SenShot’s Awards Preview: Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award
With the second and final night of the awards presentation taking place tonight, we look at the final two awards. They are the biggies, and because of the similarity of them we will look at both of them together.
TED LINDSAY AWARD
AWARDED TO: “the ‘most outstanding player’ in the NHL”-NHL.com
VOTED ON BY: The members of the NHLPA.
THE NOMINEES ARE:
SIDNEY CROSBY – Prior to missing the last month of the season, Sidney Crosby was on the best pace of his great career. Even though he missed 12 games with the broken jaw (and possible conussion), he still finished tied for 3rd in NHL scoring, just 4 points behind the lead.
ALEX OVECHKIN – After a slow start to the season, Alex Ovechkin heated up and looked like the Ovi of old and stormed to take the Rocket Richard Trophy for the top goal scorer with 32, and finsihed tied with Crosby for third in points.
MARTIN ST. LOUIS – The former Hart Trophy winner, Martin St. Louis became the oldest player (at age 36) to win the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer. He finished with 60 points, 3 ahead of linemate Steven Stamkos.
AND THE WINNER IS….
Jun 7, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) prepares to take a face off against the Boston bruins in the second period in game four of the Eastern Conference finals of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Michael Ivins-USA TODAY Sports
SenShot selects Sidney Crosby as the unanimous winner of the Ted Lindsay award. His play was head and shoulders above the rest of the field, and despite missing one quarter of the season, he would have been the runaway winner of the Art Ross and he also finished 4th in +/- (behind his two linemates Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis, and Jonathan Toews).
THE HART MEMORIAL TROPHY
AWARDED TO: “to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team.” – NHL.com
VOTED ON BY: the Professional Hockey Writers Association
THE NOMINEES ARE:
SIDNEY CROSBY: see above
ALEX OVECHKIN: see above
JOHN TAVARES: The offensive leader of the New York Islanders, John Tavares was selected as nominee for the Hart for the first time, announcing his true arrival into the elite group of NHL players. He led the Isles in scoring with 47 points in leading them to the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference.
AND THE WINNER IS:
March 12, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) skates with the puck as Carolina Hurricanes left wing
Alexander Semin(28) chases in the third period at Verizon Center. The Hurricanes won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
SenShot selects Alex Ovechkin as the winner of the award. This is always a contentious award because of the wording “most valuable to his team. Quite often it is given to the best player in the league, but that is the Lindsay award now. It is not fair to a player like Crosby who was the best player but the team still excelled without him. The success of the Capitals turned around at the exact moment when Ovechkin heated up and started to play like he did 3 or 4 years ago. Washington was dead last in the Eastern Conference for a long time, but scrambled back to take the Southeast Division, mostly on the shoulders of Ovechkin. Crosby will probably win, but if you vote based on the criteria, Ovechkin is deserving. Tavares finished 17th in NHL scoring, kind of taking him out of the running.