Good morning hockey fans!!! The NHL Awards are on Thursday and will be televised on CBC and VS. More than likely VS. will have the CBC feed and HNIC’s Ron MacLean will be hosting. He is hosting for the 13th year in the row and yes, that is not a misprint. We will break this down in two parts…for easier digesting.
First up….The Calder….(Rookie of the Year)
Evgeni Malkin (Pens), Jordan Staal (Pens), and Paul Stastny (Avs)
All are great choices here….Staal is a bit of a curious one but realize what he did in just his rookie year…the 7 shorthanded goals and the +16 were very impressive. Paul Stastny had a 20 game point scoring streak culminating in a 78 point season. Evgeni Malkin led all rookies in points with 85 and scored 25 of his 33 goals when his team was trailing or tied, that’s a pretty telling statistic.
Who’s going to win: Malkin….it will not be close even though it should be but Malkin has definitely been the best rookie this season and is more deserving than either Stastny or Staal.
Who should win: Malkin….Stastny was close in points but Malkin, to me right now, is the better player and the winner.
Second: The Frank J. Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward)
Ron Brindamour (Canes), Samuel Pahlsson (Ducks), Jay Pandolfo (Devils)
Where do you go here? All three are extremely deserving. Brindamour won the award last year and was second in faceoff % (59.4) this year. Pahlsson was on one of the best checking lines in the league and anchored it with timely scoring and great D. Jay Pandolfo is one half of the dynamic Madden-Pandolfo duo who go against the opponent’s best night after night. Both Pahlsson and Pandolfo played all 82 games with Pandolfo having a league low four minors called against him.
Who’s going to win: Jay Pandolfo….he was just too much of a force in the regular season and thankfully the voting is done for during the season only…because obviously his playoffs wasn’t his best moment.
Who should win: Sami Pahlsson…I got to see enough games to know that this guy is only going to get better with age and this year he displayed the whole package…grit, D, determination, and a timely penchant for scoring clutch goals in the regular season.
Third Chair….Jack Adams Award (Top Coach)
Ruff (Sabres), Therrien (Pens), Vigenault (Canucks)
Again all three are very respectable choices….all had 105 points or more….and all season they demonstrated at key times, great decision making in the regular season. The Sabres won the Presidents Trophy, the Canucks were a league best 32-8-6 after Christmas and Therrien led the Pens to a 47 point turnaround which was the fourth best in NHL history. Hmmm…..leads to a very interesting quandry…actually picking a winner here.
Who’s going to win?: Michel Therrien…why…..the Sidney Crosby factor…fairly or unfairly….I see a scenario playing out where Therrien rides #87 and his coattails on this night.
Who should win?: Lindy Ruff…Buffalo was the best in the NHL all year even with a plethora of injuries in the late stretches of the season that would have killed most teams but not Buffalo…he did a lot of his best coaching this season at the end of the regular season when they needed it most.
Fourth…Lady Byng (Gentlemanly Player)
Joe Sakic (Avs), Pavel Datsyuk (Wings), Martin St. Louis (Bolts)
The nice guy award….and the not necessarily the least penalty minutes award, otherwise Pandolfo would be winning this and we wouldn’t be discussing it at all. Both Sakic and Datsyuk have won this once. This is a tough one to call….all three play the game the way it should be played with respect…more so with Datsyuk and Sakic but it is what it is. This one really is a two horse race….no question.
Who’s going to win?: I believe Datsyuk will repeat…he’s been too damn good in a category void of Pandolfo.
Who should win?: Sakic…for obvious sentimental reasons.
Stay tuned tomorrow for the other 4 awards and predictions…..
