T1B

Well I had a lengthy, highly insightful post written out when my browser decided to shut down, so I will give the abbreviated version:

Hart: Daniel Alfredsson. Runners-up: Jarmoir Jagr, DanyHeatly. The captain on the best team in the league, gets my vote over the other two. Jagr is carrying the Rangers and Heatley is having a season equal to Alfredsson.

Norris: Bryan McCabe. Runners Up: Lubomir Visnovsky, Wade Redden. MCabe leads the league in scoring for defensemen, is +6, has 6 GWG and is second in ice time per game. Visnovsky is close, close in scoring, +18, but is 5 minutes behind McCabe in ice time. Redden having a great year as well.

Vezina: Mikka Kiprusoff. Runners-up: Tomas Vokoun, Dominik Hasek. Just look at the stats, leads the league in wins, shutouts, near the top in Save % and GAA. Vokoun is having a breakout year and Hasek is having a Hasek year.

Adams: Lindy Ruff Runners-up: Andy Murray, Peter Laviolette. All three coaches are doing excellent job, but the fact that the Sabres are challenging the Sens without a single scorer in the top 60 speaks for itself. Kings near the top despite injuries, and Canes playing tough night in and night out.

Hart Trophy
Jaromir Jagr

He's reborn in the new NHL and I can't imagine the Rangers being in the hunt without him.

Runner Up: Kovalchuk...he'd probably be leading the league in scoring had he not held out for the first few games of the season and he's second among all forwards in ice time. The Sens are loaded...impossible to pick one guy and give him MVP.

Norris Trophy
Nicklas Lidstrom

Third in scoring and leads the league in ice time. The guy continues to be the smartest defenseman in the league and he's the premier point man on the league's best power play. Injuries to both goalies, Schneider, Kronwall and Fischer...he's been the one constant on defense.

Runner Up: McCabe...great year offensively and he logs major minutes for the Leafs. He's still a bit of a liability on defense though. Chara and Redden are having awesome years and the Sens are way ahead in scoring margin per game.

Vezina Trophy
Dominik Hasek

Great turnaround year for The Dominator. He's second in wins, GAA and save percentage. Granted, the Sens are an amazing team but you can't win without goaltending and they are only team that has allowed fewer than 100 goals this season.

Runner Up: Kiprusoff...started a little slow but the Flames have established themselves as the best team in the Northwest and it's hard to overlook the six shutouts. He's probably more valuable to his team than Hasek but I give Dom the slight nod right now.

Calder Trophy
Alexander Ovechkin

Clearly, the MVP of the rookies. The Caps are bad enough...they'd be the worst team in the league without him. Impressive stat: he's a -4 on a team that is second worst in scoring margin.

Runner Up: Crosby...one point more than Ovechkin but isn't on a one-man team. He's still an awesome player...either guy can win the award.

Jack Adams Trophy
Peter Laviolette

The Canes have played well from the get-go. Their leading scoring is a second year player and both of their goalies had no starting experience before this season. Not many would've expected this performance out of this team.

Runner Up: A. Murray...the guy has dealt with years of dealing with numerous injuries. The team has stayed relatively healthy and he's winning with two inexperienced goalies. Ruff is coaching one of the hottest teams in the league but I'd favor the clubs that have been doing it from the start.

Forgot about the rookie award. I would agree with Ovechkin.

Hart: Kiprusoff. Calgary is a .500 club w/o him. Don't let in the first goal against the Flames.

Norris: As much as it pains me to pick a fookin Maple Cheif......Bryan McCabe. Wade Redden, Zdeno Chara and Lidstrom are all in the discussion, but McCabe is scoring and scoring big goals.

Vezina: Kiprusoff. Faces a ton of shots, plays a lot, and has most wins and shutouts. GAA is only high because when he looses he gets lit up. Hasek #1a.

Calder: Toughest to call. Flip a coin. Crosby is so impressive, he's relentless. Ovechkin a one man show. Tails....Ovechkin.

Adams Laviolette. Somebody lit a fire under that teams ass.

It's going to be tough, but Lundqvist deserves some serious consideration for the Calder. While Jagr is playing great, it has been Lundqvist that has been the Rangers' best player.

The weird thing is I wonder why I don't see any Flyers mentioned but other than Forsberg I don't know anyone that deserves to be listed there, yet. I would make a case for Hitch for the Lindy Ruff, though. The Flyers have been without their #1 goalie for a few weeks now, been without Forsberg, Gagne and a few others for periods of time yet they managed to keep winning and put ground between them and the Rangers. They are in the midst of an 11 game win streak and they look to be getting even stronger.


Where the Flyers are getting their best efforts is their 2nd, 3rd and 4th line players. Almost all of those lines have at least 1-2 players from their farm club (Phantoms) who won the Calder Cup last year. Those players constantly out-work the lines of the other teams. Keep an eye on RJ Umberger. This guy has a nice scoring touch and has a knack for making the perfect tape to tape pass. It was his pass to a Jeff Carter that won it for the Flyers against the Rangers. He's also very hard to move off the puck in corners.

Forsberg is definately in the equation. Check back 3/4, 4/5 through the season.

I didnt mention him because
a) I dont see enough east coast games to really be sure, and

b) I like to measure MVP's by estimating how the team would do without him (or her as the case may be with the Rangers) I think Philly is a strong team and would still be competitive, even without the 30 or however many assists he has right now. But like I said, I don't see enough east coast games.

put me down for Jammy, and Staal as MVP candidates, and Manny Fernandez as a Vezina canidate, although his lack of wins and ice time relative to other goalies hurts his chances.

Hart-Kovalchuk
Norris-Chara
Vezina-Kiprusoff
Calder-Ovechkin
Adams-Andy Murray, If you would have told me at the half point of the season that the Kings would be in 1st in the division and 4th in the conference with 10 players injured, I would have laughed. AM has done a great job with the hand he has been dealt.

Cross Traffic wrote:Adams-Andy Murray, If you would have told me at the half point of the season that the Kings would be in 1st in the division and 4th in the conference with 10 players injured, I would have laughed. AM has done a great job with the hand he has been dealt.

Enter schmick in 5... 4... 3... 2........

Hart Trophy - Jaromir Jagr. His hot start proved to the Rangers that they don't have to sit back be the Atlantic bitches this year. As a result, they're playing as an actual team and are positioning themselves to be playoff threats.
Miikka Kiprusoff deserves mention, but I think the Flames are a team that has everyone going in the same direction. A lesser goalie could have close to the same success on that team.
Bryan McCabe could even be considered. With Sundin out for a lot of the year, he's carried that team offensively. And they are an offensive team.
Alfredsson has been the Sens MVP, and they're the top team, so he could be mentioned too.
Eric Staal is in the running, but they've dropped off a bit recentlyl.

Norris Trophy - Chris Pronger. I am required to hate him, and honestly, that's coming around, but he has had a profound effect on the Edmonton Oilers. They are extremely thin on defense, and Pronger eats up half the game for them. When he's out there, that team is just calm, calm, calm. When he's not, they run around a bit. No way are they in the running for the toughest division in hockey without Pronger.
Zdeno Chara is the best defenseman (arguably) on the best team... he's been good.
McCabe has been the best offensive defenseman, but since I'm lucky enough to see him play once a week, I know he's still an adventure in his own end.

Calder Trophy - In a year where there are a tonne of great rookies, Alexander Ovechkin has been the best by far, IMO. A one-man show and he's electric to watch every time he's on the ice.
Sidney Crosby will probably win despite being 2nd best, but this year, being 2nd best is not so bad. Crosby's been a lot of fun to watch too... easily the best Penguin night after night... in fact, the only one actually putting forth an expert. Hang 'em up Mario, you're not helping.
Petr Prucha seems to score every night. I have yet to see him play, but he's consistently on the scoresheet.
Dion Phaneuf has been getting a bit of attention, and deservedly so. We expected him to be good, but his poise, strength, and vision have been unexpectedly beyond his years. For a 20 year old to come in and be the Flames' top defenseman on many nights is a large feat considering the quality of defensemen the Flames already had. 10 goals already this year. That's more than a Flames defenseman has had in a year since Phil Housley had 11 in 2000!

Vezina Trophy - Marty Turco. In the Stars games I've watched, he's been their best player, and usually sparks that team with the plays that he makes. The NHL's attempt to neutralize puck-handling goalies has certainly not affected Turco's game. He's been as good as ever.
Kiprusoff has been great this year as well, though pretty inconsistent. He's had a few stinkers in between outstanding strings of games.
Ed Belfour has been solid for the Leafs... a big part of their success. If the Leafs could help his stats out, he'd be in the running.
Tomas Vokoun is a huge reason for the Predators season. He should be in the running too.

Jack Adams Trophy - This trophy usually goes to the coach of the most improved team, so for now I'll give it to Peter Laviolette and runner-up to Tom Renney. Lindy Ruff has done a helluva job with the Sabres too.

Frank Selke Trophy - In a year where the league has said to hell with defensive hockey, I'll give it to my homer pick, Stephane Yelle. The Flames are a completely different hockey team with him in the lineup. I think the lockout has actually helped him heal the various wounds he's developed over the years, because he's been as fearless as ever. Too bad you actually have to score points to win the Selke Trophy.
Craig Conroy probably deserves a mention, as I believe he's a big reason for the Kings' success so far. He's been lighting it up offensively too, which he should be doing for the money the Kings gave him.
Rod Brind'Amour is back too. He is certainly in the running for this award.

Well, that turned out to be more long-winded than I expected...

Forsberg has probably been the most impactful offseason addition in the NHL. What he and Gagne have done along with Knuble has been huge for the Flyers. Philly won't contend if Foppa doesn't stay healthy considering the health of Primeau and their blueline is very banged up as well. He was my preseason pick for the Hart Trophy and Art Ross...it wouldn't shock me if he wins both awards in the end. Hard to ignore the strong play of Kovalchuk and Jagr though.


I forgot about the Selke...I'd lean towards Brind'Amour. Logs the most time among all forwards in the league and he's been a great leader for a young team.

Some other opinions:

ESPN's Scott Burnside


The Hockey News': Eastern Conference and Western Conference

CBS Sportsline's Wes Goldstein

Shoalzie wrote:Calder Trophy
Alexander Ovechkin

Clearly, the MVP of the rookies. The Caps are bad enough...they'd be the worst team in the league without him.

They're practically the worst team in the league WITH him! :P
Hanlon's got to go as coach. He's no good.
Every Crapitals win seems to be immediately followed by a losing streak.
There must be another recycled ex-NHL coach out there somewhere.

Funkywhiteboy wrote:There must be another recycled ex-NHL coach out there somewhere.

Ted Nolan?

Shoalzie wrote:

Funkywhiteboy wrote:There must be another recycled ex-NHL coach out there somewhere.

Ted Nolan?

I thought he died in a Coke and Pop Rocks mishap.

See You Next Wednesday wrote:

Shoalzie wrote:

Funkywhiteboy wrote:There must be another recycled ex-NHL coach out there somewhere.

Ted Nolan?

I thought he died in a Coke and Pop Rocks mishap.

He supposedly rumored to replace Larry Robinson in New Jersey...don't know what the dilly-o is with him.

Hart - Marc Savard
Vezina - Kiprusoff
Norris - Chara
Adams - Ruff
Calder - Lundqvist