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2019 Norris Trophy Finalists Announced

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Over the past few days, the NHL has been revealing the finalists for their end-of-season awards.  Today, they announced the top three for the Norris Trophy balloting.  Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman, Calgary’s Mark Giordano, and San Jose’s Brent Burns are up for the award, given to the defenseman who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-around ability in the position.

Hedman will be looking to make it two straight years with the award after winning it for the first time in 2018 while it is his third straight time being a finalist.  If he gets the nod, he’ll be the first back-to-back winner since Nicklas Lidstrom won three straight from 2006 through 2008.  Injuries limited him to 70 games this season but he was the undisputed leader of Tampa Bay’s back end that allowed the fifth-fewest goals in the league which played a big role in their 62 regular season victories.  While the postseason doesn’t factor into the voting, his injury and eventual absence played a big role in their early departure at the hands of Columbus.

Giordano finished second among defensemen in scoring this season with a career-high 74 points in 78 games.  For perspective, his point total was in the thirties in the previous two years.  He also led the league in plus/minus with a +39 rating while finishing in the top-five in five-on-five shot differential among defenders with at least 1,000 minutes of playing time.  The fact that Calgary also went from missing the playoffs a year ago to finishing first in the Western Conference will also help his cause.  This is Giordano’s first nomination for the award and could become only the fourth defenseman to win it at the age of 35 or older.

Burns, who won the award back in 2017, led all blueliners in scoring with 83 points in 82 games as well as game-winning goals (six) and shots on goal (300).  He’s only the fourth defender since 1995-96 to average a point per game and is only the third one in NHL history to lead his team in scoring for three straight years.  His play in his own end can be shaky at times but he logged over 25 minutes a night of ice time and his production was higher than it was when he won the award with a 76-point campaign.

The winner will be announced on June 19th at the annual NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas.

2018-19 King Clancy Memorial Trophy Nominees Announced

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The NHL has released their list of nominees for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. The award is given to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.” Last season was the first time it was awarded to a pair of players, as the Vancouver Canucks’ Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin took home the trophy for their long history of helping the Vancouver community.

Each team nominates one player for the award. The nominees are:

Anaheim Ducks: Cam Fowler

Arizona Coyotes: Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Boston Bruins: Zdeno Chara

Buffalo Sabres: Jack Eichel

Calgary Flames: Mark Giordano

Carolina Hurricanes: Justin Faulk

Chicago Blackhawks: Corey Crawford

Colorado Avalanche: Gabriel Landeskog

Columbus Blue Jackets: Nick Foligno

Dallas Stars: John Klingberg

Detroit Red Wings: Jimmy Howard

Edmonton Oilers: Leon Draisaitl

Florida Panthers: Roberto Luongo

Los Angeles Kings: Tyler Toffoli

Minnesota Wild: Jason Zucker

Montreal Canadiens: Max Domi

Nashville Predators: Pekka Rinne

New Jersey Devils: Kyle Palmieri

New York Islanders: Anders Lee

New York Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist

Ottawa Senators: Mark Borowiecki

Philadelphia Flyers: Claude Giroux

Pittsburgh Penguins: Matt Murray

San Jose Sharks: Brenden Dillon

St. Louis Blues: Ryan O’Reilly

Tampa Bay Lightning: Ryan Callahan

Toronto Maple Leafs: Zach Hyman

Vancouver Canucks: Alexander Edler

Vegas Golden Knights: Deryk Engelland

Washington Capitals: Tom Wilson

Winnipeg Jets: Bryan Little

Nominees Announced For 2019 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

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The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is given out annually to the NHL player who exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. The award has been voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association since 1968, and today they announced their nominees for 2019.

Past winners of the award include Brian Boyle (2018), Craig Anderson (2017), Jaromir Jagr (2016), Devan Dubnyk (2015), Dominic Moore (2014) and Josh Harding (2013).

Below are the nominees from each team:

Anaheim Ducks – Patrick Eaves

Arizona Coyotes – Michael Grabner

Boston Bruins – Zdeno Chara

Buffalo Sabres – Jason Pominville

Calgary Flames – Mark Giordano

Carolina Hurricanes – Curtis McElhinney

Chicago Blackhawks – Corey Crawford

Colorado Avalanche – Carl Soderberg

Columbus Blue Jackets – Nick Foligno

Dallas Stars – Taylor Fedun

Detroit Red Wings – Niklas Kronwall

Edmonton Oilers – Andrej Sekera

Florida Panthers – Derek MacKenzie

Los Angeles Kings – Jack Campbell

Minnesota Wild – Ryan Suter

Montreal Canadiens – Andrew Shaw

Nashville Predators – Rocco Grimaldi

New Jersey Devils – Cory Schneider

New York Islanders – Robin Lehner

New York Rangers – Brendan Smith

Ottawa Senators – Jean-Gabriel Pageau

Philadelphia Flyers – Brian Elliott

Pittsburgh Penguins – Matt Cullen

San Jose Sharks – Joe Thornton

St. Louis Blues – Jay Bouwmeester

Tampa Bay Lightning – Ryan Callahan

Toronto Maple Leafs – Tyler Ennis

Vancouver Canucks – Jacob Markstrom

Vegas Golden Knights – Ryan Carpenter

Washington Capitals – Brooks Orpik

Winnipeg Jets – Dmitry Kulikov

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

2018 NHL Awards Recap

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The NHL Awards were held Wednesday night and some interesting choices were made for the trophies. Below are the award winners, finalists and voting totals where applicable (via the PHWA unless otherwise noted):

Ted Lindsay Award – Most Outstanding Player (as voted by the players)

Winner: Connor McDavid (Oilers)
Runners-Up:  Taylor Hall (Devils), Nathan MacKinnon (Avalanche)

Norris Trophy – Top Defenseman

Winner: Victor Hedman (Lightning)
Runners-Up:  Drew Doughty (Kings), P.K. Subban (Predators)

Full Voting Results

King Clancy Trophy – Humanitarian

Winners: Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin (Canucks)
Runners-Up: P.K. Subban (Predators), Jason Zucker (Wild)

Calder Trophy – Rookie Of The Year

Winner: Mathew Barzal (Islanders)
Runners-Up: Brock Boeser (Canucks), Clayton Keller (Coyotes)

Full Voting Results

Lady Byng Trophy – Most Gentlemanly Player

Winner: William Karlsson (Golden Knights)
Runners-Up: Aleksander Barkov (Panthers), Ryan O’Reilly (Sabres)

Full Voting Results

Bill Masterton Award – Perseverance, Sportsmanship, And Dedication

Winner: Brian Boyle (Devils)
Runners-Up: Jordan Staal (Hurricanes), Roberto Luongo (Panthers)

Selke Trophy – Best Defensive Forward

Winner: Anze Kopitar (Kings)
Runners-Up: Patrice Bergeron (Bruins), Sean Couturier (Flyers)

Full Voting Results

Jack Adams Award – Coach Of The Year

Winner: Gerard Gallant (Golden Knights)
Runners-Up: Jared Bednar (Avalanche), Bruce Cassidy (Bruins)

Full Voting Results (via Sean Leahy of NBC Sports)

Messier Leadership Award

Winner: Deryk Engelland (Golden Knights)
Runners-Up: Wayne Simmonds (Flyers), Blake Wheeler (Jets)

Vezina Trophy – Goaltender Of The Year

Winner: Pekka Rinne (Predators)
Runners-Up: Connor Hellebuyck (Jets), Andrei Vasilevskiy (Lightning)

Full Voting Results (via Leahy)

General Manager Of The Year

Winner: George McPhee (Golden Knights)
Runners-Up: Kevin Cheveldayoff (Jets), Steve Yzerman (Lightning)

Full Voting Results (via Mark Stepneski of Stars Inside Edge)

Hart Trophy – Most Valuable Player

Winner: Taylor Hall (Devils)
Runners-Up: Nathan MacKinnon (Avalanche), Anze Kopitar (Kings)

Full Voting Results

NHL Announces Finalists For GM Of The Year

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The NHL continued to reveal its contenders for their end-of-season awards with the announcement of its finalists for the GM of the Year Award.  Getting the nod this year are George McPhee (Golden Knights), Kevin Cheveldayoff (Jets), and Steve Yzerman (Lightning).

At first glance, McPhee appears to be the overwhelming contender.  Their story is well-documented as an expansion franchise that has shattered records all season long.  They are the lone franchise in any of the four major North American professional sports to win their division in their inaugural year.  And, of course, Vegas is still going strong in the playoffs.

As for Cheveldayoff, 2017-18 has been the year where his patience has been rewarded as Winnipeg is full of homegrown drafted and developed talent.  While he typically has been viewed as hesitant to make a big move, that changed at the trade deadline when the Jets acquired Paul Stastny who has fit in quite well so far, collecting 28 points in 33 games (regular season and playoffs) heading into action on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, the Lightning set franchise records in wins (54) and points (113) while taking home the Eastern Conference title.  They’re also filled with players developed in-house although Yzerman made a pair of key trades in the past 12 months by acquiring Mikhail Sergachev from Montreal last offseason and adding Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller from the Rangers at the trade deadline.

Unlike the majority of the awards, these were voted on by a panel of NHL executives, all 31 general managers, and some media members at the conclusion of the second round of the playoffs.  The winner will be named on June 20th.

2017-18 King Clancy Memorial Trophy Nominees Announced

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May 2nd: The league has announced the three (four?) finalists for the award. P.K. Subban of the Nashville Predators, Jason Zucker of the Minnesota Wild, and the duo of Henrik and Daniel Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks, nominated together.

April 23rd: Continuing with their announcements of award finalists, the NHL has released their list of nominees for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. The award is given to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”

Each team nominates one player for the award. The nominees are:

Anaheim Ducks: Ryan Getzlaf

Arizona Coyotes: Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Boston Bruins: Zdeno Chara

Buffalo Sabres: Zach Bogosian

Calgary Flames: Travis Hamonic

Carolina Hurricanes: Justin Faulk

Chicago Blackhawks: Duncan Keith

Colorado Avalanche: Gabriel Landeskog

Columbus Blue Jackets: Sergei Bobrovsky

Dallas Stars: Tyler Seguin

Detroit Red Wings: Justin Abdelkader

Edmonton Oilers: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Florida Panthers: Mike Matheson

Los Angeles Kings: Drew Doughty

Minnesota Wild: Jason Zucker

Montreal Canadiens: Brendan Gallagher

Nashville Predators: P.K. Subban

New Jersey Devils: Cory Schneider

New York Islanders: Anders Lee

New York Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist

Ottawa Senators: Mark Borowiecki

Philadelphia Flyers: Shayne Gostisbehere

Pittsburgh Penguins: Matt Murray

San Jose Sharks: Chris Tierney

St. Louis Blues: Alex Pietrangelo

Tampa Bay Lightning: Ryan Callahan

Toronto Maple Leafs: Matt Martin

Vancouver Canucks: Daniel Sedin & Henrik Sedin

Vegas Golden Knights: Deryk Engelland

Washington Capitals: Brooks Orpik

Winnipeg Jets: Matt Hendricks

NHL Announces Hart Trophy Candidates

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Who is the most valuable player in the NHL? In 2018, it will be one three forwards who finished in the top seven in scoring. However, it won’t be any of the names at #1-#4. Instead, the league announced that the finalists for the Hart Trophy are the Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon, the New Jersey Devils’ Taylor Hall, and the Los Angeles Kings’ Anze Kopitar, who finished fifth through seventh in points this season, respectively.

The three nominees, as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, will come as no surprise. All three were considered top candidates for the award this season after outstanding campaigns. MacKinnon and Hall each notched 39 goals en route to leading their teams back from the basement of the league last season to unlikely playoff berths. MacKinnon’s 97 points in 74 games was second only to Connor McDavid in per-game production among full-season players, while Hall’s 93 points – 41 more than the next-best player in New Jersey – was the largest proportion of team points in the league. Meanwhile in L.A., Kopitar bounced back from a down 2016-17 season personally with 92 points, while also playing Selke-caliber defense.

As always, there were deserving candidates who did not get the nod as a Hart finalist. McDavid obviously stands out as the reigning MVP and the league’s top scorer at 108 points. However, the struggles of McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers made it unlikely he would get a second consecutive shot at the award. The other top-four scorers – the Philadelphia Flyers’ Claude Giroux, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov, and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin – did not share those same struggles, but their Hart resumes weren’t helped by the other talented players on their teams, such as top-15 scorers Jakub Voracek, Steven Stamkos, Phil Kessel, and Sidney Crosby. Other snubs include Rocket Richard winner Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, NHL assists leader and the captain of the upstart Winnipeg Jets, Blake Wheeler, and a player who may have pushed McDavid for the scoring title if not for injuries and suspensions, the Boston Bruins’ Brad Marchand. However, it is hard to argue that the three finalists picked by the PHWA are not the three most deserving players to be up for the Hart this season. The winner of hockey’s MVP award will be revealed at the NHL Awards on June 20th.

Barzal, Boeser, Keller Nominated For Calder Trophy

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The NHL released the names of the 2018 Calder Trophy nominees as the New York Islanders’ Mathew Barzal, Vancouver Canucks’ Brock Boeser and the Arizona Coyotes’ Clayton Keller were named as the league’s top rookies. The award will be voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association with the winners to be announced on June 20 in Las Vegas.

In a year in which there were a large amount of talented rookies, several good players didn’t get nominated, including the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Yanni Gourde, Boston Bruins’ Charlie McAvoy, New Jersey Devils’ Nico Hischier, Chicago Blackhawks’ Alex DeBrincat and Winnipeg Jets’ Kyle Connor.

Barzal is the likely hands down winner after putting up a great rookie year with 22 goals and 83 points, centering the Islanders’ second line for most of the season. He was the only rookie to average more than a point per game (1.04) and had three five-point performances throughout the season. His emergence could lessen the blow if teammate John Tavares opts to leave via free agency as Barzal could easily take over as the team’s franchise player.

Boeser’s chances are slimmer after only playing in 62 games when he was lost for the season with a back injury. However, in that time, he put up 29 goals, 55 points and was named MVP of the 2018 All-Star Game. He should be a constant presence along with Bo Horvat with the young core of forwards that are coming in as the team’s rebuilding project begins to come to fruition.

Keller led all rookies in ice time (18:05) and put up 23 goals and 42 assists in his freshman campaign and also led the team in goals, assists and points. He provides the franchise with another core piece as the Coyotes begin to build their team back to contending status.

NBC Sports’ Sean Leahy was the first to report the news.

NHL Announces Bill Masterton Trophy Finalists for 2017-18

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The NHL announced the New Jersey Devils’ Brian Boyle, Florida Panthers’ Roberto Luongo and Carolina Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal as the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy finalists Saturday for the 2017-18 season. The award is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association nominate players who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.” The winner will be announced June 20 during the 2018 NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

Boyle has received quite a lot of exposure already after being diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, a type of bone marrow cancer at the start of training camp this season. The 33-year-old returned to the Devils on Nov. 1 and put up 10 goals in his first 25 games and 13 goals and 23 points in 69 games for the season as a bottom line center for the playoff-bound Devils. He also represented New Jersey at the 2018 all-star game.

Luongo, who has dealt with both hand and groin injuries at age 39 and still produced a solid season with the Panthers. He still played 35 games, picking up 18 wins with a 2.47 GAA and a .929 save percentage. He made an emotional speech on Feb. 22 prior to the game addressing the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, honoring the victims.

Staal put up a solid season despite dealing with family tragedy. In late February, Staal and his wife, Heather, announced their daughter Hannah was delivered stillborn due to a terminal birth defect and only missed three games. Staal put up 19 goals and 27 assists this year. The 29-year-old skated in his 800th game and scored his 200th goal this season.

 

NHL Announces Lady Byng Trophy Finalists

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The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy often doesn’t get the credit it deserves, but in 2018 the high-profile nominees should turn some heads. The three finalists, as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, were announced by the league tonight as the Florida Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov, the Vegas Golden Knights’ William Karlsson, and the Buffalo Sabres’ Ryan O’Reilly. Whoever of the three is judged to have “exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability” will take home the hardware at the NHL Awards in June.

In many ways, this Lady Byng race is almost a runner-up competition to the Selke Trophy. All three of Barkov, Karlsson, and O’Reilly could have been a finalist for the best defensive player award this season. Barkov is a two-way wizard, Karlsson led the NHL in plus/minus, and O’Reilly continues to be one of the best face-off specialists of his generation. There was no lack of offense either, as Barkov and Karlsson each set career-highs with 78 points, while O’Reilly notched his fifth-straight season of 55+ points. However, they all have shown an adept ability to avoid penalties as well – a major criteria for the Lady Byng. O’Reilly in particular was a shockingly clean competitor in 2017-18, taking just one two-minute minor penalty in 81 games for an average of just one second worth of penalty minutes per game. This was far and away the most impressive mark on the year. Karlsson played in all 82 games, accumulating only six minor penalties for 12 PIM. Barkov was guilty of just seven minors, a total of 14 minutes in the box, all season.

The gentlemanly conduct is apparent among the finalists, as is the high standard of ability at both ends of the rink. All three played nearly game this season as well, showing the most important ability of all – availability. So what could decide the race? Sportsmanship, which is where O’Reilly’s recent remarks could hurt him. The Sabres center recently went on record as saying that he has lost his love for the game while playing in Buffalo. Compare that attitude to those of Karlsson, arguably the best skater on the team who has been the biggest story in hockey in their inaugural season, and Barkov, who has grown into a leader in Florida and led his team to an unlikely late-season surge, and you can see how O’Reilly could lose some votes. We’ll know for sure how it turns out at the NHL Awards on June 20th in Karlsson’s new home town.

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