Daniel Alfredsson, Paul MacLean Among Day 1 NHL Award Winners

The NHL handed out some hardware on Friday evening, and it was a great day for the Ottawa Senators organization.  Both men who were nominated for awards came away the winners.

Feb 16, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; Ottawa Senators center Mika Zibanejad (93) and right wing Daniel Alfredsson (11) and head coach Paul MacLean look on from the bench against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs beat the Senators 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Daniel Alfredsson continued to demonstrate the respect he has earned around the league and came away with the Mark Messier Bridgestone Leadership Award.

Meanwhile, Alfredsson’s coach, Paul Maclean, took home the Jack Adams award for the Coach of the Year.  It should come as no surprise that he wins, as I said in my awards preview it was the  biggest no-brainer among all of the awards.

May 14, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Ottawa Senators right wing Daniel Alfredsson (11) handles the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the second period in game one of the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Other awards winners included Jonathan Toews (Selke), Josh Harding (Masterton), Ray Shero (GM of the Year), Martin St. Louis (Lady Byng), Henrik Zetterberg (NHL Foundation) and Patrice Bergeron (King Clancy).

As for SenShot’s predictions, we didn’t fare too badly.  We were right on the money for the Messier, Adams, GM, Masterton and Lady Byng.  We had picked Pavel Datsyuk for the Selke instead of Toews. So we can pat ourselves on the back for being on the same page as the voters.

The “Big” Awards, Hart, Lindsay, Norris and Vezina will be presented on CBC and NBC Sports prior to Saturday night’s Stanley Cup Final Game 2, airing at 7:00.