NEW YORK (AP) -- Sid the Kid has two more goalies to beat.
Sidney Crosby, the 19-year-old NHL scoring champion from the Pittsburgh Penguins, is a finalist for league MVP in just his second season. After scoring 120 points, Crosby is one of three players vying for the Hart Trophy.
The other two nominees, announced by the NHL on Tuesday, are a pair of netminders, New Jersey's Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks. Brodeur broke Bernie Parent's 33-year-old record by winning 48 games this season for the Devils. Luongo, in his first season with the Canucks, tied the mark with 47.
Both allowed 171 goals this season. Brodeur did it in 78 games -- one shy of Grant Fuhr's single-season record -- for a goals-against average of 2.18, while Luongo posted a 2.29 GAA in 76 games.
They also are finalists for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the NHL's top goalie and voted by the NHL's 30 general managers, along with Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers and Miikka Kiprusoff of Calgary.
Kiprusoff, the Vezina winner last year, was also in the running for the Hart then. He will have to settle for a third-place tie with Lundqvist for this year's Vezina. It is the first time since 1983, when the awards were first handed out in a televised ceremony, there are more than three finalists in a category.
This year's winners will be announced June 14 in Toronto.
Like Crosby, Luongo is a first-time Hart finalist. Brodeur, the Vezina winner in 2003 and 2004, has been up for the MVP award two previous times.
Crosby, last season's runner-up for rookie of the year, is the youngest scoring leader in major pro sports history at 19 years, seven months. He is the youngest Hart finalist since 19-year-old Wayne Gretzky won the first of nine in 1980.
Gretzky won eight straight between 1980-87, and captured his last in 1989.
Crosby, Luongo and Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier, the NHL goal champion with 52, are up for the Pearson Award -- the most outstanding player as voted by fellow members of the NHL Payers' Association.
The other nominees include:
-- Nicklas Lidstrom of Detroit, Chris Pronger of Anaheim, and Ducks teammate Scott Niedermayer, are up for the Norris Trophy, given to the best defenseman, Lidstrom has won four times, while Pronger and Niedermayer each won once with other teams.
-- Pittsburgh has an excellent chance to have the winner of the Calder Trophy, given to the rookie of the year, with Penguins forwards Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal joining Colorado's Paul Stastny as finalists.
-- Buffalo's Lindy Ruff, the coach of the year last season, is again up for the award after guiding the Sabres to their first Presidents' Trophy title. Pittsburgh's Michel Therrien and Vancouver's Alain Vigneault are also up for the Adams Award.,
-- Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk, Colorado's Joe Sakic and Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis are the finalists for the Lady Byng Trophy, given to the most gentlemanly player.
-- Rod Brind'Amour of the Carolina Hurricanes is in the running for his second straight Selke Trophy for the best defensive forward. His competition consists of Anaheim's Samuel Pahlsson and New Jersey's Jay Pandolfo.
Voting for all awards concluded with the regular season. The Professional Hockey Writers' Association conducts balloting for the Hart, Norris, Selke, Calder and Lady Byng. The NHL Broadcasters' Association votes on the Adams Award.
Two other trophies, the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey, and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership and humanitarian contribution to his community, also will be handed out at the awards ceremony.
Crosby won the Art Ross Trophy as the scoring champion after posting 36 goals and 84 assists. Minnesota goalies Niklas Backstrom and Manny Fernandez captured the Jennings Trophy, given to the team with the fewest goals against.
Luongo should get the Hart, but won't. He plays west of the Ohio. Take Crosby out of the Penguins lineup, vs Luongo out of the Canucks'? No comparison. As for Brodeur's year, what do we in Vancouver see of him to know? I'm finding myself in the school of thought that figures since the East and West see so little of each other, it would be best for the NHL to go the way of football and MLB, i.e. a western and an eastern mvp, goalie, etc ... At the same time, old fart and traditionalist that I am, I still figure that would be a good time to implement an idea Ray Ferraro has mentioned on 1040: to honourably retire the Conne Smythe, Vezina etc, whose names have become meaningless to younger generations of fans, and replace them with trophies bearing more modern names, e.g. the best defenceman in the eastern cocnference gets the Bobby Orr Trophy, etc ... Could be seen as total heresy, I suppose, but personally, I figure those old owners etc, not playing the game (and in some cases not being the most appealing sorts) have had their run of glory, let there be a Jean Beliveau trophy etc.
Crosby will definitely win the Hart. Luongo will win the Lester B Pearson award as the MVP according to the players. My questions is: how the hell do you pick a Norris winner out of Lidstrom, Pronger and Niedermayer?
Personally, I've never been that huge a Pronger fan and, in the "new" NHL, less so than ever. Too much a clutch and grab artist for me. Niedermayer is the easy choice out of bias to a good BC boy (freely admitted and I won't apologize ) but also I like his offensive side more (just a tad) than that of Lidstrom and he plays meaner. All that said, you're quite right, its really a pick 'em in the end.
In a perfect world, Luongo wins the Hart, Crosby wins the Pearson, Brodeur wins the Vezina.
In the real NHL, Crosby wins the Hart and Pearson, and Brodeur wins the Vezina, Luongo gets shafted for playing in the West....and next to nobody objects.
Today's NHL is a joke...we need a schedule where every team plays in every arena at least once!
The fact that Roberto Luongo plays in the West has no bearing on the voting for the NHL Awards. The Hart Trophy is voted on by NHL writers in each NHL city and the Vezina Trophy is voted on by the GM's. Mikka Kiprusoff playing in the West didn't hurt him last year when he was named top goalie, over the likes of Martin Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist.
The Hart Trophy really should be a toss up this year. Take away any of the 3 nominees and you have a completely different hockey club. A factor in Crosby's favor is the fact that his emergence as the top offensive player in the game, in only his second season, coincided with his team's improvement. Last year the Pens were a horrible team, but this year they improved by well over 50 points in the standings. Last year, the Canucks were not a bad team, they just barely missed out on the playoffs. This year their improvement allowed them to win their division, and Roberto was the number one reason they did that, but, I think the improvement for the Pens may give Sid the nod.
The Pearson Trophy is one that Roberto has a good chance to win. If you look back at previous seasons, NHL'ers will tend to vote for someone who has been around the league longer, or someone that may be well liked more than another. That is just an opinion of course, but, I would imagine that more players would like Luongo win the Pearson over Crosby or Brodeur.
And the Vezina Trophy, it may go to Brodeur. If the GM's were having a tough time in picking a winner, they would just go to the stats page of any hockey website. In every major category this year, Marty's numbers were better than Roberto's. Not by a lot, but, they were still better in wins, save percentage, goals against average and shutouts.
I am a big Roberto Luongo fan, and think he is deserving of all the awards he is nominated for, but, the East vs. West thing when it comes to voting is too old.
And for the comment about Chris Pronger not being able to play in the new NHL. C'mon, give your head a shake. He is probably the best player in the league from the past 2 seasons. I remember when the Canucks played the Blues in the playoffs a few years ago, and Canuck fans rejoiced at the fact that Pronger and Tkachuk were on the same team. Those two single-handedly lost the series for the Blues with all the stupid penalties they took. In the new NHL, Pronger still has that big prescence, and his PM's are way down. He is a more mature player, and (just like last year) he is leading his team in playoff scoring. I love Lidstrom and Niedermayer, but to say that Pronger hasn't adjusted to the new rules. What parts of any Ducks game are you watching?
Home
Calendar
Search
Register
Login
Logged
) but also I like his offensive side more (just a tad) than that of Lidstrom and he plays meaner.