NHL Awards Preview

June 8, 2008   ·   Hasan   ·   Jump to comments

Now that the games are done and all postseason hardware has been handed out, the NHL will hand out its regular season awards this Thursday in Toronto in the first step towards saying goodbye to 2006-07 and hello to 2007-08, with the NHL entry draft in two weeks being the next one and UFA soon after.  So here’s one blogger’s preview and predictions on the winners:   

Hart – Jarome Iginla, Cgy (50 G, 48 A, 98 Pts), Evgeni Malkin, Pit (47 G, 59 A, 106 Pts), Alexander Ovechkin, Wsh (65 G, 47 A, 112 Pts)

Outlook: As fine as the other two players’ seasons were, this is probably the easiest award to pick, given Ovechkin’s insanely high goal total and the fact that he led a young team on a surge to an unlikely division title. 

Calder – Niklas Backstrom, Wsh (14 G, 55 A, 69 Pts), Patrick Kane, Chi (21 G, 51 A, 72 Pts), Johnathan Toews, Chi (24 G, 30 A, 54 Pts)

Outlook: Hard to pick between the two teen sensations from the Blackhawks.  I’ll go with Kane, who has the better numbers partly because of Toews missing 18 games due to injury.  Kane played all 82 games and amassed 72 points (28 on the PP), a nice season for anyone but remarkable for a 19-year old.

Norris – Niklas Lidstrom, Det (+40, 70 Pts, 40 PIM), Zdeno Chara, Bos (+14, 51 Pts, 114 PIM), Dion Phaneuf, Cgy (+12, 60 Pts, 182 PIM)

Outlook: Lidstrom can start counting his Norris trophies with two hands.  Phaneuf is the heir apparent and Chara had a fine season but as the playoffs showed, Lidstrom is in a class of one.

Vezina – Martin Brodeur, NJ (44 wins, 2.17 GAA, .920 Sv, 4 SHO), Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (37 wins, 2.23 GAA, .912 Sv, 10 SHO), Evgeni Nabokov, SJ (46 wins, 2.14 GAA, .910 Sv, 6 SHO)

Outlook: As used to be the case when Dominik Hasek won the award every year, Brodeur gets the nod based both on reputation and also arguably the finest season of the netminder’s career. 

Lady Byng – Pavel Datsyuk, Det (20 PIM), Martin St. Louis, TB (26 PIM), Jason Pominville, Buf (20 PIM)

Outlook:  No idea…but when it comes to awards one rule of thumb is when in doubt go with the biggest name.  So I predict St. Louis, yes he had three more minor penalties than the other two but also played more minutes per game.

Selke – Pavel Datsyuk, Det (+41, 97 Pts), Henrik Zetterberg, Det (+30, 92 Pts), John Madden, NJ (+1, 43 Pts)

Outlook: When you consider the Selke’s about as biased as the Norris in terms of rewarding offensive production, it’s astonishing Madden’s even included in this group.  And he did an excellent job during the regular season but I’ll pick Zetterberg, who proved in the playoffs that he’s become the best all-around player in the game.

Adams – Mike Babcock, Det (115 Pts, President’s Trophy), Bruce Boudreau, Wsh (94 Pts, Southeast Division Champs), Guy Carbonneau, Mon (104 Pts, #1 finish in the Eastern Conference)

Outlook: Boudreau gets full marks for turning around a last-place team upon his early-season hiring and leading them on a Cinderella run to a division title.

Masterton – Jason Blake, Toronto; Fernando Pisani, Edmonton; Chris Chelios, Detroit

Outlook: Blake not only overcame cancer but didn’t miss a single game for his team in the process, putting up 52 points in 82 games.

Pearson – Jarome Iginla, Cgy; Evgeni Malkin, Pit; Alexander Ovechkin, Wsh

Outlook: Same nominees as the Hart, same result never mind the players vote on this one and not the GM’s.