2009 Armer Award: Nominate Now Bleacher Report!

As the 2009 playoffs are again in full swing, I felt it was time once again to begin nominations for the annual Armer award. It is the semi-official award handed out by Bleacher Report to our chosen MVP. The panel of judges this year will include (so far) myself, Alan Bass, Ian Robinett, and Michael Wagner.

Nominee's for the Armer award must be leaders on their team and lead by example. A Captain or Alternate makes no difference in selection. I would expect the player to be more of a grinder. My hope is to name a player who may otherwise get no consideration for a trophy.

For Example, ss a kid playing my first year of hockey, I was a starter on the first line. To be nice about it, I was terrible and at the end of the year I asked my coach why I had been a starter while being the worst player on the team. The coach replied that I was a "selfless and driven player who put the will of the team above my own."

He went on to say we could not have been league champs that year without everyone's hard work and talents, even mine. The player who is selected for the award/article at the end of the season must be that type of player.

Points, goals, and penalty minutes make no difference. Sometimes the stats we pay the most attention to matter the least. Last year's Armer award recipient was Brenden Morrow for his clutch play in the playoffs and being the pulse of the Dallas Stars in the 2008 playoffs.

This is where you come in Bleacher Report. I ask that you will consider the above and nominate any player you feel is worth selection. After the Cup Finals I will select from the list above and I'll even mention the one who originally selected him.

I only ask you keep it to, at most, one player per team. Thank you and spread the word. I want the most deserving man in the NHL to win this recognition. Sure its not much, but who knows who could read the article.

Please Read: I will accept no more than two players per team for now. During the playoffs, I (along with two others) will narrow down the list to only have one player per team and will accept no more than 60 players to make the list at current time. Keep them coming. Thanks everyone!

Editors: Please do not delete any players from the list, this right is reserved for the Author only. 

Nominations are...

1. James Neal - Dallas

2. Alex Ovechkin - Washington

3. Mike Green - Washington

4. Shane Doan -Phoenix

5. Henrik Lundqvist - NYR

6. Blair Betts - NYR

7. Zbynek Michalek - Phoenix

8. Jason Arnott – Nashville

9. Brian Rafalski - Detroit

 **Numbers have no purpose of voting or authors selection, only a system of organization.**