And now we head to the last few awards…some of the big marquis ones…the ones that will get the water coolers going at the very least. This year the Vezina Trophy even has four candidates…talk about a rarity….well here it goes….
Vezina Trophy (Best Goalie)
Martin Brodeur (Devils), Roberto Luongo (Canucks), Mikka Kiprusoff (Flames), Henrik Lundqvist (Rangers)
I can more than likely tell you the tie is between Kiprusoff and Lundqvist but I’ll leave that up to the people at the awards ceremony. This is the battle between Luongo and Brodeur…the stats are pretty similar. Luongo has 47 wins and Brodeur has 48. The GAA and save percentage are nearly identical but Brodeur has 12 shutouts under his belt. This one will be too close to call I am sure, when the vote tallies come out.
Who will win?: Martin Brodeur — Being in the top 3 in all four major categories should be enough at least for the Vezina.
Who should win?: Martin Brodeur — This has probably been his toughest year as a Devil and yet most satisfying yet bittersweet at the same time…strange I know but true.
Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman)
Chris Pronger (Ducks), Scott Niedermayer (Ducks), Nick Lidstrom (Wings)
So let’s see we have three great defensemen…..who do you vote for here??? Their stats speak for themselves. Pronger was more the anchor of the Ducks in the regular season but Niedermayer honestly played better in the playoffs. However, this is a regular season award. Lidstrom led the league amongst defensemen with a +40. I have some doubts as to a clear winner but I do think the split vote theory will come up. Hence my decision.
Who will win?: Nick Lidstrom….yet another Norris trophy to add to the mantle.
Who should win?: Chris Pronger….it was clear in the regular season, he was the glue that held the Ducks together and this is an award for the first 82 games.
Lester B. Pearson Award (Most Outstanding Player)
Roberto Luongo (Canucks), Vinny Lecavlier (Bolts), Sidney Crosby (Pens)
Well because Brodeur wasn’t nominated for whatever reason…this one is still very interesting nonetheless. Luongo was unbelievable in the Canucks run to the NW division title. Lecavlier’s 52 goals led the league and his electrifying play got the Bolts into the playoffs where he almost defeated the Devils by himself. Sidney Crosby led the league with 120 points and is the youngest ever player to be nominated for this award. All three are very good choices but there is one clear winner.
Who will win?: Sidney Crosby…the first of many awards to come.
Who should win?: Sidney Crosby…this is the easiest award to pick..no doubt.
Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP)
Martin Brodeur (Devils), Roberto Luongo (Canucks), Sidney Crosby (Pens)
The best award of the night….and well could be the closest in quite some time…we have pointed out all the accolades of these three great players. This is the award I want to see to go down to the wire….obviously there was no tie so there is indeed a winner. So I’ll take a stab at it.
Who will win?: Sidney Crosby — everyone loves Sidney after all.
Who should win?: Martin Brodeur…I felt from the midway point in the season…whoever won the Atlantic should win the MVP. Despite all the injuries…Brodeur and the Devs found a way and that should be enough to hold off Crosby and Luongo but I don’t think the writers saw it that way honestly. Either way, it will be razor thin close.
The question is now……who is everyone else’s choices and why????
