BLOG: Draisaitl named Germany's sportsman of the year

EDMONTON, AB -The Leon Draisaitl and Alphonso Davies crossover continues.
Just 12 days after the soccer superstar from Edmonton was named co-winner of the 2020 Lou Marsh Award as Canada's athlete of the year, the Oilers forward and reigning NHL MVP was announced as Germany's sportsman of the year, voted on by the nation's media.
Draisaitl attended his country's annual Sportler des Jahres ceremony virtually from Oilers Entertainment Group headquarters on Sunday and joined basketball legend Dirk Nowitzki as the only team-sport athletes to win the prestigious honour in the 73-year history of the award.
"What a great honour for me to be voted by so many journalists," Draisaitl said of his latest accolade. "Thank you for your votes and support. It's been an incredible year and I am very proud to finish 2020 as Germany's athlete of the year."

Nowitzki won the award in 2011 after he led the Dallas Mavericks to their only NBA championship. Like Draisaitl, he was named league MVP in 2007 but was beat out for the national sportsman honour by gymnast Fabian Hambuchen.
Other notable German sports legends to win the award are Boris Becker (tennis: 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990), Michael Schumacher (F1 racing: 1995, 2004) and Jan Ullrich (cycling: 1997, 2003). Last year's winner was world champion decathlete Niklas Kaul.
Over the course of the 2019-20 season, Draisaitl led the NHL in points with 110, assists with 67, game-winning goals with 10, points per game with 1.55, power-play points with 44 and average ice time among forwards at 22:37, in addition to finishing third in goals with 43.
He won the Art Ross Trophy for leading the NHL in points and was selected as the winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association as well as the Ted Lindsay Award by the National Hockey League Players' Association.
Davies' soccer club, Bayern Munich, was selected as Germany's 2020 team of the year.