NHL Awards Watch: Sergei Bobrovsky takes the Vezina Trophy lead
(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.)
It’s not enough, Flyers fans, that the Columbus Blue Jackets have found a solid starting goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky while the Ilya Bryzgalov circus continues in Philadelphia.
No … he just has to be a Vezina Trophy favorite too, doesn’t he, for maximum salt in the wounds ...
Sergei Bobrovsky has surged to the top of our Vezina Trophy rankings for the NHL’s top goalie, with a 2.03 GAA and a .931 save percentage in 33 games – 17 of them victories. Heck, he also was the only goalie to receive a few Hart Trophy votes as well.
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. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins (22)
2. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals (17)
3. John Tavares, New York Islanders (9)
4. Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (9)
5. Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks (7)
Friends share. It’s what they do. So it’s no surprise then that Kane and Toews are sharing support for MVP from the best team in hockey. Crosby still leads the pack despite not having played since March 30.
Norris Trophy
1. Ryan Suter, Minnesota Wild (22)
2. P.K. Subban, Montreal Canadiens (21)
3. Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins (11)
4. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Phoenix Coyotes (6)
5. Francois Beauchemin, Anaheim Ducks (6)
They’re at the top of the NHL’s scoring leaders for defensemen and they’re battling it out for the Norris as well. Will voters opt for Subban’s point-per-game pace or Suter’s workhorse minutes? Niklas Kronwall, Zdeno Chara and Alex Pietrangelo were just outside the mix.
Vezina Trophy
1. Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets (20)
2. Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins (19)
3. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (9)
4. Antti Niemi, San Jose Sahrks (7)
5. Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild (6)
After an average start, Lundqvist has roared back into Vezina contention with a 2.06 GAA and a .928 save percentage. But the big story here is BOB, as the Blue Jackets netminder finally topples Tuukka Rask in our rankings to become the front-runner for the Vezina. Somewhere, Paul Holmgren weeps.
Calder Trophy
1. Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers (23)
2. Brendan Gallagher, Montreal Canadiens (20)
3. Brandon Saad, Chicago Blackhawks (11)
4. Jonas Brodin, Minnesota Wild (11)
5. Cory Conacher, Ottawa Senators (7)
Despite having caught him in goals with 13, Gallagher still trails Huberdeau in the rookie of the year race. Brodin can’t find any traction despite being the NHL’s most lauded rookie defenseman this year.
Jack Adams Award
1. Joel Quenneville, Chicago Blackhawks (20)
2. Michel Therrien, Montreal Canadiens (19)
3. Paul MacLean, Ottawa Senators (13)
4. Bruce Boudreau, Anaheim Ducks (11)
5. Randy Carlyle, Toronto Maple Leafs (3)
The Blackhawks bench boss remains the frontrunner with his team poised to win the Presidents' Trophy, but would it surprise anyone to see Therrien or MacLean pull this one out in the end?
