Jedi 1,865 Report post Posted April 27, 2012 http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=629858 Defining what makes a player valuable to his team isn't easy.Is it wins and losses? Goals scored? How would the team do if this player suddenly disappeared from the roster? That's the annual conundrum facing the members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association who vote on the Hart Trophy, awarded annually "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team." This year, the writers chose New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin and Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos as the finalists for the award. The winner will be announced at the 2012 NHL Awards Show, June 20 at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas. Read rest of story for more... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haroldsnepsts 4,826 Report post Posted April 27, 2012 It's disappointing that they nominate Lundqvist for the Hart and not Quick. A little East coast bias maybe? Quick had 35 wins to Henrik's 39, 10 shutouts to his 8, and a .929 save percentage to Henrik's .930. Quick started all but 13 games this season for the Kings and is by far the biggest reason the Kings are in the playoffs. Los Angeles finished 29th out of 30 teams in Goals For. He got little to no goal support most of the season. The Rangers had a great season but also had more support, like Gaborik scoring 41 goals. To me, Quick was such a bigger factor in the Kings success than Lundqvist was for the Rangers. Without Quick, the Kings have been golfing since the regular season ended. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xtrememachine1 795 Report post Posted April 27, 2012 So does this mean Lundqvist will win the Vezina? As a goalie, how could you be nominated as one of the best 3 players in the league and not be the best at your position? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jedi 1,865 Report post Posted April 27, 2012 So does this mean Lundqvist will win the Vezina? As a goalie, how could you be nominated as one of the best 3 players in the league and not be the best at your position? The Vezina Trophy is nominated/voted on by the GM's of all 30 NHL teams, whereas the Hart Trophy is nominated/voted on by the Professional Hockey Writer's Association. So it's entirely feasible that Lundqvist could win the Hart, but not the Vezina. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake_Marcus 890 Report post Posted April 27, 2012 It's disappointing that they nominate Lundqvist for the Hart and not Quick. A little East coast bias maybe? Quick had 35 wins to Henrik's 39, 10 shutouts to his 8, and a .929 save percentage to Henrik's .930. Quick started all but 13 games this season for the Kings and is by far the biggest reason the Kings are in the playoffs. Los Angeles finished 29th out of 30 teams in Goals For. He got little to no goal support most of the season. The Rangers had a great season but also had more support, like Gaborik scoring 41 goals. To me, Quick was such a bigger factor in the Kings success than Lundqvist was for the Rangers. Without Quick, the Kings have been golfing since the regular season ended. Great point-- especially the part in bold. Quick really had a tiny margin of error (.22 goals per game difference between for and against) compared to Lundqvist (.49 goals per game). Or put another way: LA was 2nd in goals against but 29th in goals for and NYR was 3rd and 11th, comparatively. Interestingly, the Wings were 7th in both categories. The real failing for us was special teams: 22nd in PP and 18th in PK. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wingslogo19 281 Report post Posted April 27, 2012 Have a feeling that Geno wins the Hart Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wingsfan4795 552 Report post Posted April 27, 2012 (edited) Malkin had a lot of help (Neal staal and Crosby for a little while) Lunqvist had a great team with great defense in front of him Stamkos couldn't get his team into the playoffs ........... Quick had little scoring help, lost a top-2 defenseman at the deadline, had numbers identical to lundqvists and was the main reason his team is in the playoffs Im a little confused about these nominations Edited April 27, 2012 by wingsfan4795 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HockeyCrazy3033 168 Report post Posted April 27, 2012 (edited) Stamkos couldn't get this team to the playoffs but with 60 goals alone and the star of his team, I'd most definitely give the Hart to him. He IS the heart and MVP of that team. Lundqvist has a good team and great D in front of him, same goes for Malkin. In Stamkos case, you can't say the same. Edited April 27, 2012 by HockeyCrazy3033 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake_Marcus 890 Report post Posted April 27, 2012 Stamkos couldn't get this team to the playoffs but with 60 goals alone and the star of his team, I'd most definitely give the Hart to him. He IS the heart and MVP of that team. Lundqvist has a good team and great D in front of him, same goes for Malkin. In Stamkos case, you can't say the same. It's a misconception that Stamkos is a lone-star player. St. Louis is an excellent player who's only a season removed from nearly hitting 100pts. Stammer definitely has good players to work with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HockeyCrazy3033 168 Report post Posted April 27, 2012 It's a misconception that Stamkos is a lone-star player. St. Louis is an excellent player who's only a season removed from nearly hitting 100pts. Stammer definitely has good players to work with. I agree about St.Louis. I just think that compared to Malkin and Lundqvist, he has less star players/team that surrounds him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Resetti 44 Report post Posted April 28, 2012 (edited) The problem with the Hart trophy is the parameters of "most valuable" are pretty subjective. You can justify a lot of different arguments. Lundqvist played behind a great defense, Malkin played with some great offensive talent, while Stamkos plays with less heralded teammates. The way that I look at awarding the Hart trophy is considering where the teams would be without these players. Lundqvist backstopped an impressive New York Rangers team to the top spot in the East, but their defense did such a good job insulating the goalie that I tend to think a lot of NHL goaltenders could have been put behind that team and had success. The Malkin-Neal-Kunitz line was the only threat for the Penguins for some time while they battled injury, and I don't think there's any chance they're contending for the top of the conference without Geno's dominant play. As for Stamkos, he had an outstanding season -- only the second player to notch 60+ goals since the lockout -- but it's hard for me to consider him for League MVP when the Lightning finished 10th in the East. If you take him off the roster, they still don't make the playoffs. I think this would have been really interesting if Jonathan Quick was on the ballot because I don't think there's any question that he was the difference that helped the Kings qualify for the playoffs. An argument could have been made for Giroux as well. Based on these nominees, however, I'd have to say it goes to Evgeni Malkin. Edited April 28, 2012 by Resetti Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
egroen 384 Report post Posted April 29, 2012 Who is "most valuable to HIS team" is subjective message board fodder. The Hart should go to the most valuable player in the league and that was Malkin this year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Motown4013 350 Report post Posted April 29, 2012 I agree with Malkin... He was a beast this year and kept them rolling before Sid came back the second time. I think he wins it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
