The NHL’s best players have all flocked to the city of sin for the NHL Awards today at 4pm and here are my predictions for who will take home the trophies.
Selke Trophy: Best Defensive Forward
Nominees: Patrice Bergeron (BOS), David Backes (STL), Pavel Datsyuk (DET)
My Pick: Patrice Bergeron. He led all Bruins forwards in ice time with 18:34 as well as penalty-killing time with an average of 1:48 minutes per game. He led the league with a plus-36 rating, which also helped his linemates Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand finish in the plus-30 range as well. In my opinion, he had more of an impact on his team’s success than did the other two.
Norris Trophy: Best All-Around Defenseman
Nominees: Zdeno Chara (BOS), Shea Weber (NSH), Erik Karlsson (OTT)
My Pick: Zdeno Chara. Despite Karlsson’s 78 point season, absurd numbers for a defenseman, he wasn’t nearly as good in his own end as the other two nominees. It should be a very close race between Weber and Chara, but as much as I’d like to see Weber get it, I think Chara may have a slight edge.
Calder Trophy: Best Rookie
Nominees: Adam Henrique (NJD), Gabriel Landeskog (COL) , Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (EDM)
My Pick: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. This is a hard choice because all three of them were so impressive this year. Nugent-Hopkins spent a great deal of time injured, which may impact his chances of receiving this award. Had he been healthy all year, which is an important factor to consider, I think he would have been in a league of his own.
Vezina Trophy: Best Goaltender
Nominees: Henrik Lundqvist (NYR), Pekka Rinne (NSH), Jonathan Quick (LAK)
My Pick: Jonathan Quick. Here’s why…and that was before the playoffs.
Hart Trophy: MVP
Nominees: Henrik Lundqvist (NYR), Evgeni Malkin (PIT), Steven Stamkos (TBL)
My Pick: Evgeni Malkin. He had a 50 goal season and was a hero for his team when big players were injured and out of the lineup: Crosby, Staal, Letang. Not to mention his goals were the prettiest.
Jack Adams: Coach Of The Year
Nominees: Ken Hitchock (STL), Paul MacLean (OTT), John Tortorella (NYR)
My Pick: Darryl Sutter. I’m not budging on this one.
