RWK23 0 Report post Posted January 11, 2009 Alright, we're half way through the season now. Let's hear your picks for the major awards if the season were to end today. If you like, post who think will ultimately win the award too. Here's mine: Hart - Marc Savard, Bruins Vezina - Tim Thomas, Bruins Norris - Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings Calder - Steve Mason, Blue Jackets Lady Byng - Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings Selke - Patrick Marleau, Sharks Jack Adams - Claude Julien, Bruins And the obvious ones: Art Ross - Evgeni Malkin, Penguins Rocket Richard - Thomas Vanek, Sabres; Alexander Ovechkin, Capitals; Jeff Carter, Flyers Jennings - Tim Thomas/Manny Fernandez, Bruins I think it's a tight race for pretty much every award this year. The Vezina and Norris were especially hard though. No goalie is having a runaway year and I picked Thomas, but his teammate could make a case as well. I think Luongo was making the best case for it until his injury. The Norris was tough as well. After a period of adjustment, Lidstrom has gone back to being the best player in the league and is among the top 10 in defenseman points and +/-. Bruins defensemen Chara and Wideman could easily make cases as well along with guys like Duncan Keith and Shea Weber. I'm going to show my homerism a little bit and give it to Lidstrom at the half way point. So, let's hear it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yellowknife Redwing 57 Report post Posted January 11, 2009 Those are some bold predictions Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yzersyukstromberg 0 Report post Posted January 11, 2009 Alright, we're half way through the season now. Let's hear your picks for the major awards if the season were to end today. If you like, post who think will ultimately win the award too. Here's mine: Hart - Marc Savard, Bruins Vezina - Tim Thomas, Bruins Norris - Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings Calder - Steve Mason, Blue Jackets Lady Byng - Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings Selke - Patrick Marleau, Sharks Jack Adams - Claude Julien, Bruins And the obvious ones: Art Ross - Evgeni Malkin, Penguins Rocket Richard - Thomas Vanek, Sabres; Alexander Ovechkin, Capitals; Jeff Carter, Flyers Jennings - Tim Thomas/Manny Fernandez, Bruins I think it's a tight race for pretty much every award this year. The Vezina and Norris were especially hard though. No goalie is having a runaway year and I picked Thomas, but his teammate could make a case as well. I think Luongo was making the best case for it until his injury. The Norris was tough as well. After a period of adjustment, Lidstrom has gone back to being the best player in the league and is among the top 10 in defenseman points and +/-. Bruins defensemen Chara and Wideman could easily make cases as well along with guys like Duncan Keith and Shea Weber. I'm going to show my homerism a little bit and give it to Lidstrom at the half way point. So, let's hear it. Hart - Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings Vezina - Steve Mason, Blue Jackets Norris - Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings Calder - Steve Mason, Blue Jackets Lady Byng - Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings Selke - Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings Jack Adams - Mike Babcock, Red Wings Art Ross - Evgeni Malkin, Penguins Rocket Richard - Alex Ovechkin, Captials Jennings - Tim Thomas/Manny Fernandez, Bruins Bud Light +/- Award - Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings Presidents Trophy - Detroit Red Wings Western Conference Champions - Detroit Red Wings Eastern Conference Champions - Washington Capitals Stanley Cup Champions - Detroit Red Wings In case you can't already tell, I'm heavily Red Wings biased....but even though some of my Red Wings' award predictions likely won't hold up, I firmly believe Pav Datsyuk deserves SERIOUS consideration for the Hart Trophy this year. The guy is as important to his team as is any player in the entire league. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dat's sick 1,002 Report post Posted January 11, 2009 (edited) I don't know about Savard, is he really Hart material? I'm thinking Ovechkin will get that. And though Marleu is good, Datsyuk or even Hank are more deserving of the Selke imo.. Other than that I don't really disagree with your choices. If Detroit repeats I think it would be a disgrace to not give Coach of The Year to Babcock though. P.S. I also agree with the above poster that Datsyuk should be considered for the Hart, but I just don't think any Red Wing has a serious chance to win that one. Edited January 11, 2009 by dat's sick Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YoungGuns1340 1 Report post Posted January 11, 2009 No way Savard gets the Hart. Not with Kessel and Krejci playing the way the are. And Thomas too. Same goes with Datsyuk. Players on stacked teams simply don't win the Hart trophy, and in most cases (not all), they shouldn't. It should go to the guy thats carried his team on his back and, without him, the team wouldn't be half the team it is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eva unit zero 271 Report post Posted January 11, 2009 Savard won't get the Hart. Thomas will be considered for the Vezina, but the fact that he plays in a tandem will probably prevent him from winning it. Nicklas Backstrom is probably the frontrunner right now because he's the only guy among the league leaders who has started more than 30 games, while most of them have started fewer than 25 and many fewer than 20; this with teams having played 40-45 games. Backstrom for the Vezina. Calder is definitely Steve Mason. Selke? Ryan Kesler. Lady Byng? Martin St. Louis. Jack Adams? Claude Julien or Joel Quenneville. Mike Keenan would also be an acceptable choice. Norris? Lidstrom. Hart? Ovechkin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RWK23 0 Report post Posted January 11, 2009 Those were just my picks up to this point. If I had to pick who I thought it'd be at the end of the season, it would look something like this: Hart - Alex Ovechkin, Capitals Vezina - Steve Mason, Blue Jackets Norris - Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings Calder - Steve Mason, Blue Jackets Lady Byng - Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings Selke - Ryan Kesler, Canucks Jack Adams - Claude Julien, Bruins Art Ross - Evgeni Malkin, Penguins Rocket Richard - Alex Ovechkin, Captials Jennings - Tim Thomas/Manny Fernandez, Bruins Bud Light +/- Award - Marc Savard, Bruins Presidents Trophy - Boston Bruins I'm still not sold on the Vezina. There really are no great candidates. Mason is having the best season, but he's due to come back to earth, right? Not to mention, the lack of games. Backstrom has been very good, but Vezina quality? And as eva pointed out, it's tough for a goalie in a tandem to win it. Luongo and Brodeur's injuries kind of threw a wrench into the Vezina race. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kira 451 Report post Posted January 11, 2009 Hart - Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings Vezina - Steve Mason, Blue Jackets Norris - Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings Calder - Steve Mason, Blue Jackets Lady Byng - Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings Selke - Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings Jack Adams - Mike Babcock, Red Wings Art Ross - Evgeni Malkin, Penguins Rocket Richard - Alex Ovechkin, Captials Jennings - Tim Thomas/Manny Fernandez, Bruins Bud Light +/- Award - Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings Presidents Trophy - Detroit Red Wings Western Conference Champions - Detroit Red Wings Eastern Conference Champions - Washington Capitals Stanley Cup Champions - Detroit Red Wings In case you can't already tell, I'm heavily Red Wings biased....but even though some of my Red Wings' award predictions likely won't hold up, I firmly believe Pav Datsyuk deserves SERIOUS consideration for the Hart Trophy this year. The guy is as important to his team as is any player in the entire league. I'm sticking my neck out here, but I agree with you on the Selkie. Pasha is making a serious run for a repeat win of it, and he's trying very hard to prove that last year was not just a flash in the pan. I'd love to see him get the Hart, and the Byng is a foregone conclusion. As to the Vezina, though, I'm gonna disagree with you and say Tim Thomas in Boston. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheOwl 77 Report post Posted January 12, 2009 (edited) ^ For sure, Datsyuk is a beast on defense. Some people take the +/- stat way too seriously, just because Savard has a better +/-, doesn't make him the better defensive forward. Mason deserves Calder for sure, but I don't see them giving the Vezina to a rookie for some reason. It's pretty wide open. You could argue strong for Backstrom or Thomas, or Mason. The trouble is Thomas and Mason split the goaltending duties with Leclaire and Manny. Wins seems to play a huge part, even though it shouldn't. But Mason is on a pretty horrible team, making 40+ saves a night, and stopping between 38-39 of them, not to mention all those shut-outs. I hope they give it to Mason, he's playing the best, he's the best goalie in the league right now, just watch him!! It's a lot harder to stop the puck when the rest of your team sucks. Edited January 12, 2009 by TheOwl Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
