NHL Trophy Case

I have my varnish, solid oak boards, saw, screws and screwdriver, and I am ready to build my case for the performance-related trophies the Sharks should win.  I will list them in the order of probability.

Vezina

Nabokov is a shoo-in as a finalist for this.  He is in reach of the NHL record for wins and games played, and leads the league in both. There is no way to undervalue the importance of a guy who plays sports' most grueling position every night, even on back-to-back nights with travel in between. 

He is third in shut-outs and fourth in goals against average.  While he is mediocre in save percentage, facing few shots actually makes it harder to stay sharp, and early in the year many of those shots were high quality after giveaways by the young blue line in front of him.

No doubt the other finalists will be Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo, who have carried almost as much load as Nabby.  However, save percentage is the only statistic where Brodeur is ahead of Nabokov; Luongo is also tied with him in shutouts.

Hart and Pearson

Joe Thornton leads his team in the following categories: assists, goals, +/-, face-offs, and minutes among forwards.  He is the league leader in assists with 65, 125% of the next best number on the team--Brian Campbell's 52, most of which came in Buffalo. If you count only those assists in Teal, Joe has over twice Rivet's 30.

His 27 goals are over 120% of the second place team goal scorer, Michalek (23).  What other team has a leader in both?  (The answer is Shane Doan of the Coyotes.) 

He is also among the league leaders in face-offs, a very underrated stat.  His +/- is the best indicator of his ability to play on both ends of the ice.  Thornton is arguably the best defensive forward on the team, and that is underrated for the All Star games and these trophies.  If it is really about a player's importance to his team, it needs to be considered. 

The other two strong candidates, Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin, are no Average Joes defensively, but they are no Jumbo Joes, either.  Malkin has strapped the Penguins on his back in a very impressive way with Sidney Crosby out, but if Sid is healthy Malkin becomes their second best player, so how can he be the league's best? 

Ovechkin has been incredibly impressive, too, but his team might not even make the play-offs in what is arguably the worst division in the history of the NHL.  That should not rule him out, but it has to count against him.

Adams

Ron Wilson has weathered a slow start (7-7-1) and horrid play from his captain.  He has this team white-hot going into the play-offs and with the second best record in hockey despite playing in a division with two of the other four true contenders in the superior conference.

Norris

Brian Campbell has shown how instrumental he is by changing the entire dynamic of the Sharks' blue line.  He is strong with the puck in his own end--the thing San Jose needed most--and surprisingly physical for an undersized defenseman, as well as the best skater not named Niedermayer.  He has 7 goals and 52 assists to put him among league leaders for defensemen in assists and points.

Calder

Torrey Mitchell has 10 goals and 10 assists on the third line and has been instrumental on the penalty kill.  He and Mike Grier seem to create a scoring chance every game and his speed has worn down teams for the other lines.

Selke

Mike Grier has been a stalwart every night, playing physically and being in position on every play.  He is a shut-down penalty killer who is a threat to score (he just scored as I wrote this!); while that should not factor in to an award for defense, it apparently does.