NHL
Insider
May 8,
2008
2007-2008 NHL Award Finalists
Each year
the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association plays homage to the many players
that have excelled during the course of the season under the lights with a
spectacular awards show in Toronto, Canada.
On June 12th,
Martin Brodeur, Sidney Crosby, Henrik Lundqvist and a handful of others are once
again award finalists. The three mentioned are no strangers to receiving
awards. Last year, Brodeur and Crosby were finalists for the Hart Trophy, which
Crosby won and Brodeur and Lundqvist were finalists for the Vezina Trophy, which
Brodeur went on to win.
Without any
further delay, here are the finalists, as voted upon by the Professional Hockey
Writers’ Association.
Hart Trophy
The Hart Memorial Trophy is an annual award given
to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team. The winner is selected
in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association in all NHL cities at
the end of the regular season.
Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin became the first player
in a dozen years to reach 60 goals. He wound up with 65 and a League-best 112
points, capturing both the Art Ross Trophy and the Maurice Richard Trophy.
Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin rose up when last season’s
Hart Trophy winner Sidney Crosby went down with a high ankle sprain. Malkin
wound up finishing second to Ovechkin with 106 points. His 47 goals were fourth
in the NHL.
Calgary
Flames right wing Jarome Iginla continued to state his case as the
League’s finest power forward with second career 50-goal season and 98 points,
good for third in the NHL in both statistical categories.
2007 Winner - Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh
Art Ross Trophy
The Art
Ross Trophy is awarded annually to the player who leads the league in points at
the end of the regular season.
Winner -
Alex Ovechkin
2007 Winner - Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh
Jack Adams Award
The Jack
Adams Award is an annual award presented by the National Hockey League
Broadcasters' Association to the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most
to his team's success. The winner is selected in a poll among members of the NHL
Broadcasters' Association at the end of the regular season.
-
Mike
Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings
-
Bruce
Boudreau of the Washington Capitals
-
Guy
Carbonneau of the Montreal Canadiens
Are the
three finalists for the Jack Adams Award, presented to the coach who has
“contributed the most to his team’s success.”
2007 Winner - Alain Vigneault, Vancouver
Calder Memorial Trophy
The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award
given to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of
competition in the National Hockey League. The winner is selected in a poll of
the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season.
Despite
finishing the regular season scoring race first, second and third among the
NHL's talented crop of rookies, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews of
the Chicago Blackhawks and Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington
Capitals are the trio of finalists up for this season’s Calder Trophy.
Kane, who
began this season as an 18-year-old, was the No. 1 overall pick in last June's
NHL Entry Draft. Toews, who turns 20 next week, and Backstrom, who already is
20, were the third and fourth overall picks, respectively, in 2006.
2007 Winner - Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
The Lady
Byng Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player adjudged to have
exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a
high standard of playing ability. The winner is selected in a poll of the
Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season.
Detroit
center Pavel Datsyuk, who has won the trophy in back-to-back years now,
is joined by Tampa Bay right wing Martin St. Louis and Buffalo
right wing Jason Pominville. St. Louis was last season's runner-up.
2007 Winner - Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit
Frank J. Selke Trophy
The Frank J. Selke Trophy is an annual award
given to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.
Between the
three of them they scored 94 goals and dished out 138 assists. Pavel Datsyuk,
Henrik Zetterberg and John Madden, are the three candidates for
this year's Frank J. Selke Trophy, given to the League's best defensive forward.
Datsyuk and
Zetterberg have been known to lift the Detroit Red Wings with their offense, but
that offense often is created by their near-flawless defense — which, most of
the time, comes at the expense of the opposition's top line.
Madden is
well-known as the New Jersey Devils' best shut-down forward and one of the best
faceoff men on the planet. He is familiar with the Selke Trophy — he won it in
2001 and finished second in the voting in 2003 and 2004.
Datsyuk, a
two-time Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner, and Zetterberg never have been Selke
finalists. Odds are this won't be their last nomination.
2007 Winner - Rod Brind'Amour, Carolina
Vezina Trophy
The Vezina Trophy is an annual award given to the
goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at this position as voted by the general
managers of all NHL clubs.
In one
corner is the mainstay, in New Jersey Devils’ Martin Brodeur. Last
season, Brodeur captured his third Vezina Trophy in the last four seasons after
setting an NHL record with 48 victories. This season he won 44 games.
In another
corner, we have the element of surprise, the unlikely candidate in San Jose
Sharks Evgeni Nabokov. He has never been a Vezina finalist and had
previously never played in more than 67 games in one season. Nabokov played in
77 this time around.
And finally, we have the rising star, the current and future "King" of
New York in Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. This is Lundqvist's
third-straight season as a Vezina finalist, meaning he's been in the final three
in each of his three NHL seasons.
In Brodeur,
Nabokov and Lundqvist the three Vezina finalists had a combined 127 wins,
including 20 shutouts, 226 games played for 13,499 total minutes played, 5,223
saves versus only 491 goals allowed.
2007 Winner – Martin Brodeur
Maurice Richard Trophy
The Maurice Richard Trophy is awarded annually to
the player with the most goals at the end of the regular season.
Winner –
Alex Ovechkin, Washington, 65 goals
2007 Winner - Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay, 52
goals
Norris Trophy
The James Norris Memorial Trophy is an annual
award given to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the
greatest all-round ability in the position.
Between
Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings, Zdeno Chara of the
Boston Bruins and Dion Phaneuf of the Calgary Flames, the
trio of finalists has a combined 44 goals and 137 assists for 181 points, an
average of 60.3 points per defensemen.
2007 Winner - Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit
Other awards
to be handed out on June 12th:
Lester B. Pearson Award
The Lester B. Pearson Award is an annual award
presented to the National Hockey League's outstanding player as selected by the
members of the NHL Players' Association.
2007 Winner - Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh
William H. Jennings Trophy
The William H. Jennings Trophy is awarded
annually to the goaltender who has the lowest goals-against average at the end
of the regular season after playing a minimum of 25 games.
2007 Winner - Nicklas Backstrom and Manny
Fernandez, Minnesota
Bill Masterton Memorial Award
The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is an annual
award under the trusteeship of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and
is given to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities
of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
2007 Winner - Phil Kessel, Boston
King Clancy Memorial Trophy
The King Clancy Memorial Trophy is an annual
award given to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off
the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.
2007 Winner - Saku Koivu, Montreal
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