NHL Awards: The Case for Crosby, Green and Myers
Craig Custance - SportingNews.com
Apr 26, 2010
The NHL has been rolling out the finalists for its postseason awards over the past week, and nominees for the big one will be announced on Thursday: the Hart Trophy.
Each award seems to conjure its own debate, from whether Mike Green's defensive liabilities mean he shouldn't win the Norris Trophy to whether 26-year-old Jimmy Howard should be punished for his age in the Calder voting.
In the spirit of full disclosure, here's my official Professional Hockey Writers Association ballot for each of the awards we vote on this year:
Hart Trophy
1. Sidney Crosby, C, Penguins: First, realize the MVP vote is subjective. There's a legitimate argument for any of the five players listed on my ballot. The Hart is awarded to the player most valuable to his team, so when it was time to decide, I tried to picture the Penguins without Crosby and the Capitals without Ovechkin.
The Capitals are still a playoff team without Ovechkin. The Penguins aren't. Crosby's linemates are Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin -- quality players, though neither approaches the level of Nicklas Backstrom, who centers Ovechkin's line.
In short, Crosby did more with less. He scored 51 goals, tying for the league lead. He won 55.9 percent of his faceoffs and emerged as one of the league's top shootout guys. Despite his success, he continues to maintain his intense competitive drive. Coming off a Stanley Cup win, he actually got better this year. That's scary.
2. Alex Ovechkin, LW, Capitals: Another 50-goal season for Ovechkin, who reached that barrier in only 72 games. He led all forwards at plus-45.
3. Henrik Sedin, C, Canucks: The most impressive thing about Sedin's huge season (a league-best 112 points) is that it came after he signed a long-term deal.
4. Ilya Bryzgalov, G, Coyotes: Dave Tippett deservedly gets a lot of credit for the Phoenix turnaround. But the Coyotes are not in the playoffs without Bryzgalov.
5. Ryan Miller, G. Sabres: Just an incredible regular season for Miller, who had the best save percentage and goals-against average of any goalie who started at least 50 games.
Norris Trophy
1. Mike Green, Capitals: This won't be popular outside of Washington, and it was the toughest vote, by far. But here's the case for Green: First, he's doing exactly what coach Bruce Boudreau asks him to do. He takes risks because that's his job. Sometimes he gets burned but he's getting better at understanding when to take those chances.
"I agree in the past when I was young, I was a little more carefree," Green told me. And people won't let it go. "I think that still sticks with me to this day," he said.
Green was on the ice for 50 even-strength goals-against this season, 24 fewer than Duncan Keith. Yes, he's not playing against the same quality of competition, but he's not completely inept defensively, as he sometimes is portrayed. His plus-39 was topped only by teammates Ovechkin and Jeff Schultz.
Offensively, Green led defensemen in goals, assists, power play goals and power play points. His even-strength goals-for per 60 minutes when he was on the ice was 4.48, compared to 3.19 for Keith and 2.64 for Drew Doughty. In my opinion, his offensive production more than made up for any lapses on defense. At age 24, he has a pair of 70-point seasons. Every other defenseman to accomplish that feat before the age of 25 is in the Hall of Fame.
2. Duncan Keith, Blackhawks: Keith was the safer pick, and his well-rounded game makes him the favorite. He finished second among league defensemen with 69 points.
3. Drew Doughty, Kings: He'll be a regular Norris finalist for the next decade, and his strong playoff performance so far helps make him next year's favorite.
4. Chris Pronger, Flyers: Pronger had a better first year in Philadelphia than he gets credit for. He was a combined minus-1 during his final two seasons in Anaheim. He was plus-22 during his first year with the Flyers,.
5. Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings: It's amazing what Lidstrom continues to accomplish while pushing 40. It was hard to keep him out of the top three.
Calder Trophy
1. Tyler Myers, D, Sabres: Don't be surprised if he makes the transition from Calder finalist to Norris finalist a short one. Keeping in mind how long it took Zdeno Chara to become the defenseman he is today, it's remarkable how quickly the 6-8 Myers became a dominant -- at age 20.
2. Jimmy Howard, G, Red Wings: He kept the Red Wings in contention while they fought through injuries. It's ridiculous some voters are punishing him for being a 26-year-old rookie. Either he's eligible for the Calder or he's not.
3. Matt Duchene, C, Avalanche: He led all rookie forwards in points and tied John Tavares for the rookie lead with 24 goals.
4. Tuukka Rask, G, Bruins: Playing in only 45 games probably cost Rask the Calder. If he makes 60 starts, it's a different story.
5. John Tavares, C, Islanders: Even though he appeared to hit the rookie wall, he still finished with solid numbers.
The Others
Lady Byng Trophy: 1. Martin St. Louis, Lightning; 2. Brad Richards, Stars; 3. Henrik Sedin, Canucks; 4. Zach Parise, Devils, 5. Anze Kopitar, Kings
Selke Trophy: 1. Jordan Staal, Penguins; 2. Ryan Kesler, Canucks; 3. Jonathan Toews, Blackhawks; 4. Patrice Bergeron, Bruins; 5. Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings
Craig Custance is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at ccustance@sportingnews.com.
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