NHL Awards Full Of Question Marks
Matt Bodenschatz | National Hockey League
Jun 13, 11:40 AM | Hype this story!
James Mirtle has a very interesting segment on his blog today regarding the voting for NHL awards.
He writes:
“Some interesting results, as always: Ovechkin, Fedorov and Backstrom with Selke votes; Giguere and Osgood with Byng votes; Price for the Vezina; Cullimore, Streit and Redden with Norris bids; Phaneuf, Crosby and Niedermayer claim Hart points.
“I’m not kidding.”
It’s interesting that certain players find themselves earning votes for awards they aren’t even remotely close to being eligible for.
The ones that strike me as most interesting are Cullimore, Streit and Redden for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the best defenseman in the NHL.
Cullimore racked up a whopping 13 points this year, with a respectable plus-21 rating, but anyone suggesting he is worthy of an award is not watching the rest of the NHL.
Redden is a slightly better choice, though still not worthy of consideration. Thirty-eight points and a plus-10 rating just don’t cut it as evidence of being the league’s best defender.
Streit is much better, and someone I believe would be a Norris candidate if he could actually play defense. Oh wait, that would mean he is completely ineligible for the award then. His 62 points are quite nice and unexpected, but his minus-six rating is not good for playing on such a solid team. For earning nomination as a Norris candidate, it’s even worse.
But the area in which I tend to have the biggest gripe with the NHL is within the All Star Teams.
First Team
Nabokov
Lidstrom
Phaneuf
Malkin
Iginla
Ovechkin
Second Team
Brodeur
Campbell
Chara
Thornton
Kovalev
Zetterberg
Where is Sergei Gonchar? I understand the three Norris candidates — Lidstrom, Phaneuf and Chara — should be on these teams, but not selecting Gonchar to the second team is a shame.
Gonchar finished the season with 65 points and a plus-13 rating. He was the anchor of the Penguins’ blueline, which went to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Campbell finished with 62 points and a plus-eight rating. He was the anchor of the Sabres blueline, which didn’t make it to the playoffs, then was traded to the Sharks, where he anchored their blueline to a second round playoff exit, largely due to his disappearing act.
Gonchar is deserving of some credit, and the NHL failed to give him his just due. Hopefully he can continue his impressive improvement in play next season so as to force the NHL to recognize him for his efforts.
And now the rest…
All Rookie Team
Price
Enstrom
Gilbert
Backstrom
Kane
Toews
Award winners:
Vezina Trophy – Martin Brodeur
James Norris Memorial Trophy – Niklas Lidstrom
Calder Memorial Trophy – Patrick Kane
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy – Pavel Datsyuk
Frank J. Selke Trophy – Pavel Datsyuk
Hart Memorial Trophy – Alex Ovechkin
Jack Adams Award – Bruce Boudreau
Masterton Trophy – Jason Blake
Lester B. Pearson – Alex Ovechkin
Other winners:
King Clancy – Vincent Lecavalier
NHL Lifetime Achievement Award – Gordie Howe
Comments
DS
Jun 13, 02:10 PM
Maybe next year, they’ll actually let Gonch on the ballot for the All-Star Game. (rolls eyes)
Let’s hope he finished at least top-four in Lidstrom (not Norris, the Norris Trophy is the one won by Nicklas Lidstrom; the Lidstrom is the trophy won by the best defenseman who is not Nicklas Lidstrom. ;) voting….
Dabich
Jun 13, 02:23 PM
Great points, Matt. The NHL should hang its collective head for not recognizing Gonch.
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