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.

The Islanders beat the Penguins in almost every stat last night but just could not beat them on the scoreboard. The Isle should every one why they made the playoffs. They game the Pens everything they could and looked impressive at times. The Isles probably played their best game last night, out shooting, out hitting out everything the Pens and looked poised to bring this series to game 7 but just didn’t have the luck to help them along the way.

May 11, 2013; Uniondale, NY, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) plays the puck in front of New York Islanders center John Tavares (91) during the overtime period of game six of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Penguins won the game 4-3 and won the series 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

GAME RECAP

As soon as the puck dropped the Isles came out fast and strong. John Tavares opened the scoring with a shot from the side of the net to bring the Isles up one. But a couple minutes later Evgeni Nabakov was a little weak on a shot from Jerome Iginla. Iggy made this a tie game at the 7 minute mark. The Isles weren’t done yet shooting puck after puck towards Thomas Vokoun and it paid dividends near the end of the first as Colin McDonald got the lead back for the Long Island club.

Mid way through the second period Pascal Dupuis tied this game at 2. The Isles just could not convert on anything this period as they were probably hoping they would be facing Marc-Andre Fleury but unfortunately for them Dan Bylsma made the Change a couple games back for Thomas Vokoun and it seems like that may be the turning point in this series as Vokoun made all the stops in the second period to keep the game tied at 2.

The last period of regulation was the closest period in this game and was the Penguins best period. Michael Grabner got the lead back 2 minutes into the 3rd period. The Islanders kept getting the lead back every time the Pens tied it, as they should they were the best team on the ice last night. But just like the game was going the Pens tied it once more with a Paul Martin goal, that sent this game into overtime.

In overtime we seen chances from both teams as one team was trying to stay alive in this series as the other was trying to end it. So both teams were desperate and as no one expected it, Brooks Orpik was the one who ended this game with a shot from the point that found its way into the net. It was his first goal since 2011 and it was against the Islanders.