The fans have spoken, and the fans are in agreement with the NLL's awards. Well, somewhat.

League coaches and general managers voted the Baltimore Thunder's Gary Gait as the league's Most Valuable Player last week, and the eighty-three voters who participated in the inaugural Outsider's Guide Fan Choice Awards agreed, although the finish was close -- 160 points to runner-up Jake Bergey's 145. Toronto's Jim Veltman, runner-up in the NLL balloting, finished third with 144 votes.

The Gait-Bergey war carried over to the Attacker of the Year voting, where the two ran neck-and-neck most of the week, before a late push sent Gait to a 29-23 victory over the Philadelphia Wings' sophomore star. Baltimore's Joe Hiltz finished third, with 13 votes.

Bergey did manage to take one award, and did so in convincing fashion. With twenty-nine votes, Bergey cruised to the Most Improved Player title, outpacing Hiltz by nine votes and Toronto's Dan Stroup by seventeen.

The race for Goaltender of the Year proved to be a two-horse campaign, as Philadelphia's Dallas Eliuk beat Toronto's Bob Watson, 126 points to 102. Third place went to Baltimore's Chris Sanderson, who tallied just twenty points.

Similarly, Veltman held off teammate Pat Coyle for Defenseman of the Year, 28-22, with no other player anywhere close. Philadelphia's Dan Radebaugh and Rochester's Regy Thorpe tied for third, with nine votes each.

The closest race was for Rookie of the Year, a wild contest between Sanderson, Baltimore's Jesse Hubbard, Rochester' Casey Powell, and Buffalo's Matt Disher. Sanderson pulled away from the field somewhat, pulling in 69 points and taking the award. Disher, Powell, and Hubbard finished second, third, and fourth, respectively, separated by just five points.

On the other hand, Coach of the Year was a runaway for Les Bartley, as Toronto's bench general nearly doubled second-place finisher Tony Resch's (Philadelphia) vote total, 34-19. Rochester's Paul Day edged Thunder coach John Tucker for third, 12-11.

Several ballots had to be discarded in part due to voter error (failing to vote for all spots in a multi-vote category or voting for the same player multiple times in the same category). This is why voting totals vary across the categories.

Following are the full results for each of the seven categories (w- indicates a write-in vote):

Most Valuable Player       1st     2nd     3rd   Total
Gary Gait, Balt             20      16      12     160
Jake Bergey, Phila          20      12       9     145
Jim Veltman, Buff           14      12       8     114
Dallas Eliuk, Phila          6      11      13      76
Joe Hiltz, Balt              7       8       3      62
Bob Watson, Toro             3       4       8      35
Tom Marechek, Phil           2       3       6      25
John Tavares, Buff           2       4       2      24
Duane Jacobs, Roch           1       4       2      19
Colin Doyle, Tor             2       0       7      17
Matt Panetta, NY             1       1       4      12
Paul Gait, Syra              1       2       0      11
Darris Kilgour, Buff-Roch    0       1       3       6
Mark Millon, NY              0       1       2       5
Vote for three (5-3-1 point system) - 79 ballots cast


Rookie of the Year         1st     2nd   Total
Chris Sanderson, Balt       17      18      69
Matt Disher, Buff           15      12      57
Casey Powell, Roch          14      14      56
Jesse Hubbard, Balt         14      10      52
Jamie Hanford, Phil          7       7      28
Rory Graham, Toro            5       9      24
Brad MacArthur, Roch         2       4      10
John Fay, Balt               2       1       7
w-Jon Hess, NY               0       1       1
Vote for two (3-1 point system) - 76 ballots cast


Goalie of the Year         1st     2nd   Total
Dallas Eliuk, Phil          35      21     126
Bob Watson, Toro            28      18     102
Chris Sanderson, Balt        4       8      20
Patty O'Toole, Roch          3       7      16
Matt Disher, Buff            3       5      14
Derek General, Roch          2       5      11
Sal LoCascio, NY             1       6       9
Derek Collins, Syra          0       3       3
Marty O'Neill, Buff          0       2       2
w-Rob Blaisdell, Toro        0       1       1
Vote for two (3-1 point system) - 76 ballots cast


Coach of the Year        Total
Les Bartley, Toro           34
Tony Resch, Phil            19
Paul Day, Roch              12
John Tucker, Balt           11
Freeman Bucktooth, Syr       2
Scott Huff, NY               1
Les Wakeling, Buff           0
Vote for one - 79 ballots cast


Attacker of the Year     Total
Gary Gait, Balt             29
Jake Bergey, Phil           23
Joe Hiltz, Balt             13
Dan Stroup, Toro             7
John Tavares, Buff           5
Paul Gait, Syra              2
Matt Panetta, NY             2
Vote for one - 81 ballots cast


Defenseman of the Year   Total
Jim Veltman, Toro           28
Pat Coyle, Toro             22
Dan Radebaugh, Phil          9
Regy Thorpe, Roch            9
Dan Ladouceur, Toro          5
w-Mike Busza, Phil           2
w-Tim Langton, NY            1
Randy Mearns, Roch           1
w-Matt Oglesby, Phil         1
w-Gordon Purdie, NY          1
w-Rodd Squire, Toro          1
Steve Fannell, Buff          0
Vote for one - 80 ballots cast


Most Improved Player     Total
Jake Bergey, Phil           29
Joe Hiltz, Balt             20
Dan Stroup, Toro            12
Matt Shearer, Balt           7
Ed Fay, Syra                 5
Matt Panetta, NY             2
w-Kim Squire, Toro           2
w-Mike Busza, Phil           1
w-Greg Cattrano, NY          1
w-Marty O'Neill, Buff        1
Vote for one - 80 ballots cast