Here are the nominees for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, awarded annually "to the player who best exemplifies sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high level of playing ability." (NHL.com):
Pavel Datsyuk, F, Detroit Red Wings
Datsyuk once again led the NHL in takeaways by a landslide with 144 as opposed to last year's 107. Mike Modano was second in takeaways this season with 86, 58 less than Datsyuk. He only committed ten minor penalties for a small total of 20 PIM. He had 31 goals and 66 assists for 97 points in 82 games, all career highs. He also led the NHL with a plus-41 rating.
"If you look at his individual skills, they're tops in the League – the way he can stickhandle, come out of the corners with the puck, come down one-on-one with the puck,” said Nicklas Lidstrom. "The things he can do with the puck look easy, but they're really hard to do. Some of the times on the bench we're in awe of what he's doing."
Martin St. Louis, F, Tampa Bay Lightning
St. Louis had 25 goals and 58 assists for 83 points, which was second on the Tampa Bay Lightning squad, behind Vinny Lecavalier. Although, Tampa struggled this year, finishing last in the league, St. Louis flourished with those numbers, which also included only 26 PIM. He also had 65 takeaways, which led the team. St. Louis did have a minus-23 rating for the season, but that is attributed to the poor play of the team as a whole, not St. Louis as a player.
Jason Pominville, F, Buffalo Sabres
Pominville put up career highs in numbers with 27 goals and 53 asssists for 80 points. He had a plus-16 rating, which was second on the team. Although his Sabres missed the playoffs by a few points, Pominville had a great year, developmentally. He had 38 takeaways and only 20 penalty minutes while playing in every game for the second straight season.
All three of these players played extremely well, and greatly deserve nominations for this trophy. Pominville played well, especially for such a young guy. St. Louis is consistently a good choice for a Lady Byng nomination, while Datsyuk improved greatly, and is the best player offensively out of the three. Because of that, and because of the fact that he had the least number of penalty minutes out of these three nominees, I award the Lady Byng Memorial trophy to Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings.
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