking up 85 loose balls. He currently leads all players in playoff scoring with 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists).
Tye Kurtz – Rookie of the Year Finalist
Kurtz’s is second in rookie scoring behind Simmons with 78 points (32 goals, 46 assists). His 112 loose balls are fourth among all NLL forwards. He is currently second in playoff scoring with 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists).
Doug Jamieson – Goaltender of the Year Finalist
Jamieson posted a career-high 11 wins during the 2023-24 NLL season with a 10.12 Goals Against Average and 80% Save Percentage. In 978 minutes played this season, Jamieson made 662 saves. Jamieson has three wins in the 2024 NLL playoffs with a Goals Against Average of 8.34 and a Save Percentage of 84%. He made 52 saves and only allowed three goals in the FireWolves opening-round win over the Halifax Thunderbirds. Jamieson was named the NLL Goaltender of the Year in 2020 and would be the fourth goaltender in NLL history to receive the award more than once.
Glenn Clark – Les Bartley Award (Head Coach of the Year) & General Manager of the Year Finalist
Clark has led the FireWolves to the 2024 NLL Finals only a year after posting a 3-15 record and finishing last place in the NLL during the 2022-23 season. Through player movement as general manager and as the leader on the bench as head coach, Clark has been the steady presence yielding a miraculous turnaround. Clark previously won the Les Bartley Award (Coach of the Year) in 2016 as head coach of the New England Black Wolves.
Oliver Marti – Executive of the Year Finalist
Marti brought the NLL back to Albany in 2021 when he bought the New England Black Wolves and became CEO and Owner of the Albany FireWolves. In three seasons, he has led the organization to the NLL playoffs twice and their first NLL Finals appearance.
Once nominations were finalized, each NLL team cast three ballots for each award and select media were eligible to vote for all awards except Teammate of the Year and Executive of the Year.
Voting members selected their top five choices for each award among all nominated persons. Points were distributed for each first through fifth-place vote as follows:
First Place – 10 points
Second Place – 7 points
Third Place – 5 points
Fourth Place – 3 points
Fifth Place – 1 point
The person who accumulated the most points will be announced as the winner, while the top three in each category are designated as the award finalists. The All-NLL and All-Rookie teams are determined by the top vote-getters in each position-based award. The All-Rookie team will be made up of six rookies, regardless of position. The All-NLL First Team and All-NLL Second Team will be made up of six individuals – two forwards, one transition player, two defensemen, and one goaltender – per team.
The award winners will be announced by the NLL throughout next week before the start of the NLL Finals. The FireWolves will face the Buffalo Bandits in a best-of-three series for the NLL Cup, beginning with Game 1 on Friday, May 17 at 7 pm at MVP Arena.
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