NHL Awards 2012: Who Should Win, Who Will Win, Who Was Snubbed

photo: nucksonthepond.blogspot

This week will be very busy for the NHL; the annual awards show will take place in Las Vegas, Nev. on Wednesday, June 20 and following that the NHL draft will be held in Pittsburgh, Pa. on June 22-23.

Speculation as to who will be drafted and where has been running rampant for quite some time, overshadowing the award nominees. In the interest of trying to give the players that are up for an award some time in the spotlight, the following slides will look at the major awards that will be presented this week, highlighting the nominees, who will win, who should win and, where applicable, who was snubbed.

Calder Memorial Trophy

Hockey Hall of Fame

The Calder Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the rookie of the year.

 

Nominees

Adam Henrique, New Jersey Devils: 16 G, 35 A, 51 P

Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche: 22 G, 30 A, 52 P

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Edmonton Oilers: 18 G, 34 A, 52 P

It's no surprise that the top three scoring freshmen are the three nominees for the Rookie of the Year award. Of the three, I would say that Nugent-Hopkins has the most raw talent as his 52 points were accumulated in 62 games, 20 less than Landeskog and eight less than Henrique.

And while it's nice to know he can score at that clip, it's also nice to know that he'll be on the ice to score; losing 20 games to injury makes me worry about resiliency at the NHL level, something that was a concern when he was drafted by the Oilers.

If this award was to cover the regular season and the playoffs it would have to go to Henrique, who performed admirably during the Devils run to the Cup finals, but it is only for the regular season and therefore the award should and will go to Landeskog. He played far beyond his years.

I think the top three are correct, but if there has to be a snubbed player I would pick Matt Read of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Jack Adams Trophy

The Jack Adams Trophy is awarded annually to the coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success.

 

Nominees

Ken Hitchcock, St. Louis Blues: 43-15-11

Paul MacLean, Ottawa Senators 41-31-10

John Tortorella, NY Rangers: 51-24-7

No one, and I mean absolutely no one, picked the Ottawa Senators to make the playoffs at the conclusion of the 2012 season, but yet there they were, the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, racking up 92 points.

The NY Rangers went from eighth in the Eastern Conference in 2010-11 to first in the East in 2012, improving by 16 points.

Both of the above are fine accomplishments, but they pale in comparison to what Ken Hitchcock did when he took over the St. Louis Blues on November 6. Hitchcock took a team that began the season with a record of 6-7 and led them to a finish of 49-22-11, putting them in second place in the Western Conference.

Hitchcock is the coach that should win and will win the Adams.

Snub: Philadelphia Flyers Peter Laviolette, who took a somewhat inexperienced team that was depleted by injury to a 103-point season.

Frank J. Selke Trophy

Hockey Hall of Fame

The Frank J. Selke Trophy is awarded annually to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.

 

Nominees

David Backes, St. Louis Blues: 24 G, 30 A, 54 P, plus-15

Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins: 22 G, 42 A, 64 P, plus-36

Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings: 19 G, 48 A, 67 P, plus-21

The Selke is one of those odd awards that the winner is often the player that you don't remember being on the ice, as it goes to the best defensive forward. These are the players that don't put up huge, gaudy offensive numbers but can be counted on to play a shutdown role against the opposition's top scoring forwards.

Datsyuk will no doubt be the sentimental favorite here as he has won the award three times before, putting him one shy of the record held by Bob Gainey. My gut tells me that the voters will vote with their hearts on this one and Datsyuk will get the nod.

If that's the case I will have to respectfully disagree with that decision as I feel that Bergeron should be the winner. A beast in the faceoff circle and No. 1 in plus-minus in the league are the two key stats that should earn him this award; it doesn't hurt that you could also easily say he is the best player on the Boston Bruins hockey club.

Snub: Stanley Cup winner Anze Kopitar.

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

Hockey Hall of Fame

The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.

 

Nominees

Brian Campbell, Florida Panthers

Jordan Eberle, Edmonton Oilers

Matt Moulson, NY Islanders

Old-school hockey heads will say that this is the one award that you don't ever want your name on. They'll tell you that there's no room for gentlemanly conduct on the ice.

The reality is that if a player is spending a large amount of time cooling his heels in the penalty box he is of no help to his team, in fact he's often a hindrance as his teammates have to kill off the penalty that he just took while running around on the ice like a knucklehead.

To me, the key with this award is skill, time on the ice and the ability to stay away from the penalty box.

I have to say that Brian Campbell has got to be the favorite here. Only two defensemen have ever won the award before and none in the last 50 years. The fact that Campbell averaged 26:53 of ice time per game (tied for tops in the NHL) and tied for second in defensive scoring with 53 points while taking only six minutes in penalties for the Florida Panthers speaks volumes.

Campbell should win this one and will win.

James Norris Trophy

Hockey Hall of Fame

The James Norris Trophy is awarded annually to the defenseman who demonstrates the greatest all-around ability in his position.

 

Nominees

Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins: 12 G, 40 A, 52 P, plus-33

Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators: 19 G, 59 A, 78 P, plus-16

Shea Weber, Nashville Predators: 19 G, 30 A, 49 P, plus-21

Ah, the Norris Trophy, one of the most hotly debated NHL awards. Some say there should be two awards for NHL defensemen, one that awards the defensive-minded players and another that awards the more offensive-minded players.

That is a nice thought; however, these days we have only the one award and that has caused some issues in voting. If you say that the most important aspect of the Norris is offense, the award should go to Karlsson; if you think it should be awarded to the most well-rounded defenseman, then Chara is most likely the winner.

History tells us that scoring will not be the main consideration for the Norris, and with that in mind the award will be handed to Zdeno Chara and that will be the correct call.

Snub: Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues

Vezina Trophy

Hockey Hall of Fame

The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the goaltender judged to be the best at his position.

 

Nominees

Henrik Lundqvist, NY Rangers: 39-18-5, GAA 1.97, Sv% .930

Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators: 43-18-8, GAA 2.39, Sv% .923

Jonathan Quick, L.A. Kings: 35-21-13, GAA 1.95, Sv% .929

This is a tricky one, because unlike say the Hart Trophy, which should go to the player that is the most valuable player to his team, the Vezina award states that it goes to the goaltender that is the best at his position.

The reality is that this a two-horse race and it's between Lundqvist and Quick. Their numbers are very similar and that makes this one a difficult call. I think the tiebreaker on this will come down to the longevity question, who has been the better goaltender for a longer amount of time. My gut tells me that the award will go to Lundqvist.

With that being said, I do think the award should be handed to Quick. When the pressure was on, he performed, seeming to pick his team up, put them on his back and earn important victories without the offensive support that Lundqvist had.

Snub: Mike Smith of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Hart Memorial Trophy

Hockey Hall of Fame

The Hart Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the most valuable player in the National Hockey League during the regular season.

 

Nominees

Henrik Lundqvist, NY Rangers goalie: 39-18-5, GAA 1.97, Sv% .930

Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins center: 50 G, 59 A, 109 P

Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning center: 60 G, 37 A, 97 P

No disrespect to Henrik Lundqvist, but this one is really between Evgeni Malkin and Steven Stamkos and when you take a closer look at things, it's really not even that close between those two.

When Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal missed time due to injury, Evgeni Malkin did not let the Penguins slip at all. He played great and he helped those around him play great as well, just as James Neal.

Had Malkin not be in the mix when Crosby and Staal were sidelined, the Penguins would have been scrambling to fill roster spots. With Malkin they could ride his coattails and wait for Staal and Crosby to get healthy.  

Malkin will win the Hart and deservedly so.

Snub: In this category it doesn't even matter, no one has a chance to give Malkin a run.