SThe NHL Awards is basically designed for Hockey Twitter (C) to snark about, while watching the entire thing with no trace of irony. We make fun of how hard the NHL tries to make this relevant, we make fun of the players who would much rather be lounging on a beach than going to a formal awards show, and we make fun of the NHL hiring musical acts out of 2008. With that being said, it's hard to deny that the NHL awards have a massive influence on our perception of players, both during and after their career. So with that in mind, I'm going to tone back the jokes, and take a look at each of the awards given out, who won it, and who actually deserved it.
Unfortunately, I'm going to have to say some nice things about a Hab and a Sen. Lets get them out of the way first.
Hart Trophy (Most Valuable Player)
Winner: Carey Price
Was it close?: Not at all. Price ran away with the vote, tallying 1,498 points, compared to Alex Ovechkin's 888 and John Tavares' 739
Was it deserved?: Probably. No skater really stood out from the pack, and Carey Price dragged an otherwise mediocre team to an incredibly impressive record. Was it, as some suggested, one of the best goaltending performances ever? No, probably not. Price plays in a goaltender friendly era, and once adjusted for that, his season loses some of its luster compared to the time great goaltending seasons. Nonetheless, he was incredible to watch this year, and a deserved winner of the Hart Trophy.
Weirdest vote: There was nothing too egregious, but somehow, Marc-Andre Fleury got a 5th place vote. He had a pretty good year, but seeing as he's not even the most valuable player on his team (or the second most), it's hard to justify that vote.
Ted Lindsay Trophy (Best Player as Voted by Peers)
Winner: Carey Price
Was it close?: I couldn't find voting figures for this, but probably not.
Was it deserved?: This goes hand in hand with the Hart.
Vezina Trophy (Best Goaltender)
Winner: Take a guess
Was it close?: Nope, not even slightly. Price more than doubled second place finisher Pekka Rinne's point totals, who in turn, more than doubled up the bronze medal winner, Devan Dubnyk.
Was it deserved?: Yes. Price was the best goalie this year, and there is probably not too much argument about that.
Weirdest vote: Jonathan Quick, he of the .918 save percentage, somehow got a third place vote. Other than that, there was nothing too absurd.
Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman)
Winner: Erik Karlsson
Was it close?: Yes it was. Karlsson didn't even have the most first place votes (Drew Doughty did, with 53 first place votes to Karlsson's 44). Only 164 points separated Karlsson from third place finisher, P.K. Subban.
Was it deserved?: Yes. Karlsson takes a lot of stick for his perceived weakness in defending, but he's quite simply, a phenomenal player, and someone who tilts the play the Senators way whenever he's on the ice. His level of offense from the blueline is simply spectacular, both from even strength and on the power play. Subban and Doughty are both excellent defensemen, and would also have been fine choices, but Karlsson is just as deserving, in my opinion. With two Norris' in his trophy case, Karlsson is quickly becoming one of the more decorated defensemen of his era, and is building a solid HHOF case already, at the tender age of 25.
Weirdest vote: Somehow, Andrei Markov had a 5th place vote. So did Alex Pietrangelo, despite a down year. I'm fairly confident whoever voted for those two did so off reputation.
Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward)
Winner: Patrice Bergeron
Was it close?: Incredibly close. Bergeron won by only 32 points over Jonathan Toews. If Toews had gotten four more first place votes, he would have won. Both Bergeron and Toews easily surpassed Anze Kopitar, who finished third, with 364 points.
Was it deserved?: Yes. Bergeron is a wizard defensively, the league leader in usage adjusted Fenwick Against / 60, and a dominant possession player. He's given tough assignments and tough usage, and generally speaking, he comes out on top. What wasn't deserved, is Toews finishing second. Yes, he's a good defensive player. But he's not as good as Anze Kopitar is. This is a case of reputation being overblown, something that occurs fairly often with Toews. I've harped on this before, but he's basically the same player that Kopitar is, but a little worse defensively. Despite that, he gets a lot of 'best in the world' talk (it's still Crosby), and way more credit than Kopitar ever does. If Toews was named Jakub Toewsinksi, and Kopitar was named Andrew Copeland, the effect would probably be reversed
Weirdest vote: As covered above, Toews shouldn't have had that many more points than Kopitar.
Jack Adams Trophy (Best Coach)
Winner: Bob Hartley
Was it close?: No, not really. Hartley basically doubled up the point totals of second place finisher, Alain Vigneault (237 to 121). Peter Laviolette lagged behind with 81. Leafs coach Mike Babcock finished seventh.
Was it deserved?: Not in the least. The Adams has basically become a 'whose team exceeded expectations' award. It goes to whatever coach was fortunate enough to have good goaltending and hot shooting for a year. Calgary was a poor team this year. They had impressive goaltending and good shooting, and I'm not comfortable giving credit to Hartley for either of those. Much like Patrick Roy a year ago, this will look silly in hindsight. It's especially frustrating, because Vigneault would've been a deserving winner, a coach who has been around for a while and always churned out quality teams. Joel Quenneville, Mike Babcock, Peter Laviolette, and Paul Maurice all would've been viable options too. Coaching isn't just taking a crappy team and PDO-ing your way out of the basement. It's a shame the voters never seem to recognize that.
Weirdest vote: Guarantee this was Simmons
General Manager of the Year
Winner: Steve Yzerman
Was it close?: No. Yzerman had 80 points, compared to Glen "what's a draft pick?" Sather's 49 and Bob Murray's 36.
Was it deserved?: Yes. Tampa had it's fair share of luck in building a contender, picking both Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman in the top 5 of their respective NHL entry drafts, but over the last few years, they have augmented those two beautifully. Whether it was signing Anton Stralman to a hilariously good contract, finding a first line for basically nothing in the Triplets, or dealing with a tough trade situation fairly adeptly (the St. Louis saga), Yzerman and his crew have done a fantastic job. While the contract they handed to Ryan Callahan is arguable, what can't be argued is the fact that Tampa are now a contender for the foreseeable future, based primarily on the work of their front office.
Weirdest vote: There actually wasn't anything too weird. Kevin Cheveldayoff probably shouldn't have gotten as many votes as he did for finally getting a decent year out of Ondrej Pavelec (and Michael Hutchinson), but he has done a good job building a solid lineup in Winnipeg
Calder Trophy (Best Rookie)
Winner: Aaron Ekblad
Was it close?: This might've been the tightest race. Ekblad, Mark Stone, and Johnny Gaudreau were separated by just 121 points. A couple votes changing hands could've made the difference here.
Was it deserved?: All three would've been fairly valid winners. It was a good year for rookies, as you could've easily made a convincing case for John Klingberg or Filip Forsberg too. Ekblad probably got votes for being so young and so capable already (which technically shouldn't be a consideration), and Stone probably got points for having an incredibly hot home stretch and helping lead the Sens to a first round playoff exit.
Weirdest vote: Nothing too weird, from what I can tell. Stone probably shouldn't have done THAT much better than Forsberg, but that was predictable, based on recency bias, and the markets they play in.
Lady Byng Trophy (Gentlemanly Conduct)
Winner: Jiri Hudler
Was it close?: Pavel Datsyuk was just 52 points behind Hudler, his former Detroit teammate.
Was it deserved?: Sure? This award generally goes to a player who scores a bunch and takes few penalties. Hudler is as good a vote as any
Weirdest vote: Who cares? This is the most pointless NHL Award.
Mark Messier Leadership Award
I lied.
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (For dedication and perseverance, and sportsmanship)
Winner: Devan Dubnyk, who persevered against his own awful play in the past to have a good season
I'm gonna skip a few sections here, and go straight to:
Was it deserved: This is one of those awards that's weird to give out. Dubnyk absolutely persevered in the face of some truly awful play that threatened his NHL career. At the same time, I don't see how this isn't given to Kris Letang, who had a stroke, and came back to play.
NHL All Star Teams
1st team:
A few weird issues here. I'm not sure why Tavares was considered to have a better year than Crosby, considering he got 2 more points in 5 more games, and isn't as good a possession or defensive player as Sid. I would've flip-flopped them. Shea Weber is also not that deserving of his spot on the Second All-Star Team, though that probably would have gone to Mark Giordano, had he stayed healhy. Roman Josi would've been a better option from the same team.
So let us know what you thought of the awards in the comments. Place your bets for who voted for Carlyle! Discuss ways in which we can steal Subban and Karlsson from the Habs and Sens! Post your favourite Daughtry song!