The NHL recently announced the finalists for their
individual awards, which will be presented to the winners in a ceremony in
Toronto next month following the Stanley Cup Finals.
Here’s the list of nominees in each category and my picks
for the winners. As always I’ll be interested in reading your comments, folks,
just keep it clean.
VEZINA TROPHY (Top goaltender): Martin Brodeur, New Jersey
Devils; Henrik Lundqvist, NY Rangers; Evgeny Nabokov, San Jose Sharks.
My Pick: Brodeur. Tied for most games played with Nabokov
with 77, was second in wins behind Nabokov with 44 and was fifth behind Nabokov
in GAA with a 2.17 average. However, what clinches it for me was his .920 save
percentage, superior to Nabokov’s .910 and Lundqvist’s .912. He faced the
fourth highest shots of all goalies this season and made the second-most saves.
NORRIS TROPHY (Top Defenseman): Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins;
Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings; Dion Phaneuf, Calgary Flames.
My Pick: Lidstrom. Not only did he lead all defensemen in
assists and points but also in plus-minus with +40, well above Chara’s +14 and
Phaneuf’s +12. Lidstrom is the best all-round defenseman playing today.
CALDER TROPHY (Top Rookie):
Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals; Patrick Kane, Chicago
Blackhawks; Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks.
My Pick: Kane, who led all rookies in assists and points
after making the jump from Junior A despite his small size (5-9,160). Kane not
only rose to meet lofty expectations, he excelled and led the Blackhawks in
scoring.
LADY BYNG(Sportsmanship): Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings;
Jason Pominville, Buffalo Sabres;Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning.
My Pick: Datsyuk. He finished fourth in overall points,
second in overall assists, led the league in plus-minus with +41 and led the
Wings in scoring, all while only racking up a mere 20 minutes in penalties.
Proof that you can excel at both ends of the rink and still play a clean game.
SELKE TROPHY (Top Defensive Forward): Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit
Red Wings; John Madden, New Jersey Devils; Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red
Wings.
My pick: Datsyuk. Madden is more of a pure defensive forward
but Datsyuk’s defensive game is every bit as strong as his offensive game,
putting him in the same class as former Red Wing Sergei Fedorov in 1994.
HART TROPHY (League MVP): Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames;
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins; Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals.
My Pick: Ovechkin. Not only did he lead the NHL in points
and become the first player in 11 years to score over 60 goals in a season but
he also carried the Capitals to their first playoff berth in five years.
ADAMS TROPHY (Best Coach): Mike Babcock, Detroit Red Wings;
Bruce Boudreau, Washington Capitals; Guy Carbonneau, Montreal Canadiens
My Pick: Boudreau. Babcock and Carbonneau did a tremendous
job with their teams but both had far more to work with than Boudreau, who took
over a team in disarray early in the season and turned them into a playoff
club.
Following the NHL lockout the league’s newly formed competition committee introduced legislation designed to improve their product by speeding it up and increasing the potential for more offense.
Among the legislation were restrictions which shrunk the size of goaltending equipment. The theory was such reductions would increase goalscoring by prevent netminders from wearing oversized equipment, as there were numerous complaints that goalies wore such equipment more to block shots than for protection, the primary function of their equipment.
It appeared to be working in the first season following the lockout as goalscoring increased, but since then the increase has been so marginal as to appear stagnant, leading again to complaints that goaltenders were finding ways to work around the system to again wear out-sized equipment.
Several reasons why scoring hasn't significantly increased include the conditioning and skill of today's netminders compared to their predecessors and the adjustments in defensive systems by NHL coaches. Still, goaltending equipment remains a hot button issue.
As a result the NHL and NHLPA announced on April 29th the formation o####oalie Equipment Working Group, consisting of five players and four general managers, who’ll meeting in Toronto on June 11th to address again this niggling issue.
As per their press release:
“ The NHL representatives include Doug Risebrough of Minnesota, Garth Snow of the New York Islanders, Jim Rutherford of Carolina and Brett Hull of Dallas (co-GM). The NHLPA’s Executive Board voted to select three goalies and two skaters. Martin Brodeur of New Jersey, Rick DiPietro of the New York Islanders, Ryan Miller of Buffalo, Dany Heatley of Ottawa and Mike Cammalleri of Los Angeles will represent the NHLPA.
The Goalie Equipment Working Group will meet on June 11, 2008 in Toronto to examine the configuration and dimensions of goaltender equipment with respect to safety and performance. If the working group decides alterations to the rules governing goaltender equipment are warranted, and will not jeopardize the safety of the goalies, these recommendations will be forwarded to the Competition Committee for consideration. “
It remains to be seen what, if any, recommendations the group will make and if they’ll have any significant impact.
“We already know that goaltenders are a pretty tight group, and I have little doubt that Snow, a GM and former goalie who is extraordinarily close with DiPietro, will fight tooth and nail to protect his team's most valuable -- and some would say only -- asset. And thanks to a Sports Illustrated piece from a few months back, we already know that DiPietro and Brodeur form something of a mutual admiration society.
Combine them with Miller, and that's four solid votes against doing anything that's going to make a goalie's job harder than it already is. And while those four could very well be outvoted if the other five stick together, my guess is the group won't want to forward any recommendations to the Competition Committee if they aren't unanimous.”
He suggests that Brodeur could cast a significant vote against such changes, but with all due respect to Eric, that doesn’t jibe with comments the Devils netminder has made in the past. If anything, Brodeur could be among those voting for change:
From NHL.com, September 29, 2003: “Brodeur, who led the Devils over Giguere's Mighty Ducks for the Stanley Cup, told Le Journal de Montreal recently, said that complaints by his goaltending brethren that restrictions to the size of the equipment -- and more precisely many flaps used as add-ons by goalies -- leave them vulnerable to injuries is not true.
"The limit for the height of goaltender's pads is 38 inches, so?" said Brodeur, a three-time Cup winner. "Mine have always been 34 inches and that's enough. I've always preferred less bulky equipment so I could move around easier. Certain goaltenders have really gone too far in the last few years and I can understand why the League wants to stop it.
"I have to point out that I don't use the butterfly style, unlike most Quebec goaltenders. With plastic foils attached to their pads, butterfly goalies could completely close the space between their legs. I can understand why forwards complained they can't score when they shoot for the 5-hole. Jean-Sebastien Giguere was the target of such complaints last year."
From The Sporting News, October 6, 2003: “"It's got to be proportional to your body" says Brodeur, who wears 34-inch pads. "That's why the rule should be individual. The advantage of a little goalie wearing 38 is bigger than a bigger goalie wearing 38. Everybody should get measured and say, 'OK, you can have this.' And the guys who don't (follow that) should be penalized. You shouldn't be penalized for being 6-4 or 6-5."
Most recently, from the Toronto Star, February 20, 2008: “From my point of view, and I hope they think about this, they need to make the effort to size everyone individually," said Brodeur in an interview from New Jersey. "If they do that, they'll see a big difference. They have to reduce the little guys to being little guys and the skinny guys to being skinny guys. Those guys are taking advantage of the system."
Brodeur, who is 6-foot-2, wears pads that are 34-35 inches in length and can't understand why most goalies in the league are wearing the maximum 38-inch pads.
"There's no reason why anyone under six-feet should be wearing 38-inch pads, but everybody is wearing them," he said. "It's like if you have a 33-inch waist, you shouldn't be allowed to wear XXL pants."
Garth Snow might be keen to protect DiPietro, but the aforementioned Star article also noted that, when the subject was discussed during this past February’s meeting of NHL general managers, he gave them information on how he used his equipment to add blocking area.
And given that the GM’s emerged from that meeting unanimously agreeing to address this issue, including Snow, it appears those in this group determined to maintain the status quo could be in a distinct minority.
NY Rangers forward Sean Avery has been making a name for himself as one of the league’s most pesky players (and arguably the most disliked) and now his name will likely be enshrined for posterity for a rule change.
During Sunday’s playoff game between Avery’s Rangers and the New Jersey Devils, he created a stir by planting himself in front of Devils goalie Martin Brodeur during a power-play, facing Brodeur and waving his stick in the netminder’s face.
The tactic screened Brodeur, who after the game said that he couldn’t see the puck or the play developing in front of him because of Avery’s antics.
It failed to result in a goal, although Avery would score moments later on the same powerplay. You can check out Avery’s little gambit in more detail here.
Commentators were stunned by Avery’s actions, most saying they’d never seen anything like this before in their lives. Brodeur obviously wasn’t pleased with it, the game referee warned Avery and the Rangers bench that it could result in a penalty if he did it again, and even Avery’s teammate Chris Drury shouted at him during the play to keep his stick down.
Avery’s stick wind-milling action failed to draw a penalty at the time because there wasn’t anything in the NHL rulebook saying you couldn’t do what he did.
Screening a goalie is a common practice during a game, but players doing so aren’t facing the goalie and waving their stick in his face. Their backs are almost always turned to the netminder, facing the play as they look for the incoming shot, not only to prevent the goalie seeing the puck and create a scoring chance, but also to avoid injury themselves by getting hit from behind with the puck.
It didn’t take long for the NHL to react. Effective Monday, the league issues the following:
"National Hockey League Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell today issued the following advisory on the interpretation of Rule 75 - Unsportsmanlike Conduct: "An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty (Rule 75) will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender's face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play."
Now some may argue as to why there was such an uproar over Avery’s actions and question the league cracking down on it.
Regardless of the interference implication or the unsportsmanlike conduct, what Avery did was dangerous, to Brodeur, an opponent or teammate, even to himself.
Avery couldn’t see the play developing behind him, has no idea where the puck is nor does he know where the position of his teammates or opposing players are around him, as he was mainly focused on Brodeur.
With his back to the player and waving his stick around in that manner, he risked injuring Brodeur despite the netminder’s protective equipment, and could’ve clipped a teammate or an opponent in the face or head with his stick.
Avery was also putting himself in danger of being struck from behind with an incoming shot, which could’ve seriously injured him if it struck him in the head or back of the neck, despite the helmet he wore.
It’s good to see the NHL jump on this quickly, and obviously they had the blessing of the NHLPA implement this rule change so quickly. No one wants to see this become an established practice throughout the playoffs by waiting to change this rule in the off-season, especially if it were to result in a game-or-series winning goal.
Can you imagine the uproar if Avery or another player were to pull the same stunt resulting in a Stanley Cup winning goal? It would dwarf that of Brett Hull’s controversial “foot in the crease” goal from the 1999 Cup Finals, which was an embarrassment the league front office has no wish to repeat.
If Avery harbored hopes of his name going down in NHL history, he got his wish. This will forever be known as "the Sean Avery rule".
Last season at this time there was a significant debate as to which goaltender, New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur or Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo, was deserving of winning the Vezina trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender for 2006-07.
Both were neck-and-neck in the single season wins column, as well as for save percentage and goals-against average.
In the end Brodeur would win out, establishing a new single season record for victories by a goaltender with 48 and edging out Luongo in the other important statistical categories to win the Vezina.
This season, Brodeur’s chief rival for the Vezina is San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov, who currently has two more victories than Brodeur (42 to 40) and could break Brodeur’s single-season record of 48 this season.
However, Nabokov’s current GAA of 2.15 ranks behind Brodeur’s 2.13, placing the latter with the fourth-best GAA of all NHL goalies this season thus far.
Nabokov currently has the edge in shutouts over Brodeur (6 to 4) but the latter’s save percentage of .922 (tying him with Luongo for third best in the league) is considerably better than Nabokov’s .910.
Brodeur’s critics like to claim that he benefits from having a stronger defensive team in front of him and that he doesn’t see as many shots as other NHL goalies, but this season he’s faced the fourth-most shots thus far (1870 and counting) and made the fourth-most saves thus far (1724).
Those figures are considerably more than Nabokov’s 1667 and 1517 respectively, which is more noteworthy when one considers Nabokov has played two more games, plus Brodeur’s given up four less goals thus far (146) than Nabokov (150).
When the Devils signed Kevin Weeks as Brodeur’s backup last summer it was expected that Brodeur would see a little less playing time this season in hopes of giving him some much-needed rest for the playoffs.
Thus far, the veteran Devils netminder has had little rest, playing in 68 games, the fourth-highest total in the league behind Nabokov’s league-leading 70 games.
Brodeur’s 40th victory this season marked the seventh time in his career that he’s won forty or more games in a season, the only goalie in NHL history to achieve that mark. He also notched his 96th career shutout, the second-highest career total of any goaltender, putting him only 7 back of the all-time mark of 103 set by the late, great Terry Sawchuk, a mark once considered unattainable.
He’s also moving closer toward eclipsing Patrick Roy’s record for regular season victories (551), currently sitting with 534, a record that Brodeur should break early next season.
None of this will have any factor on the Vezina race for this season, and Nabokov will remain a serious challenger over the final few games of this season but in the end, I expect Brodeur to win his second straight Vezina trophy and the fourth of his illustrious career.
Almost one month into the NHL’s 2007-08 season there’s been some interesting surprises.
Who would’ve believed:
Mike Cammalleri of the LA Kings would be the league’s leading goalscorer? As of this writing he leads all scorers with ten goals. He’s an emerging talent and could be poised to become a big star. Right now, he’s outshining teammates Anze Kopitar and Alex Frolov, as well as more big name “snipers” like Vincent Lecavalier, Dany Heatley, and Alexander Ovechkin.
Chicago Blackhawks rookie forward Patrick Kane would lead all rookies in assists and points? He’s a promising young talent but heading into this season most pre-season analyses expected others, including teammate Jonathan Toews, would rank higher in rookie points than the diminutive Kane. Thus far, he’s putting me in mind of another small rookie player, his head coach Denis Savard, who had 75 points in 76 games back in 1980-81.
Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo would have such terrible starts? Last season, Brodeur and Luongo were the undisputed goaltending masters of the NHL, dominating in nearly every statistical category, most notably wins, where Luongo matched the old record of 47 and Brodeur broke it with 48. Thus far this season, not only are they missing from the league’s top ten statistical rankings for goalies, they’re not even in the top twenty in some categories. Both should round back into form as the season progresses but it is unusual not to see them amongst the league leaders.
Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin aren’t among the top ten offensive players? They’re considered the twin pillars upon which the league hopes to rebuild its shattered reputation following the 2004-05 lockout, yet neither are off to rip-roaring starts. However, don’t expect them to be out of that listing for long.
Martin Gerber would lay claim to the job of Ottawa Senators starting goalie? It was a foregone conclusion this summer; Ray Emery was the starter, Gerber was an overpriced backup the Sens were hoping to dump at some point. But with Emery slow to recover from off-season wrist surgery, Gerber has stood tall between the pipes, earning his $3.7 million per season and making it tough for Emery to get back into the lineup. It’s a goaltending dilemma but one that should only benefit the Sens.
Scott Gomez and Chris Drury wouldn’t be a good fit with Jaromir Jagr? Few raised that suggestion during the off-season when the Rangers landed these two. Indeed, the only guy I recall saying it was “Cabbie” on The Score. Turns out he was profound, as neither have meshed well with the talented but enigmatic Jagr.
If anyone wants to add to this list please feel free to do so.
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.
The NHL recently released the list of finalists for their individual awards for this season. What follows is the listing and my prediction as to which players will win.
CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHY (outstanding rookie): Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins; Jordan Staal, Pittsburgh Penguins; Paul Stastny, Colorado Avalanche.
Staal is the best all-around player of the three, and Stastny, son of Hall of Famer Peter Stastny, proved the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree with a strong rookie campaign, but Malkin will likely get the nod.
FRANK J. SELKE TROPHY (outstanding defensive forward): Rod Brind'Amour, Carolina Hurricanes; Samuel Pahlsson, Anaheim Ducks; Jay Pandolfo, New Jersey Devils.
Pandolfo and Pahlsson have both be very good defensive forwards and as valuable to their team's success as their more talented, better-known star teammates, but Brind'amour not only has always played a strong two-way game, he's also the only one of the three with a plus-minus rating on the happy side of plus, and in the end that tips it in his favour.
HART MEMORIAL TROPHY (most valuable player to his team): Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils; Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins; Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks.
Brodeur and Luongo are THE stars of their respective teams and invaluable to their club's respective successes, but let’s face it, they played for teams that going into this season had the talent to make the playoffs. No one other than die-hard Penguins fans expected Pittsburgh to clinch a berth, let alone finish the season with over 100 points. The player directly responsible for that is 19-year-old Sidney Crosby, who also won the Art Ross as the league’s leading point-getter.
JACK ADAMS AWARD (outstanding coach): Lindy Ruff, Buffalo Sabres; Michel Therrien, Pittsburgh Penguins; Alain Vigneault, Vancouver Canucks.
Therrien and Vigneault both did very good jobs with their respective clubs, but their teams still suffered from deficiencies (defensive for the Penguins, offensive for the Canucks). Ruff turned the Sabres into the best team in the NHL, with no real weaknesses. He gets the nod.
JAMES NORRIS MEMORIAL TROPHY (outstanding defenseman): Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings; Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Ducks; Chris Pronger, Anaheim Ducks.
Niedermayer led all defensemen in assists and points and Pronger logs more ice time, but Lidstrom finished the season with a plus-minus of +40, better than Niedermayer and Pronger, had fewer penalty minutes and finished the season with 62 points. I think that makes him the better all-around blueliner.
LADY BYNG MEMORIAL TROPHY (sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct): Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings; Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche; Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning.
Datsyuk and St. Louis both play well without putting their teams in penalty trouble, but no one has the respect of NHL players or plays with more class than Burnaby Joe. Sakic will likely win this one.
LESTER B. PEARSON AWARD (most outstanding player as voted by fellow members of the NHLPA): Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins; Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning; Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks.
I think Crosby should win this, but I get the sense that because of his age that his peers may not believe he’s fully matured enough to deserve this award. It’s a tough call between Luongo and Lecavalier, but I think Lecavalier will win this.
VEZINA TROPHY (outstanding goaltender): Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils; Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames; Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers; Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks.
No offense to Lundqvist and Kiprusoff, but this one comes down to Brodeur and Luongo, and if one compares their stats for this season, it’s no contest. Brodeur led Luongo in wins, shutouts, goals-against average, save percentage, saves made and shots-against. Luongo will one day win this award, but not today.
There's been a running debate in the comments thread at my "Growing Pains" post (regarding the Penguins) over which goalie back in the 1990s was better, Martin Brodeur or Dominik Hasek.
The Hasek camp suggests he was better because he carried the Sabres to the 1999 Stanley Cup finals without a strong support cast that Brodeur had in New Jersey in 1995 when the Devils won the Cup. The Brodeur camp suggests otherwise, that his Devils teammates had yet to fully blossom into the stars most would become and that Brodeur was every bit a good or better than Hasek.
Since this debate is threatening to highjack that thread, I'm making this post to allow the folks involved in that debate to continue it here. If anyone else wants to chime in, feel free.
Flail away, boys, and keep it clean, as well as off the "Growing Pains" thread!
The Globe & Mail’s James Mirtle recently noted two active NHL goaltenders have become only the third and fourth goalies ever to hit the 44-win mark.
New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur and Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo not only won their respective 44th games, but they’re also in the hunt to tie or break the all-time single season wins record for goaltenders of 47 games, set by Philadelphia Flyers legend Bernie Parent in 1973-74.
When Parent set the record 33 years ago there was grumbling from some old-school pundits at the time that he benefited from expansion, whereas the previous record holder, Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuk, won 44 games during the days of the “Original Six”, when the competition was much tougher.
However, if winning 47 or more games in a single season were that easy, surely we would’ve seen more goaltenders reach or exceed that mark since 1974.
For Brodeur, this isn’t the first time that he’s won over 40 games in a season, having turned the trick four times prior to this season. His critics have argued that he's benefitted from a strong defensive team in front of him, but this season has been perhaps the weakest Devils defense in years so obviously Brodeur's talent is the reason he's playing so well this season.
This is the first season in Luongo’s career that he’s played for a playoff contender, having spent the six previous seasons toiling for non-playoff teams with the NY Islanders and Florida Panthers. He'd likely have had more 40-plus win seasons under his belt if he'd played for stronger teams, but Luongo has always posted strong numbers during his career so it's obviously not just the Canucks strong defensive game that's accounted for his career highs this season.
Mirtle does a fine job pointing out that the fact Brodeur and Luongo may be benefiting from a slightly longer schedule as well as regular season overtime and the shootout, which didn’t exist during Parent’s career.
Still, one shouldn’t demean the accomplishments of Brodeur and Luongo, who would be ranked 1-2 by most hockey experts when ranking the league’s best goaltenders.
The fact that it’s taken over three decades for a goalie, let alone two, to be in position to potentially break Parent’s record indicates just how tough the job of NHL goaltender can be.
Over the past three decades, Hall of Fame netminders like Ken Dryden, Tony Esposito, Billy Smith, Grant Fuhr and Patrick Roy never came close to Parent’s record, nor did future Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek during his Hart-Vezina glory years of the late-1990s.
So hat’s off to Brodeur and Luongo, and may the best goalie win!
There appears to be some debate amongst hockey fans and pundits over which player should be awarded the 2007 Hart Trophy as this season’s most valuable player.
The choice has come down to three players: Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, Tampa Bay’s Vincent Lecavalier and New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur.
To me, the choice is crystal clear: Crosby is the most valuable player of the 2006-07 season.
At only 19 years of age, Crosby is leading the NHL in points with (as of this writing) 106, ten more than Lecavalier. Barring injury or a slump, Crosby will win the Art Ross trophy as the league’s leading point scorer.
He’s also tied with Joe Thornton with the most assists with 75, and this season he became the youngest player in NHL history to rack up consecutive 100 point seasons.
There is of course no overlooking the performances of Lecavalier and Brodeur.
Lecavalier is well on his way to winning the Richard trophy with currently 48 goals, finally rounding into the consistent offensive force he was projected to be when the Lightning drafted him in 1998.
Brodeur continues to establish himself as one of the game’s greatest goaltenders, notching yet another 40 win season, on pace to possibly break the single-season wins record for netminders (47), leads the league in victories and shutouts and is among the league leaders in save percentage and goals-against average.
However, there are several factors which in my opinion puts Crosby above Lecavalier and Brodeur for the Hart.
First, there’s the age of the three. Brodeur is 34, a fourteen-year NHL veteran who is well established as one of the game’s best goaltenders. Lecavalier is 26, an 8-year NHL veteran, who’s over the past three seasons has begun to establish himself as an elite forward.
Crosby, however, is only 19. He’s still not fully matured as a player, still a teenager, yet he’s been leading the point-scoring race since December over rivals who are older and more experienced. In only his second NHL season, he could win the Art Ross trophy, something not even Wayne Gretzky accomplished at 19, although he did tie for the scoring lead in his rookie season but lost the Art Ross to Marcel Dionne based on goals-scored.
Not to take anything away from Brodeur and Lecavalier, but that's a phenomenal achievement by Crosby, a glimpse of further greatness to come.
Next, there’s the teams these three play for.
Brodeur backstops the New Jersey Devils, since the mid-1990s one of the NHL’s elite clubs. He’s played a major part in keeping the Devils at that status, but it must not be overlooked this year’s Devils club is with veteran players, many of whom were part of previous Devils championship teams. They know what it takes to win and consistently play their system year in and year out.
Lecavalier is a key component of the Tampa Bay Lightning, a club only three years removed from winning its first Stanley Cup title, which has rebounded from a sub-par performance in 2005-06 to battling this season for the Southeast Division title. Like the Devils, it’s a veteran laden team, many of whom were part of the 2004 championship season.
Crosby’s Penguins, on the other hand, are predominantly stocked with young players, all of whom have yet to play a post-season game, let alone win a championship. They weren’t expected to be in playoff contention this season, let alone challenging the Devils for first in the Atlantic Division or finding themselves among the top teams in the East.
On the Penguins, Crosby is clearly the straw that stirs the drink. The second-leading scorer on the team, rookie Evgeny Malkin, is 30 points behind Crosby’s 106 points. Take “Sid the Kid” out of the equation, and the Penguins aren’t a playoff team. It’s that simple.
Crosby isn’t the Penguins captain yet he might as well be. Like Gretzky’s Oilers in the early 1980s, the Pens clearly take their lead from their young superstar. He’s carrying a developing Penguins team into the playoffs, which is a significant achievement.
Finally, there’s the overall value to the league.
Brodeur and Lecavalier are unquestionably great players, but they don’t have the star power of Crosby. For the NHL to improve its visibility, it needs a great superstar, a player who towers over his rivals, a talented player who can attract excitement everywhere he goes.
Crosby, like Gretzky and Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr before him, has those qualities.
Whether fans love him or hate him, they’re interested in Crosby. They’re following his status in the scoring race. They’re marveling at his offensive gifts. They’re thrilled by his play and that of his young, energetic teammates. Crosby and the Penguins are bringing excitement back to the National Hockey League at a crucial time in its long history.
Moreover, does anyone really believe the city of Pittsburgh and the state of Pennsylvania would’ve committed to building a new arena for the Penguins if Crosby and friends hadn’t turned the team into one of the most exciting franchises in the NHL?
Mario Lemieux may have saved the Penguins several times over the years, but he wouldn't have been able to save them this time without Crosby.
Crosby’s detractors claim he’s unworthy of the Hart because, in their eyes, he’s a petulant whiner who takes dives to attract penalties.
Yes, Crosby has complained to officials when penalty calls sometimes don’t go his way. Yes, he’s looked childish at times, and yes, at times he hasn’t been above taking a dive.
Yet there are many NHL veterans who’ve done similar tactics which draw far less criticism. Crosby’s only 19, so immaturity should be expected from him at this point in his career, something hopefully he’ll grow out of it. Older players who continuously act that way have no excuse.
It should also be noted that Crosby has chopped his penalty minutes nearly in half this season, from 110 in 2005-06 to 56 this season. A good number of his penalties last season came from stupid retaliatory penalties and mouthing off at officials. This season, Crosby has learned to keep his temper in check, instead letting his play do the talking.
Besides, Gretzky and Lemieux heard similar complaints from, yet when their careers are recalled, few remember “Whiner Wayne” or “Moaning Mario”, and it certainly didn’t prevent them from winning the Hart Trophy multiple times.
Taking these factors into account, I believe it’s obvious that Sidney Crosby deserves to win the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player.
It seems that every year since the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, someone predicts the decline and fall of the New Jersey Devils.
Their first Cup championship was called a fluke, that they never would've won if they'd played a full season. Of course, the fact that their opponents in that final, the well-respected Detroit Red Wings, also played through the same shortened season and were crushed in four straight games by the Devils is almost never brought up by the detractors.
When the Devils missed the playoffs the following season, that was seen as justification that their Cup championship was a fluke.
Throughout the late 1990s, when the Devils were perennially one of the top teams in the NHL, they were derided for their defensive system and mocked as playoff choke artists.
Yet in 2000, they won their second Stanley Cup, defeating the defending champion Dallas Stars by beating them at their own tight-checking game. The response, outside of New Jersey, was almost tepid applause.
They returned to the Finals in 2001, and lost to the Colorado Avalanche in a hard-fought seven game series, and it seems as though the hockey world was almost giddy that the Devils had lost, that the notion of them winning consecutive Cups was too ugly a thought to bear.
In 2002 , they weren't the dominant club they'd been in previous years, leading to predictions of inevitable demise.
It was more of the same in 2003, except this time, they finished the season by capturing their third Stanley Cup championship in eight years, ranking them with the Red Wings and Avalanche among the top teams in the league during that period.
Again,the reaction to their victory outside of New Jersey was almost muted, as though the hockey world was loathe to give this team its due.
With the end of the latest lockout and the imposition of new rules that cracked down on obstruction and opened up the offensive side of the game, dire warnings of doom were forecast for the Devils.
"They won't be able to get away with playing clutch and grab hockey". "Without Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer, they're nothing". "Martin Brodeur won't play as well now because his team won't be able to play the same system".
And early in last season and this season, it appeared their critics were right. Both time, the Devils started slow, seemingly struggling to adjust.
And yet, both times, by mid-season the Devils rallied and surged to the top of their division to take what seemingly has become their rightful place among the best teams both in their Conference and in the league.
Yet the Devils are the Rodney Dangerfield of NHL teams: they get no respect.
Oh, they get it from their opponents and from knowledgeable hockey people, but it seems most hockey fans and even some pundits refuse to give the Devils their due.
The praises of the Red Wings are sung far and wide, and rightly so, for their years of savvy team building, yet admiration for Devils GM Lou Lamoriello usually seems grudging.
Since 1989, Lamoriello has built and maintained the Devils into a model franchise, one that drafts well, trades well and hires well. Lamoriello is this generation's equivilant of the great Sam Pollock, who built the Canadiens dynasties of the 1960s and 1970s, but to me it seems as though he's never fully received his due.
Lamoriello has drafted players that have gone on to play important roles in the Devils success, be it for a few seasons (Bill Guerin, Brian Rolston, Petr Sykora) or for much longer (Niedermayer, Martin Brodeur, Scott Gomez).
His trade record is no less impressive, as over the years players such as Claude Lemieux, Stephen Richer, Jason Arnott, Alexander Mogilny, Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner became vital components to the Devils Cup championships.
Lamoriello has dealt away key players over the years via trades (Arnott, Guerin, Rolston, Sykora, Morrison) and lost others (Niedermayer, Bobby Holik) to free agency. Losing players of that calibre would have an adverse impact upon most clubs, yet thanks to a combination of smart drafting, trades and the occasional depth UFA signing, the Devils have never missed a beat.
His critics have focused on an unwillingness to pay some of his players top dollar, which ultimately drives some of them toward free agency. This would be a fatal flaw, if it weren’t for the fact he’s been able to adjust by bringing up replacements via his farm system or by acquiring them from other teams.
Critics have accused him of manipulating the CBA to keep his payroll within the cap limits. That, however, is merely sour grapes. Yes, Lamoriello was on the board that helped draft the CBA, but even if he hadn't, he would've used it to his advantage. He's done nothing wrong, but rather worked within the confines of the CBA. That's what a shrewd GM does in today's cap world.
Key also to the Devils success is Lamoriello has retained his most important players throughout the years.
Players have come and gone over the past dozen years since the Devils won their Stanley Cups, yet some constants remained.
Former team captain Scott Stevens was part of all three Cup championships and would likely still be playing today were it not for a concussion that ended his career in 2004.
Goalie Martin Brodeur, considered among the very best of the modern era, has emerged as the team's leader since Stevens' retirement. Like Stevens, he was a crucial part of their three championships, and as one reporter noted, the reason Lamoriello sleeps soundly every night is because Brodeur is arguably the game's elite netminder.
Patrik Elias was part of the last two Cup championships, and was re-signed in 2006 to a lengthy contract that will keep him a Devil for likely the remainder of his career.
It's more than money which keeps them in New Jersey. It's the Devils culture of winning.
Those who play for the Devils are proud to be part of the franchise, and want to win. Hence the reason Brodeur took considerably less money than he would've made elsewhere to remain with the Devils. Winning three Cups wasn't enough for a competitive goalie like him. He wants more, and believes the Devils have the best chance of doing so.
Despite the changes in the lineup over the years, the Devils remain among the league's elite teams because of their culture of winning.
They've gone through several coaches over the years, yet those with whom they won championships (Jacques Lemaire, Larry Robinson and Pat Burns) did so because their coaching styles fit well with the kind of team Lamoriello built and continues to build.
Even those who didn't win titles with the Devils, like Robbie Ftorek, Kevin Constantine and (to date) Claude Julien, still had strong regular season clubs because they were able to successfully utilize the assets that Lamoriello had provided them.
The biggest criticism of the Devils is their style of play. Credited (or blamed) with introducing the "neutral zone trap" in the mid-1990s, it was a style copied by almost every NHL team, particularly weak teams that lacked the depth of talent of rival clubs.
The result was a deterioration of the quality of the game, which led to the introduction of new rules following the lockout. Yet for all the prognostications of doom for the defensive-minded Devils, they continue to play well in the "new" NHL.
The Devils trapping defensive game was more often than not based on skill, rather than uncalled obstruction, something that continues to be apparent today.
Lesser teams that try to beat the Devils at their own game usually end up on the losing end of the equation. History has shown that it is teams which can successfully beat the Devils trap, rather than match it, which ends up defeating them, yet that's more of a difficult task than it seems.
Perhaps if the Devils played to a more appreciative audience than those who've followed them in the Meadowlands, they might receive the respect they deserve. That's not a knock against New Jersey fans, but it does seem that they aren't as appreciative of their club, almost taking them at times for granted. The lousy location of their current arena certainly hasn't helped in that regard.
If the Devils market were a hotter one, they'd probably receive more respect and credit than they've gotten over the years.
If that troubles Lamoriello, the team's ownership or the players, they've never shown it.
The New Jersey Devils just never seem to get any respect and it'll probably be years, long after Lamoriello, Brodeur, and others have moved on, before they'll get their due.
That's a shame, because while the Devils may lack the appreciative audience and media of the Red Wings, they're every bit as deserving of appreciation and respect.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
