“…an annual award given to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League.”
Selected by: A poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season.
Finalists: Adam Henrique, New Jersey Devils; Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Edmonton Oilers
This would have been Nugent-Hopkins’ award to lose had he not missed 20 games. As it is, he still finished tied with Landeskog for the rookie scoring lead and was fourth in goals scored. On the other hand, Landeskog led all rookie forwards in hits and tied for the lead in blocked shots among rookie forwards. He was second among rookie forwards in plus-minus and led all rookie forwards in average ice time.
Winner: Gabriel Landeskog
"…an annual award given to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position."
Selected by: A poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season.
Finalists: Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins; Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators; Shea Weber, Nashville Predators
This is perhaps the hardest category to figure out. There is the former winner (Chara in 2009), the winner in waiting (Weber), and the player with the big numbers (Karlsson). Karlsson lapped the field of defensemen in scoring with 78 points (Dustin Byfuglien and Brian Campbell were next with 53). Chara was fourth in scoring and was a plus-33, tops among defensemen. Weber was among the defenseman leaders in several categories: points (sixth), plus-minus (tied for seventh), average ice time (fifth), power play goals (first), hits (tied for 16th), takeaways (second). And since the award is for “all around ability”…
Winner: Shea Weber
“…an annual award given to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.”
Selected by: A poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season.
Finalists: David Backes, St. Louis Blues; Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins; Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Pavel Datsyuk is perhaps the default selection here since he has won it in three of the past four seasons (Ryan Kesler won last year). But there is Bergeron with his plus36 (tops among NHL forwards), his 59.3 percent faceoff winning percentage (second in the league), his Corsi values (best overall, second among forwards in relative), his relatively unfavorable zone starts (47.6 percent offensive zone starts at 5-on-5), and the fact that 144 forwards had more goals scored against on ice (Datsyuk had fewer, but in fewer games, too).
Winner: Patrice Bergeron
“…an annual award given to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.”
Selected by: A poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season.
Finalists: Brian Campbell, Florida Panthers; Jordan Eberle, Edmonton Oilers; Matt Moulson, New York Islanders
We are never sure what to make of this award and how it is to be judged, so we have a simple formula – total points divided by total penalty minutes.
Winner: Jordan Eberle
“…an annual award presented by the National Hockey League Broadcasters' Association to the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success.”
Selected by: A poll among members of the NHL Broadcasters' Association at the end of the regular season.
Finalists: Ken Hitchcock, St. Louis Blues; Paul MacLean, Ottawa Senators; John Tortorella, New York Rangers
Paul MacLean took a team that finished in 13th place in the East in the 2010-2011 season and led them to the playoffs. Ken Hitchcock took a team that was lollygagging at 6-7-0 early in the season, opened his tenure with a shutout, and finished the season with a record of 43-15-11 in 69 games. John Tortorella imprinted his style on a team that started slowly (3-3-3 in the Rangers’ first nine games) but caught up quickly and led the East for most of the last five months of the season. All have their arguments, but one came the farthest.
Winner: Ken Hitchcock
“…an annual award given to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at this position.”
Selected by: Vote of the general managers of all NHL clubs.
Finalists: Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers; Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators; Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings
As good as Pekka Rinne’s season was, this is really a two-horse race between Lundqvist and Quick. Their statistics are almost indistinguishable – Quick has the better GAA (1.95 to 1.97), Lundqvist the better save percentage (.930 to .929), Quick has more shutouts (ten to eight) and more minutes played (4,099 to 3,753). In the end, though, the Rangers had more one-goal wins and the fourth best winning percentage in one-goal games. The goalie had a lot to do with that.
Winner: Henrik Lundqvist
“…presented annually to the "most outstanding player" in the NHL.”
Selected by: Vote of the fellow members of the National Hockey League Players' Association.
Finalists: Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins; Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning; Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
We do this every year…”best” is not synonymous with “most valuable” player. Sometimes it can be the same player, other times not, but this is the award for “best” player. Only two players reached the 50-goal mark this season – Stamkos (60) and Malkin (50). They were two of the ten players with at least 12 power play goals (12 apiece). Both averaged over 20 minutes a game – Stamkos’ 22:01 a game third among forwards. Stamkos was second among all forwards in shooting percentage; Malkin was in the top-20 among forwards in plus-minus. Malkin was third among all forwards in assists and assists per game. Stamkos had only the second 60-goal season since 1996. It’s close, but…
Winner: Evgeni Malkin
“…an annual award given to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team.”
Selected by: A poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association in all NHL cities at the end of the regular season.
Finalists: Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins; Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning; Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
Again, we do this every year. The citation says, “most valuable to his team.” Stamkos had a great individual year, but could not get the Lightning over the hump and into the playoffs. Malkin had a great year but had a pretty strong supporting cast, too. Lundqvist had Martin Biron behind him, a decent enough backup goalie, but the fact remains that Lundqvist’s GAA was almost a half-goal better (1.97 to 2.46), and his save percentage was 26 points better (.930 to .904). And, as noted above, there were all those one goal wins. If Lundqvist isn’t there, there are likely to be many fewer of those one-goal wins, and that might have been the margin between the Rangers being a conference champion and fighting Washington and Ottawa for a playoff spot.
Winner: Henrik Lundqvist
“…awarded annually to the top National Hockey League general manager.”
Selected by: A vote of a 40-member panel that includes all 30 general managers, five NHL executives and five media members.
Finalists: Doug Armstrong, St. Louis Blues; Dale Tallon, Florida Panthers; David Poile, Nashville Predators
Doug Armstrong did some on-the-fly re-engineering to deal with an under-performing squad early in the season, and no one seems to do more with less than Poile. No team, however, did more off-season re-engineering than did the Florida Panthers, and it resulted in what had to be an unexpected division championship. For 2012, at least, it was the best job of management in terms of success relative to expectations.
Winner: Dale Tallon
No comments:
Post a Comment