Copyright The Canadian Press

There was never any doubt. Alexander Ovechkin cleaned up at last night’s NHL Awards in Toronto sweeping both the Hart Trophy for league MVP and Lester B. Pearson for best player as voted by his peers.

The electrifying 22 year-old Russian who won the Rocket Richard with 65 goals and the Art Ross with 112 points as the leading point getter finally was presented with the hardware, rewarded for a brilliant season which saw him lead the Washington Capitals back from the worst record to Southeast Division winners with 94 points.

“I want to win everything,” the thrilled third-year superstar told the Canadian press. “So next year maybe the Stanley Cup.”

Ovechkin easily outdistanced countryman Evgeni Malkin for the Hart receiving 128 of 134 first place votes by the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association.

“Looking at Ovechkin, he’s had that kind of year,” Calgary star forward Jarome Iginla praised after finishing third.

“Sixty-five goals, leading scorer in the league, and their team made the playoffs. They turned it around pretty amazingly and everyone knows what a huge part of that he was. He’s very deserving. It was fun to watch him, too.”

Also taking home an award was Ovechkin’s coach Bruce Boudreau, who deservedly won the Jack Adams for coach of the year after taking over for Glen Hanlon and guiding the Caps to their first postseason appearance in five years.

Not surprisingly, Detroit captain Nick Lidstrom once again won the Norris Trophy for the NHL’s best defenseman. It marked the sixth time in the Swede’s brilliant Hall of Fame career that he’s received the Norris, trailing just Hall of Famer Doug Harvey (seven) and the legendary Bobby Orr (eight).

The 38 year-old paced all blueliners with 70 points (10-60-70 in 76 GP) and a plus-40 rating. All the more special, he also became the first ever European-born player to captain a team to the Stanley Cup, helping lead the Red Wings to a fourth championship in 11 years.

Lidstrom received 127 of 134 first place tallies easily beating out Zdeno Chara and Dion Phaneuf.

For American Patrick Kane, he took home the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie edging teammate Jonathan Toews and Caps’ pivot Nicklas Backstrom. He led all rookies with 72 points (21-51-72 in 82 GP).

The 19 year-old Buffalo native became the first Chicago Blackhawk to win the trophy since Ed Belfour in 1990-91. He’s also the first American to win it since Scott Gomez in 1999-00.

As reported last night, Martin Brodeur won his fourth Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender. The 36 year-old career New Jersey Devil had another outstanding season getting into 77 games which tied San Jose runner-up Evgeni Nabokov for most in the league. He won 44 of his team’s 46 games posting a respectable 2.17 GAA which ranked fifth best along with a .920 save percentage (tied for sixth with four others) and four shutouts to get to 96 on the all-time career list, trailing just Terry Sawchuk’s record of 103 by seven.

The Montreal native got 113 votes which were just seven more than Nabokov who finished a close second while Ranger netminder Henrik Lundqvist was third with only 13 votes.

Taking home his first ever Selke Trophy for the league’s top defensive forward was Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk. The 29 year-old speedy Russian who also doubled as the Lady Byng Trophy winner for gentlemanly conduct for a third time established new career bests in goals (31), assists (66), points (97) and plus/minus with his plus-41 topping all players.

He tallied one shorthanded goal and was one of Detroit’s best penalty killers teaming with Henrik Zetterberg to form one of the most dangerous shorthanded duos in the game. He also led the NHL with 144 takeaways and ranked first on the Red Wings with 42 blocked shots. Datsyuk beat out Zetterberg and former winner Devil center John Madden, who was nominated for a fourth time after a career season in which he tallied 43 points (20-23-43) along with a club-leading three SHG.

Congrats to Toronto Maple Leaf forward Jason Blake on winning the Bill Masterton Trophy for perseverance after battling leukemia which was diagnosed before the season but didn’t stop the former Islander from playing every game with his new club.

“I’ve been so lucky in life to play in the NHL, have three beautiful kids and be married to a wonderful woman,” an emotional Blake pointed out.

“I get to play the game I love at the highest level and I get to continue doing it as long as some team wants me.”

Vincent Lecavalier also won the King Clancy Trophy for leadership exhibited on and off the ice. The Lightning star pivot donated a $3 million pledge to help build a pediatric cancer and blood disorders center at the All Children’s Hospital in St. Pete.

The Battle of New York congratulates all players for fantastic seasons!

On a much sadder note, we regret to inform that NBC news anchor Tim Russert passed away at the age of 58 due to a heart attack. A familiar face to those who followed MSNBC and NBC’s Meet The Press, the Buffalo native had a distinguished news career hosting Meet The Press since 1991 and dominating his industry like few others.

Russert was also a senior vice president and head of NBC’s overall Washington operations. He was extremely knowledgable and had a keen sense of humor as well as a passion for sports where he rooted on the Sabres and Bills as well as the Yankees.

He is survived by his wife Maureen Orth and their son who just graduated from Boston College Luke. Our condolences go out to the entire Russert family. Everyone should say a prayer for them.

R.I.P. Tim Russert (1950-2008)

I was going to start by reporting that Devils’ netminder Martin Brodeur edged San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov for a fourth Vezina making it back-to-back for the future Hall of Famer.

Well, I did anyway as Marty received 113 votes to Nabby’s 106 while Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist was third with only 13 votes. To be honest, the order wasn’t much of a surprise as everyone pretty much knew this was a two horse race between the established franchise goalie and the first-time candidate from Russia who finally got recognized for how well he performed.

Still, I can’t help but wonder what these GMs are smoking. Lundqvist got 13 total votes. That is crazy. He did lead the league in shutouts and didn’t play on a great defensive team. I don’t care what the final stats say. Any D headlined by Michal Rozsival, who stunk for large portions of the season isn’t strong by any stretch. And both Fedor Tyutin and Dan Girardi struggled at times. By the end of the year, rookie Marc Staal was our best defenseman.

Something seems very awry here. Henrik wasn’t winning the award. I knew that going in. But come on. Brodeur isn’t that much better than him. Sorry. This isn’t Ranger bias either. Even if Marty did have an AHL calibre D, it’s remarkable to think that Lundqvist didn’t receive a few more votes. Last I checked, Paul Martin’s better than anyone we got on our blueline too. Oh well.

As noted before, I would’ve gone with Nabokov who led the league in wins and didn’t have much offensive support either. However, he did play on a better team which probably factored in. Still, I can’t help but wonder if Brodeur having the Canadian support helped him win the award again. You have to figure it helped in the voting which figured to be close.

Both netminders had outstanding seasons. I guess it largely depends on how you feel. Still, Brodeur winning the league’s top netminder a fourth time looms large and only adds to his legacy. He’s now two behind Dominik Hasek who just retired. It’s now three Stanley Cups. Four Vezinas. And Olympic Gold. Not too shabby a resume for a player who will soon own the league’s wins and shutout record.

The question becomes for how much longer can he perform at this high a level? With the way the Montreal native keeps himself in shape, why can’t he continue his elite play until retirement? The guy is a great athlete and doesn’t get hurt much. You just wonder why he continues to play as many games as he does when it probably would make more sense for the Devils to get their backup in a bit more so Marty’s fresher for the second season.

Oh well. That’s one for Hasan and other Devil fans to take.

As Has noted, it appears the vaunted Versus did another bang up job getting the right show to air earlier tonight. What a network baby! Honestly, I’m no longer surprised and have no words.

Why bitch about it? It’s never going to change. I guess we’ll just have to continue to deal.

We’ll have more on the awards later.

Also, be sure to check out my NY Hockey Report show live tonight on the East coast from 11:30 on. I’ll be recapping the Stanley Cup winner as well as awards and coaching changes.

The number to call in is 646-716-7209. So if anyone wants to talk puck, you’re more than welcome!

…to describe how bad this league and its US flagship network is, but I’ll type a few anyway cause I’m beside myself right now.

So I turn on the NHL Awards on VERSUSOLNwhatever at 7 PM, for two minutes I see some spoof (Coronation Street)?  Then I see the TSN logo and figure goody, here it comes.  And what shows up?  THE NHL DRAFT LOTTERY!  Tape-delayed by oh, about a month or so.  Unbelievably it takes seven minutes for them to figure out both that they screwed the pooch and how to fix it! 

I was as anti-ESPN as anyone else but my gosh, VERSUS is making them look like paradise.  They may not have given hockey the attention it deserved but at least they can run a broadcast!  VERSUS is even more inept than Gary Thorne trying to pronounce Tverdovsky, or just about any other player’s name for that matter. 

It’s not as if tonight’s the first VS screwup either, if memory serves right - and I usually don’t remember much from these award shows - VERSUS couldn’t even show the awards live last year, there was some problem with a truck catching fire and it had to be tape-delayed by a few hours, I’m a bit hazy on the details.

I just cannot wait to see what Derek (or Brian) has to add later about this joke of a network.

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.

As announced on VERSUS, the three finalists for the NHL’s coach of the year award are Bruce Boudreau of the Capitals, Guy Carbonneau of the Canadiens and Mike Babcock of the Red Wings.

No problems with the first two, as Boudreau not only turned around the Caps after the firing of Glen Hanlon early in the season but Washington was one of the best teams in the league in 2008 period, winning a ton of games down the stretch just to squeeze into the playoffs as Southeast division champions.  Carbonneau took a non-playoff team from 2006-07 that wasn’t expected to do much this year to the top seed in the NHL’s Eastern Conference, this despite having shaky goaltending at times from both Cristobal Huet (since traded) and rookie Carey Price. 

I’m not too high on Babcock being the third choice, yes the Red Wings won the President’s Trophy but how much is coaching really involved when you still have Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom and other reliable veterans including the goaltending tandem of Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek (though both faltered late)? 

I would have considered Barry Trotz, who somehow found a way to get Nashville in the playoffs despite their new owner trying to pull a Rachel Phelps (a la Major League) and liquidating the team before relocating it.  Actually Claude Julien might have been my third choice though, since absolutely nothing was expected of a Bruin team that was in disarray after giving away Joe Thornton two seasons ago, lost one of its best players in Patrice Bergeron for much of the season, and had career journeyman Tim Thomas as their number one goaltender.  Boston also made the playoffs to the surprise of many. 

In any case, odds are Boudreau will win the award. 

It’s a day later. A bit early at that as the latest rainstorm gets ready to hit. It should be pretty heavy today. Maybe I find that a bit ironic considering my team’s plight at this collective moment.

After a nice leisurely drive and walk to the historic Conference House out near the water yesterday, I was able to clear my head. Here are some random thoughts which have been flying around:

-The Rangers attempted 31 shots (five more than a perimeter oriented total) which never hit the net yesterday. Nine were missed and 22 were blocked by hustling Pens who sacrificed their bodies at every turn. By contrast, Pittsburgh only had nine shots blocked while another nine were missed. A huge difference. If they’re to get back in this beginning tomorrow, the Blueshirts need to reverse that trend and play with the same intensity. Pitt showed they wanted it more.

-As usual, Sean Avery made a nuisance of himself with the outcome decided drawing the ire of Hal Gill while engaging Marc-Andre Fleury. By that time, I’d already turned it off. Too little. Too late. He was invisible and notably didn’t have a strong Game One. Isn’t about time the agitator stopped living off strong first rounds?

-Christian Backman was again shaky. He was very weak in the first game responsible for the Pens’ second goal. There was also an instance where he should’ve one-timed the puck but waited and got it blocked which drew criticism from Pierre McGuire. Right on point. Tom Renney needs to think long and hard about scratching him and bringing back Marek Malik. Big Bird might get blamed for plenty but if he’s paired with Paul Mara, that’s an upgrade. Unless Backman’s finding offense, he sticks out like a sore thumb.

-Find me one network studio analyst getting paid top dollar who has the balls to tell it like it is instead of kissing Sidney Crosby’s ass. No backbone. I don’t know what’s worse. The ridiculous lengths Canadian backer McGuire and former coach Ed Olczyk (biASSed much?) went to or Brian Engblom waving the No.87 pom poms on Martin Straka’s soft penalty where the baby face dropped like he was shot.

-Watching Henrik Lundqvist before during a postgame interview wasn’t too reassuring. He might’ve said all the right things but body language told a different story.

-I touched on it briefly but it’s time for Tom Renney to grow a pair and demote Brendan Shanahan to the fourth line. He just is too slow and is really hurting Avery and Scott Gomez. Especially if he’s going to play Petr Prucha because less than five minutes just won’t cut it. If they’re not elevating Prucha, then Fredrik Sjostrom is plenty good enough a skater and solid defensively to be moved up. Why not try Prucha and Shanahan with Blair Betts? This would give the team a different look and much better balance to go head to head against a very deep Pens’ team.

-With another great third period last night totally outclassing the Sharks to go up 2-0 on the road, Dallas has done little to make me think otherwise. That they’re the most complete Western team left and certainly look on a collision course with the Red Wings.

-If deadline pickup Brad Richards continues to perform, that’s going to be one hell of a trade for them especially if the former Conn Smythe winner delivers the hardware.

-How about that no-look reverse setup Sergei Zubov made to Mike Modano for the winner? Not bad for the veteran Russian blueliner’s first game back!

-How good is Mike Ribeiro. You don’t think Montreal wants a do over on that one again?!?!?!?!?!

-One other thing on that series. If the Sharks don’t comeback to make it at least interesting, when does Ron Wilson finally take some heat?

-Peter Budaj better be in net for Colorado tonight. Peter Forsberg would help too.

-He’s gotten plenty of criticism for his wretched play in Game Two. Think there’s just a tad of pressure on 20 year-old rookie Carey Price later tonight?

-If Martin Biron keeps this up, who says he can’t backstop the Flyers to a Stanley Cup? He’s been brilliant. They shouldn’t even be playing. That’s how good he was against the Caps with it all on the line in Game Seven last week.

-It’s Evgeni Malkin and not Crosby who’s been the best player for the Pens so far. He just has dominated in all facets. So while everyone’s getting on their knees for Sid the Kid, it’s his better overall teammate who continues to get overlooked.

-I get that he was sticking up for his star player but Michel Therrien was completely out of line ripping Renney before Game Two. At no point did the affable Ranger coach ever complain about Crosby offering essentially no comment. Instead, you heard plenty of teammates defend Straka. The same thing the hypocritical Therrien was doing.

-Color me impressed with Tyler Kennedy. This grinder has been very strong on the boards. Ditto Pascal Dupuis which comes as no surprise that the “other player” in the Marian Hossa deal has performed well as he has had better success (2003 Wild).

-I had it in my preview and so far it’s held true. Rob Scuderi is undervalued.

-Are Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler secondary scorers anymore? Both Franzen (Calgary Game Six OT anybody?) and Filppula were good last year. Hudler finally developed and is playing well. Ditto for defensive stalwart Niklas Kronwall. Amazing how the Winged Wheel continues to find hidden gems in the draft. Their scouting staff is as good as anyone in the league. It’s high time they got more recognition!

-Finally, I love Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg but they shouldn’t be up for the Selke. John Madden was a deserving pick but there are plenty of other worthy candidates. Mike Fisher, Tomas Plekanec and Mike Richards all come to mind.

Yesterday, the NHL announced the three candidates for the Calder which is handed out to the season’s best rookie. Making the cut were Chicago forward tandem Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Joining them in Toronto will be Washington pivot Nicklas Backstrom.

The Hawk duo of Kane and Toews led the Original Six franchise back to respectability finishing four points behind Calgary for the final playoff berth with 88 points. Had Toews not missed 18 games, it’s very possible that Chicago would’ve made the postseason. The 19 year-old Manitoban still returned to spark his club finishing third in rookie scoring with 24 goals (1st among rookies) and 30 assists for 54 points in 64 contests. He also had seven power play goals, four game-winners and a respectable plus-11 rating.

Toews’ linemate Kane lived up to the hype after being selected first overall in last year’s Entry Draft. The 19 year-old from Buffalo finished second to Backstrom with 51 assists while his 72 points were tops among first-year players. He also matched Toews’ power play and game-winner output with seven PPG and four GW.

Backstrom had an outstanding freshman season. Finally coming over from Sweden, Washington’s former 2006 fourth overall selection tallied 14 goals, a rookie best 55 helpers and 69 total points finishing second to Kane. The 20 year-old playmaking pivot assumed a heavy burden after free agent pickup Michael Nylander went down with a season-ending injury.

Asked to play with Alex Ovechkin, Backstrom fit in well flourishing with the league’s leading scorer to help lead the Capitals to their first postseason in five years. Though his team fell a little short in a hard seven-game series defeat to the Flyers, Backstrom fared well notching four goals and two assists while posting a plus-three rating. He’ll be a star for years to come.

One Blogger’s Reaction: All three forwards were excellent choices but why not Montreal’s Carey Price for the final spot? Without the very poised 20 year-old, the Canadiens finish nowhere near the top of the East. The former 2005 first rounder won 24 games while posting a 2.56 GAA, .920 save percentage and three shutouts.

Since, he’s added two more blankings in the first round. Maybe they just decided not to penalize the players who played full seasons. Other worthy candidates who missed the cut were Atlanta’s Tobias Enstrom, Edmonton’s Tom Gilbert, St. Louis’ Erik Johnson and Phoenix’ Peter Mueller.

I could mention a few kids from the locals but it wouldn’t really be fair. Maybe another time.

Earlier today, the league announced the trio of Norris candidates. Once more, Nick Lidstrom headed the list. The five-time Norris winner will once again be the favorite. He’ll go up against Boston’s Zdeno Chara and first-time selection Dion Phaneuf of Calgary.

The 37 year-old Lidstrom who has played his entire 15-year career with the Red Wings is looking to match Doug Harvey with a sixth Norris.

“It meant a lot tying Ray Bourque which is a player I looked up to and admired when he was playing before I even came into the league,” the Detroit defenseman expressed to reporters  of tying Bourque last year during a conference call.

“I had a chance to just watch him on TV, so that was a great honor to get No. 5, and getting No. 6 would be even better, especially with the players that have won it; Bobby Orr having eight. And so it would mean a lot to me being able to win six and passing a player like Ray Bourque.”  

In 76 contests this season, the Swede topped all defenders with 60 assists and 70 points while posting a plus-40 rating ranking second behind teammate Pavel Datsyuk. His 26:43 average ice-time (TOI) was fourth most placing after Chara, whose 26:50 TOI ranked third.

Speaking of Chara, it was a brighter day for the 31 year-old Boston captain than last night’s Game Seven in which he was awful. Well, at least the lanky Slovak bounced back with a very good season leading the surprising Bruins back to the postseason despite no Patrice Bergeron (concussion).

In 77 games, he netted 51 points (17-34-51) while racking up 114 penalty minutes. Chara’s 17 goals tied with Phaneuf for second most by defensemen placing behind Washington’s Mike Green, who finished with 18. Chara and blueline teammate Dennis Wideman also were tied for fourth among D with nine power play goals.

It’s Chara’s second Norris nomination. Four years ago, he finished as the runner-up to then New Jersey Devil Scott Niedermayer.

Meanwhile, the 23 year-old Phaneuf had another great season establishing career bests in assists (43), points (60) and plus-minus (+12) while playing in all 82 games. His 60 points were fifth best by a blueliner. The 10 PPG he connected for tied with Detroit’s Brian Rafalski and Montreal’s Andrei Markov for the most by a defenseman.

Always willing to mix it up, Phaneuf also had 182 penalty minutes topping all players at his position. This is as physical a defenseman as there is with maybe only Montreal’s Mike Komisarek getting the nod over him.

Reaction: No surprise in terms of who got picked. I still feel Markov deserved a nomination. Maybe he didn’t have the gaudy plus-minus of a Lidstrom or the pizzazz of the other couple of candidates but the Montreal defenseman was largely responsible for his team’s stunning improvement and rise to the top of the East. Playing all 82, his 58 points (16-42-58) placed sixth best on the blueline. As noted earlier, his 10 PPG tied with Phaneuf and Rafalski for most by a defenseman. Markov also averaged 24:58 which was the most on his team.

For all the discussion of teammate Komisarek who was a beast easily leading the league in blocked shots, the Long Island product missed seven games and logged 21:09. It was Markov who anchored the D. Though he got help from veteran Roman Hamrlik (23:08 TOI).

It’s hard to argue against Phaneuf and Chara did bounceback but I would’ve put Markov in there. Possible other contenders who had cases were Pittsburgh’s Sergei Gonchar, Green and Minnesota’s Brent Burns. Lidstrom’s anchor Rafalski also had a great season matching last year’s best in points (55) and the 13 goals and 10 power play were by far his best probably making Devil fans sick.

Tomorrow, the Calder candidates get announced. In what was a strong class, figure Patrick Kane, Nicklas Backstrom and Carey Price to get the nod over Jonathan Toews and Peter Mueller.

There are two Game Seven’s taking place. The Flyers and Caps will face off in 10 minutes with Calgary and San Jose following at 10. Even WFAN is having radio coverage of the second game starting at 9:45 PM. So for all my Buffalo buddy’s gripes, they’re putting it on.

With the Rangers having the next five days off, yesterday on my official Hitting Back site, I decided to take a look into the Award races. There’s only a couple of months to go in the regular season. So, which players are performing at their peak and could take home the Hart, Norris, Vezina and Calder? What coach is getting the most out of their team(s)?

All that was covered in a special hockey column written by yours truly.

Who are at the top of your lists? Let’s see what you think.