Midseason NHL Awards
Martin at HockeyDirt asked hockey bloggers to take part in a midseason NHL awards survey. The results have been posted. You can see how the 31 hockey bloggers, myself included, out of around 45 responded here at HockeyDirt.
Like Jes Golbez and Eric McErlain, I wanted to give my picks. However, I forgot to jot down my picks while filling out the survey so I’ll do my best to correctly recall my choices. I also have put in italics below my pick who the majority of those polled chose and my comments on the poll results.
I wrote this on January 2nd and waited until the results were posted to upload this entry so some players’ stats may have changed over the past 4 days. I also want to add that since I live in a dorm at college and thus have no choice in cable options, I’m extremely limited in watching other NHL teams aside from the Detroit Red Wings. The only time I can catch any other hockey club’s game is when I come home where I have Center Ice. So if my picks seem a bit off, well I haven’t been able to catch that many games so I based it off stats or from what I’ve read from my fellow hockey bloggers’ sites.
Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP)
Jaromir Jagr, New York Rangers
I chose Jagr because he’s not only leading the NHL in points with 61 (third overall in goals and assists), but I believe that he is the most valuable member to his respective team. And the Rangers are second in the Atlantic Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference in part thanks to Jagr’s offensive success.
Poll Says: Jaromir Jagr 48% & Daniel Alfredsson 19%
I’m not surprised by those two choices. Like Eric McErlain said in his post, if you were to pick a top player from the top team to be MVP then Alfredsson would be an easy pick. But if you were to pick the MVP based on how valuable a player is to the team then you’d probably look elsewhere.
James Norris Memorial Trophy (Top Defenseman)
Wade Redden, Ottawa Senators
I was trying not to be biased and pick the Wings’ Nicklas Lidstrom, because Lidstrom is so important to the Wings’ success. While Redden may have been injured and has only played 26 games this season, he has 30 points, +25 rating (third highest on the team), and 34 PIM.
Poll Says: Wade Redden 45% & Zdeno Chara 29%
Eric McErlain: I thought Chara should have won it in 2003-04, and he’s only gotten better since then. As for many of the others, I don’t think we ought to put as much weight on scoring when it comes to this award, as the proliferation of power play goals has distorted those figures so much this season (sorry Mr. McCabe). The only serious competition for Chara here is Redden, but I’d still give the trophy to Z.Â
Calder Memorial Trophy (Top Rookie)
Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Senators
Ovechkin is my choice because of his team leading 46 points (24 goals, 22 assists), which is 11th in the league. Sidney Crosby is 22nd with 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists). Ovechkin seems to have more of a physical prescence than Crosby and when the Capitals played Detroit, Ovechkin earned the Check of the Game in a hit on Andreas Lilja at center ice. Henrik Lundqvist has also been pretty impressive in net for the New York Rangers so it’s a tough choice to make.
Poll Says: Alexander Ovechkin 71% & Henrick Lundqvist 13%
I’m a tad surprised that Lundqvist didn’t get a higher percentage. However, I figured most bloggers believe Ovechkin is a better all around player and that certainly showed in the poll where Sidney Crosby earned 3% of the poll’s vote.
Vezina Trophy (Top Goalie)
Dominik Hasek, Ottawa Senators
To be honest, I didn’t know who to pick. It’s a close call between Hasek, Manny Fernandez (Minnesota Wild), and Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers). Since I couldn’t make my mind up, I went to the stats page at NHL.com and found that Hasek was one of the top three in the four goaltending categories. Hasek is second in GAA (2.10), save percentage (.929), wins (19), and shutouts (3). Fernandez was first in GAA and save percentage with Lundqvist third in those two categories as well.
Poll Says: Dominic Hasek 48% & Tomas Vokoun 23%
Vokoun is certainly a goaltender to be reckoned with. If he plays well, Nashville usually has a great game. He’s a key reason why I’m so scared for the 8 games that Detroit has to play against Nashville starting tonight. I was unsure if Hasek was going to be the clear victor, but not that surprised.
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (Sportmanship)
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
In the poll, I picked someone else but I’m totally blanking on who it was. Thus, I’m going with my next pick of the Wings’ Datsyuk who has 43 points and only 6 PIM.
Poll Says: Brad Richards 29% & Pavel Datsyuk 25%
Well, I didn’t pick Richards so looking at the other choices, I want to say that I picked Patrick Marleau (14%) but I can’t say for certain.
Frank J. Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward)
Rod Brind’amour, Carolina Hurricanes
The Selke Trophy should be awarded to the player who excels at the defensive aspects of the game as a forward. This player should have a strong +/- rating, high face-off winning percentage, and an important member of the penalty kill. A strong offensive showing doesn’t hurt either. Admittedly, I based this on Kris Draper’s performance in 2003-2004. While Draper remains key to Detroit’s penalty kill, I don’t find him as deserving of this award. Thus, I picked Rod Brind’amour who has 34 points in 35 games along with 11 power play goals and 8 power play assists.
Poll Says: Rod Brind’amour 35% & Jere Lehtinen 26%
After “researching,” Lehtinen would’ve been my second pick so neither came as a surprise.
Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year)
Mike Babcock, Detroit Red Wings
I picked Babcock because he has made a positive change in how the Wings work, has helped to revive Brendan Shanahan’s game, and seems to be just what the Wings needed. I’m not going to deny the fact that I feel incapable to determine which coach is the best at this point in the season when I don’t follow any other team as close as the Wings, much less their coach. I probably should’ve picked either Carolina’s or Buffalo’s coach because both teams have made a tremendous jump in the standings. In 2003-2004, Carolina was 22nd overall and Buffalo was 18th at the end of the regular season. At this point in the midseason, Carolina is fourth and Buffalo is fifth.
Poll Says: Lindy Ruff (Buffalo Sabres) 23% & Peter Laviolette (Carolina Hurricanes) 16%
Comeback Player of the Year
Dominik Hasek, Ottawa Senators
After causing the dramatic goaltender situation in Detroit in 2003-2004, Hasek has recovered from his ongoing groin injury and is an important factor in Ottawa’s success this season.
Poll Says: Dominic Hasek 42% & Curtis Joseph 22%
It’s amusing to me that both were the Wings’ goalies in 2003-2004 causing the crazy goalie circus. Both are doing much better for their new teams, Hasek because he’s healthy and actually wants to do well. Joseph is doing better because a coach, team, and the fans are all behind him. I’m happy to see both doing so well with their respective teams.
Jerk of the Year
Sean Avery, Los Angeles Kings
Enough said.
Poll Says: Sean Avery 54% & Jeremy Roenick 10% (write in votes) & Darcy Tucker 10% (write in votes)
Flop of the Year
Sergei Federov, Columbus Blue Jackets
I would’ve picked Nikolai Khabibulin (Chicago Blackhawks), but he doesn’t have a strong team like Tampa Bay in front of him anymore. However, Federov wasn’t doing well with Anaheim or even leading the team in scoring for Columbus (only 8 points), yes that’s right - Columbus.
Poll Says: Sergei Federov 32% & Nikolai Khabibulin 29%
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I’d like to address the other awards that weren’t in the survey because these are based on statistics. Again, these statistics are from January 2nd so they may have changed over the past 4 days.
Art Ross Trophy (Most Points)
Jaromir Jagr, New York Rangers
With 61 points, Jagr is the best in the NHL offensively.
Maurice Richard Trophy (Most Goals)
Simon Gagne, Philadelphia Flyers
Gagne has 27 goals placing him at the top of the league.
President’s Trophy (Best Record)
Ottawa Senators
The Senators are two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings making them the team with the best record (27-6-3) at 57 points.
William M. Jennings Trophy (Best GAA)
Manny Fernandez, Minnesota Wild
Fernandez has a 2.05 GAA, the best in the league, and slightly above Dominik Hasek and Henrik Lundqvist.
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2 Responses to “Midseason NHL Awards”
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January 6th, 2006 at 10:11 pm
Those are pretty decent picks all around.
But would you have considered Coach Therrien for the Jack Adams award for the way he turned the Penguins around this year and got them competitive?
January 9th, 2006 at 1:13 am
The Jennings trophy goes to the goalie (or goalies - min. 25 games) who played for the team with the lowest goals against average. Currently that team is the Ottawa Senators so Hasek would win the Jennings. If Emery ended up playing 25+ games then Hasek and Emery would share the trophy. If Minnesota passes Ottawa then it is most likely that Fernandez and Roloson should share the award.
Top 5 team goals against averages are:
Ottawa: 2.35
Minnesota: 2.40
Calgary: 2.42
Rangers: 2.46
Detroit: 2.54
My bet is Kipprusoff in Calgary wins it at the end of the year.