Back on May 2 I posted up the list of nominees for the NHL individual awards and my predictions of who would win. 

The awards I covered included the Calder, Selke, Hart, Adams, Norris, Lady Byng, Pearson and the Vezina.

And except for the Adams, Lady Byng and Pearson, I was spot-on with my other predictions.

Evgeni Malkin won the Calder, Rod Brind'amour the Selke, Sidney Crosby the Hart (and the Pearson), Nicklas Lidstrom the Norris and Martin Brodeur the Vezina.

The Adams went to Vancouver's Alain Vigneault (I'd picked Buffalo's Lindy Ruff), the Pearson to Crosby (I'd picked Vincent Lecavalier) and the Lady Byng went to Pavel Datsyuk (I'd picked Colorado's Joe Sakic).

OK, so I went five for eight. Still not bad, eh? 

Other awards that I didn't post predictions on were the Masterton Trophy, which went to Boston's Phil Kessel for returning back to action after surgery for testicular cancer, and the King Clancy went to Montreal's Saku Koivu for his charity work.

The biggest surprise for me was Crosby winning the Pearson, as there was a perception that he might not yet have the full respect of his peers at such a young age to garner enough votes to win. The fact that he has should now cast no doubt as to his greatness.

It's one thing for fans to be critical of his getting awarded the Hart as that's voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, but when the players vote him the Pearson, signifying their choice as the league's MVP, that ends the debate. They play the game and know true greatness when they see it.  

Congratulations to all.