Who’s got Hart?

Today the final three nominees for this year’s Hart Trophy (aka MVP) award were announced. This award is meant to be awarded to the ”player adjudged most valuable to his team”. The three nominees are Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin, and Pavel Datsyuk. A case could easily be made for any of these three talented forwards.

Pavel Datsyuk

Datsyuk may not quite be at the top with Malkin and Ovechkin when it comes to points, but for the second year in a row, he is up for the Selke trophy (best defensive forward). Being as good as he is defensively may not put quite as many fans in the stands but it is very valuable to any successfuly team. On top of being one of the top forwards defensively, he also has undeniably amazing skills, and he did get 97 points which is notable on its own. The only downside to Datsyuk for the Hart is that he has an amazing team, therefore it is arguable that they could be good even without this all-around all-star.

Evgeni Malkin

This young star has been shadowed since his arrival by the presence of Crosby, but this year he has emerged and shown that he can be just as good if not better than Sid the Kid. He lead the league in points this year, and led his team back from a shaky start into the fourth spot in the Eastern conference and also past the Flyers in round 1. The problem that i see with giving Malkin the Hart is much the same one as giving it to Datsyuk, I mean he is on the same team as Sid, and either of these guys could easily be called the best in the game, so how do you say that they were the most valuable to any single team?

Alexander Ovechkin

Last but not least, Alex the Great. This guy is my personal nominee. Once again he has lead the league in goals scored in a season, only this time he missed the points title by 3. My arguments for both of the other players were the same, and you could say the same about Ovi and the Caps. Ovechkin had the help of Semin, Green, and Backstrom to get his team to 2nd place. I think the difference is that every year, the Caps exceed expectations, and I believe that Ovechkin has a lot to do with that. Who expected Washington to finish 2nd in the East? I sure didn’t. You can’t say the same for the likes of Detroit or Pittsburgh, both these teams won their conferences last year, and had minimal losses last offseason (except for Hossa going from one to the other). But the Caps exceeded expectations this season, and i think that is the deciding factor, Ovi did the most with the least.

Round 2 Predictions

Detroit vs. Anaheim

Wings in 7. Yes the ducks did just knock off this season’s arguable favourite for the cup, but let’s be real, how many years in a row has SJ been favoured? They have managed to disappoint every year which is why I am not surprised that they are already gone. The reason I am giving the Ducks enough respect to last until game 7 is because of their young tender Jonas Hiller. He managed to keep the Sharks, a team with 257 goals in 82 games during the reg season, down to 10 goals in 6 playoff games with a GAA of 1.64 and a sv% of .957. Although these numbers are impressive, we also witnessed the Red Wings put 18 goals in the net in only 4 games, and every goal went past probable rookie of the year and potential Vezina winner Steve Mason. This series may very well be over before game 7, but Anaheim has a very tough and young core that could potentially do some damage away from Jos Louis arena.

Vancouver vs. Chicago

Canucks in 6. This series is shaping up to be your classic gaoltender’s duel. On one side you have a goalie with a stanley cup in Khabibulin who seems to give his team a chance to win every night. On the other side you have arguably the league’s best goaltender in Luongo who also has the best GAA and sv% this postseason. Both these goalies could very well win this series for their respective teams, so i think the determining factor in the series will be the Canuck’s very tough defensive core matching up against the inexperienced and young offense of the ‘Hawks.

Boston vs. Carolina

Bruins in 5. This series is a strange one that is difficult for me to make any predictions on. I just cannot see how the Canes keep winning, I think that the stanley cup run they made back in 05/06 is the reason they keep surprising me. Their best player by far is Eric Staal, and Cam Ward has been solid in net as he has proven he can be in the past. After Staal and Ray Whitney there is a large drop-off in skilled offensive players. you could make cases for both Brind’Amour and Samsonov, but both seem to have reached their peak years ago. The Bruins have the perfect mix of veterans and skilled young’ns between Savard, Recchi, and Ryder, Krejci, Lucic, and Kessel. They also have a goalie that has proven through this season that he can be just as good if not better than Ward in Tim Thomas.

Washington vs. Pittsburgh

Pens in 7. The pens could easily end this series quickly, but i think it is more of a hope than an actual prediction for a game 7. This series has been a long time in the making, Sid the Kid vs. Alexander the Great. Who wouldn’t want this series to go to 7? Personally i am a big Ovechkin fan so I am rooting for the Caps, but i don’t see how they could beat the Pens. Pens win the tender battle hands down, and I won’t change my mind until Varlamov can prove himself. Fleury has been slightly unstable in the past, but for the most part has proven himself, including proving that he can bring the Pens to the cup finals. There is no reason why Fleury should fall apart when facing the Caps offense, he has faced offenses that are just as good if not better than the Caps in Philly this year and the Sens last year without giving in. If the Caps hope to surpass the Pens, they will need solid goaltending once again from Varlamov and they will need the core of their firepower, Ovi, Semin, Kozlov, Laich etc. to keep producing, and maybe even take it one step further.

Stanley Cup Winners: Detroit Red Wings. There are my predictions.

Round 1

Round 1 was an action-packed round full of everything from upsets (Anaheim over SJ) to expected sweeps (Boston over Habs) to 7 game series with unbelievable endings (Carolina over NJ), from coach-fan altercations (Tortorella) to fights between two all-stars (Thornton vs. Getzlaf). As a hockey fan I am thoroughly satisfied with round 1, i just hope round 2 can provide as much excitement.