Friday, June 15, 2012

Our Picks for the NHL Awards

Our summers so far have been really busy and really lazy and other than some help we got from our friend Will, we haven't really updated here in a while (if you couldn't tell). But all that's going to change because we now present to you our carefully justified picks for this year's NHL Awards:

The Hart Memorial Trophy - MVP as chosen by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association
Henrik Lundqvist, Evgeni Malkin, Steven Stamkos

This is one of the few Emily and I disagreed on. She chose Hank because he had the best sv% (although it'd be kind of hard for Geno or Stammer to beat him in that category), beautiful hair, got his team to the third round (ahem, playoff performance), and was in the You Can Play videos:

This video's always worth another watch

I meanwhile, took a different (and completely unbiased) approach by picking Geno Malkin. Being the MVP means you're going to represent the league, and Stamkos can't do that until he cuts his hair. Lundqvist's hair, meanwhile, is too good and doesn't reflect the blue-collarness of the NHL. So clearly, Geno wins.



The Vezina Trophy - Best goalie
Henrik Lundqvist, Pekka Rinne, Jonathan Quick

Okay, so we kind of suck at evaluating goaltending. But we're Leafs fans, so every other team's goalies look pretty damn good to us. Plus two of those guys play in the West and who really watches hockey that late? So after digging into the nitty gritty of advanced stats, we determined that since Hank had the lowest GAA and highest sv% of the three, he deserves the Vezina. Sure, he did get the benefit of playing for the first seed, but a lot of the team's success goes squarely on his shoulders.

The James Norris Memorial Trophy - Best defenceman
Zdeno Chara, Shea Weber, He Who Shall Not be Named

After beating the Nucks last year, the Bruins have fallen back into our hated teams list, so yeah we're not giving anything to their captain. Weber's wonderful and totally deserves it, and the other dude isn't getting it because the Norris goes to the best defenceman, not the most offensive defenceman.
We must also appease the Beard

The Calder Memorial Trophy - Rookie of the year
Adam Henrique, Gabriel Landeskog, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Sorry Adam, but the Devils are evil. If Nuge had played the full season, he would probably be the favourite for ROY. On one hand, it's unfair to punish him for being injured; but on the other, it's unfair to reward him on what he could've done. Plus Landy's an ex-Ranger.

The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy - Sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct and all that good stuff
Brian Campbell, Jordan EBERLE, Matt Moulson

Look into those half-closed eyes and tell me you don't see a gentleman. 
I dare you. 

The Frank J. Selke Trophy - Best defensive forward
David Backes, Patrice Bergeron, Pavel Datsyuk

Emily and I both chose Pasha. Basically he's wonderful and perfect and even if he was up for the Vezina I'd give him that.

The Jack Adams Award - Best coach
Ken Hitchcock, Paul Maclean, John Tortorella

I chose Hitchcock because the Blues were pretty amazing during the season, and because Torts and the Sens get no love from me.

Emily chose Torts because she wants him to basically coach her life.
Imagine writing an exam only to look up and see this

The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy - Perseverance and dedication to hockey
That old guy, Joffrey Lupul, Max Pacioretty

Although I still think Pacioretty may win it just because of the sheer attention his injury got, we both agree that this one goes to Lupul. Congrats on persevering through your oldness, Alfie. You might need to ask Mats for some tips though. Like most other things, Mats does hair loss better than you.

The Ted Lindsay Award - MVP as chosen by the NHL Players' Association
Henrik Lundqvist, Evgeni Malkin, Steven Stamkos

The same people as before, the same picks as before, the same reasons as before.

The Mark Messier Leadership Award - Self explanatory
Dustin Brown, Shane Doan, Ryan Callahan

Emily gives this one to Brown because she loves him and doesn't care about the "no playoffs" rule. Since I can't give it to Sid and I don't care about these three, I'll give it to Doan because he's been in the NHL forever and that's bound to give him some good leadership qualities, right?

The NHL Foundation Player Award - Player who best helps his community
Mike Fisher, John-Michael Liles, Matt Moulson

When there's a Leaf involved, there's no competition. Congrats on the award, JML.

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