NHL's Extreme Makeover: 5 Awards That Need an Overhaul

At this time of the year NHL fans are sitting around the water cooler debating who should win what award. This is usually in good fun, but a closer look reveals that a handful of these awards have completely lost their meaning.

How can we determine who should win what if we aren't even clear what the proper criteria are?

Why is it that we have completely different groups of voters for various awards? The general managers vote on one, players vote on another and writers fill out the rest. Is this fair? If not, who should be voting?

Some of these questions are more suited for their own articles, but in this one I'll tell you five awards that need to be overhauled and brought into the 21st century.

5. Hart Trophy

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DENVER, CO - MARCH 31: Goalie Pekka Rinne #35 of the Nashville Predators warms up prior to facing the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center on March 31, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. Rinne had 27 saves as the Nashville Predators defeated the Colorado Avalan

I recently wrote an article about the Hart Trophy here, but most of the feedback seemed to indicate that the Ted Lindsay Award settled the debate. I still don't buy it because the Lindsay is voted on by the players, and there isn't enough differentiation between the two awards.

Until the Hart Trophy is actually voted on in terms of "most valuable" and not in any way, shape or form confused with "the best," then I will continue to lament the point.

The likes of Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and Daniel Sedin should be winning the "best" player award, while players like Pekka Rinne, Marc-Andre Fleury and Corey Perry should be up for "most valuable" honors.

4. Jack Adams Award

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DETROIT, MI - NOVEMBER 21: Head Coach Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings gives direction to his team as they face the Calgary Flames during their NHL game at Joe Louis Arena on November 21, 2010 in Detroit, Michigan.(Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Image

Is there another award in the bunch that is a bigger sham than the coach of the year award? Why is it that every season we are handing the trophy to coaches that overcome the most challenges or have the most improved records?

Alain Vigneault and Bruce Boudreau can win the awards when they turn their teams around, but heaven forbid they finish first overall, because that's not what we want from our coaches of the year.

Mike Babcock who? Oh yes, the guy who constantly gets the best from his players and steamrolls through the competition. Sorry, we like the Cinderella story, so we are giving it to Dave Tippett.

In the award description, NHL.com says the trophy is given "to the NHL coach judged to have contributed the most to his team's success."

Once again we arrive at the most valuable vs. the best debate. These are completely different criteria, and as a result we should have multiple awards.

3. Norris Trophy

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LAS VEGAS - JUNE 22: The NHL's Norris trophy candidate Mike Green of the Washington Capitals is interviewed by the media at the Palms Casino Resort on June 22, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Perhaps one of the trickiest awards to figure out is the Norris Trophy for best defenseman. There are at least three separate categories of blueliners in the game, and it's anyone's guess as to who we should herald as the best.

Granted, the description clearly states that the award should go to the best "all-around" defenseman, but if this is the case, why are people like Mike Green on the ballot?

It would be great if the league could create two more awards to give recognition to all the defensemen playing the game today. There are at least 10 players that could be nominated for the best offensive defenseman and another 10 that would qualify as the best defensive defenseman. Why is it that these groups of players should be overlooked if they are great at what they do?

There are roughly 250 blueliners in the game today, and only half a dozen ever get recognized for what they do. The NHL ignores the fact that it is a multi-dimensional position.

2. Lady Byng Trophy

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DETROIT - APRIL 20: Pavel Datsyuk #13 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates his third-period goal with Johan Franzen #93 while playing the Phoenix Coyotes in Game Four of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 20

All right, does anyone know just what the heck this award is for? The spirit of it suggests that we are recognizing the most "gentlemanly" player in the game each year.

Really?

So how do we define that? Once again, this trophy has been stripped of its core and is merely given to the person with the best stats. The player with the most points and the fewest penalty minutes wins.

I'm not sure about you, but this is rather absurd if you ask me. "Most gentlemanly" isn't something you can quantify with a stat sheet; it is a qualitative feature that needs to be judged with more thought and effort than a glance at ESPN's stats page.

If voters no longer care about this, then why do we have it? And what happens when Lady Byng golden child Pavel Datsyuk gets in a fight, like he did this year? 

I'm not sure the voters will even notice if his penalty minutes remain under 20.

As it stands now, he has 15.

Unfortunately for him, Martin St. Louis only has 10.

Wow, that was a great debate.

1. Selke Trophy

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DENVER, CO - JANUARY 18: Manny Malhotra #27 of the Canucks looks on during a break in the action against the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center on January 18, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Canucks 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Do

Last, but not least, we have the Selke Trophy, which is apparently given to the player who "best excels in the defensive aspects of the game."

What a crock of you know what.

Once upon a time players such as John Madden, Michael Peca and Jere Lehtinen would win this award.

Now?

For the last three seasons it has gone to Pavel Datsyuk. Yes, the fighting Russian who is our league's most gentlemanly player.

Can you seriously look me in the eye and tell me Datsyuk is the league's best defensive player?

The Selke should be going to players like Manny Malhotra—great checkers who shut down opposing top lines, kill penalties, block shots and win faceoffs. Datsyuk may have these qualities, but by no means are they his bread and butter. He is an outstanding two-way player, and if that was what the award recognized, I would have no problem renaming the trophy after him.

Unfortunately, the NHL can only create new trophies that have a clear statistical basis for them (Rocket Richard).

It's a shame because the Malhotras of the world are now but an afterthought, replaced by the more glamorous and stat-friendly stars of the game.