NHL Award Predictions

While the second round winds itself down, the nominations for the annual NHL awards have been announced. Who should take home the hardware when all is said and done? Check it out.

Hart Trophy (MVP)

Nominations: Jaromir Jagr, Joe Thornton, Miikka Kiprusoff

SC's Winner: Joe Thornton

There's a valid argument for all three players here. Jagr was the heart and soul (a phrase not usually associated with Jagr) of the New York Ranger resurgence, Joe Thornton changed the San Jose Sharks from also-rans to Cup contenders, and the Flames simply don't win when Kiprusoff has an off day.

However, no one has had a more complete impact on his team than Joe Thornton. Thornton affected every aspect of the Sharks' roster. Patrick Marleau's newly-formed second line forced teams to pick their poison. Thornton played the penalty kill, backchecked, and was one of the Sharks' best face-off men. In addition, the usual dominance that came when Thornton was on the ice allowed the Sharks' young defense a little bit of wiggle room to get their legs going. From top to bottom, no one changed a team like Joe Thornton.

Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman)

Nominations: Scott Niedermayer, Sergei Zubov, Nick Lidstrom

SC's Winner: Scott Niedermayer

What a season for Scott Niedermayer. Not only did he post career highs in points, he showed the world that his success was based on his inherent leadership skills and unmatched skating ability, not the New Jersey Devils' system or the presence of Scott Stevens. Assuming the captaincy of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Niedermayer started off slowly in his new surroundings and gradually became better and better as the season went along. Skipping the Olympics for the sake of his NHL team, Niedermayer rounded off into form around the midway point of the season and was easily the league's best blueliner since then.

Calder Trophy (Best Rookie)

Nominations: Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Dion Phaneuf

SC's Winner: Sidney Crosby

The winner of the Calder will almost undoubtedly be Alexander Ovechkin, but my vote goes to Sid the Kid. Many people overlook the fact that Crosby only finished with four less points than Ovechkin (102 vs. 106) — an amazing feat considering that Crosby is still 18-years-old (and the youngest player in NHL history to hit 100 points). Honestly, you can't go wrong picking either Crosby or Ovechkin — they're both magnificent franchise players that the league should market the heck out of over the next decade.

My vote goes to Crosby simply because the Washington Capitals knew they were in a rebuilding year and gelled as a team because of the acknowledged youth movement. Crosby had to endure drama, retirements, supposed locker room infighting, and the general deterioration of a team that had high hopes and transform that into the successful campaign that he had.

Some will argue that Crosby had more to work with during the first third of the season, and to an extent, that's true — Ziggy Palffy was still effective when he retired and Mark Recchi was fairly consistent. But a broken John Leclair and Mario Lemieux with heart problems doesn't make for a Stanley Cup contender. The fact that Crosby was able to pull it all together for a great end run while a team was rebuilt, destroyed, and rebuilt again all while facing media scrutiny and criticism makes him the winner by a hair in my book.

Vezina Trophy (Best Goaltender)

Nominations: Martin Brodeur, Miikka Kiprusoff, Henrik Lundquist

SC's Winner: Miikka Kiprusoff

How important was Miikka Kiprusoff to the Calgary Flames? Consider the fact that the team had a 100-point season and won their division while being one of the lowest scoring teams in the league. Kiprusoff's heroics weren't enough to get the team past the first round of the playoffs (scoring zero goals in a Game 7 won't help any goaltender), but it doesn't diminish the accomplishments of Kiprusoff's amazing season.

Some will speculate that Kiprusoff wouldn't be as good without such a strong defense in front of him, and that may be a valid point. However, the results do speak for themselves — if the Flames had an average goaltender, there's a good chance that they wouldn't have even made the playoffs. That's reason enough for the Vezina.

Jack Adams Trophy (Best Coach)

Nominations: Peter Laviolette, Tom Renney, Lindy Ruff

SC's Winner: Tom Renney

Tom Renney was able to do what a slew of coaches couldn't do before — motivate an aging Jaromir Jagr to reclaim the title as best player in the NHL. That's enough to warrant some consideration for the Jack Adams award, but Renney was also skilled enough to pull the Rangers — largely a nameless bunch — into playing a sound defensive game (with a better goals-against average than New Jersey) and, more importantly, change the culture of losing that had surrounded the team for nearly a decade. True, the Rangers came back down to earth during the last few games of the season after being hit by injuries on all fronts, but that doesn't diminish any of Renney's accomplishments.

Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward)

Nominations: Rod Brind'amour, Jere Lehtinen, Mike Fisher

SC's Winner: Rod Brind'amour

It's kind of surprising that Minnesota's Brian Rolston wasn't nominated considering the numbers he put up this season, but out of these three, Rod Brind'amour represented the best of all worlds. Nearly unbeatable on faceoffs, Brind'amour played in every situation — power play, penalty kill, with the lead, when behind. He defended leads and he led the charge when the Hurricanes fell behind. He took every critical draw and was always first to sacrifice his body on the penalty kill. There were even whispers that Brind'amour's season was Hart Trophy worthy. That didn't come to pass, so the Selke will have to be enough for now.