NHL Awards Watch: Suddenly, Alex Ovechkin has Hart
(Ed. Note: This is a weekly feature on Puck Daddy in which we vote on the major NHL Awards. “We” being Wyshynski, Leahy, Mooney, Yahoo! NHL editor Sam McCaig and Yahoo! NHL scribe Nick Cotsonika. Voting is completed Monday night. The results will run every Tuesday on this very blog. Enjoy.)
We’re in the final stages of the Puck Daddy NHL Awards Watch, and Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is in the driver’s seat for most valuable player.
Sidney Crosby’s continued absence to injury opened the door for Ovechkin to be the highest placing skater for our Hart Trophy panel, after he was second to Sid in last week’s poll.
In fact, Crosby isn’t even second in the Hart voting any longer…
Coming up, the leaders for the major NHL awards …
A note on the voting: All four panelists ranked the top five for each award, and point values were assigned to each player. Ties were broken by how high a player was ranked on the majority of ballots.
Hart Trophy
1. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals (18)
2. Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets (16)
3. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins (16)
4. John Tavares, New York Islanders (15)
5. Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks (5)
What a race, huh? Ovechkin rallies to the top of the Hart standings, with Bobrovsky getting more first-place votes (2) than Crosby (1). John Tavares is the stalking horse, with Toews and Patrick Kane (3 votes) lagging behind.
Norris Trophy
1. Ryan Suter, Minnesota Wild (23)
2. P.K. Subban, Montreal Canadiens (20)
3. Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins (10)
4. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Phoenix Coyotes (6)
5. Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks (5)
Francois Beauchemin of the Anaheim Ducks and Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis Blues also garnered some consideration, but in the end it was Suter continuing to lead Subban for best defenseman. Perhaps it comes down to time on ice? Suter's at 27:06; Subban is at 23:08.
Vezina Trophy
1. Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets (23)
2. Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins (18)
3. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (12)
4. Antti Niemi, San Jose Sharks (11)
5. Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild (3)
Bob continues to hold off Rask, with King Henrik moving into the top three for the first time this season. James Reimer, Corey Crawford and Cory Schneider also garnered support.
Calder Trophy
1. Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers (23)
2. Brendan Gallagher, Montreal Canadiens (21)
3. Jonas Brodin, Minnesota Wild (11)
4. Brandon Saad, Chicago Blackhawks (10)
5. Cory Conacher, Ottawa Senators (8)
Huberdeau continues to lead in goals (14) and is tied with Conacher in points (28). Gallagher is only one goal behind him. Can Huberdeau win the Calder if he doesn’t lead either rookie scoring category?
Jack Adams Award
1. Joel Quenneville, Chicago Blackhawks (21)
2. Paul MacLean, Ottawa Senators (14)
3. Bruce Boudreau, Anaheim Ducks (13)
4. Michel Therrien, Montreal Canadiens (12)
5. Todd Richards, Columbus Blue Jackets (6)
Quenneville’s team is likely to win the President’s Trophy, and it’s looking like he might take home some hardware of his own. Richards makes the cut having led the Blue Jackets on an unlikely playoff journey. Just outside of the top five: Dan Bylsma, Randy Carlyle and Adam Oates.
