Awards at the Quarter turn

[yave1964]

US Thanksgiving has traditionally been called the quarter turn in the NHL season, and so because I dont have an original bone in my body I am gonna do what pretty much everyone else is doing and put down my list of award winners as we pass the quarter turn. Feel free to jump in and throw two cents around.

 

HART TROPHY Ovechkin damnit. McJesus and Draisatl split the Edmonton Oil King vote letting Ovechkin win the award. Nod out to Kadri who has had one hell of a season keeping colorado poised to take off now that everyone is getting healthy.

 

VEZINA TROPHY Lots of choices. LOTS

Markstrom 9-4-4 1.75 goals against and a league leading 5 shutouts

Campbell 12-4-1 league leading 1.64 goals against  3 shutouts. league leading insane .946 save pct as well.

Bobrovsky 10-1-2 2.18 goals against If this was the old Vezina where it was awarded to the the goalie tandem he and Knight would win hands down

Jarry 10-4-4 1.85 goals against. Hottest goalie in the game right now.

 

 Shout outs to Shester, Andersen, Talbot, maybe Gibson. 

 

My winner is Campbell who with Mrazek out has dominated as the Leafs are flying sky high but at least four people could win and I wouldnt have a problem.

 

CALDER TROPHY Really only two candidates at this point both in Motown.

Seider has 14 points in 23 games playing huge minutes and is established as a true blue top pair defender already with massive upside. He and Raymond are 1-2 among all rookies in scoring.

Raymond however gets the nod, leads all rookies with 9 goals and 21 points including two overtime winners.

Zegras started glacially slow but has heated up of late and is trying to get back in the race.

 

JACK ADAMS TROPHY Lots of teams going good to great but to me it is one of two people

 

Andrew Burnette took over a loaded and stacked Panther team when Quenneville was forced out and they have actually never missed a beat Very deserving.

 

  For my money it is Darryl Sutter who has his Flames kicking butt and taking names and believing in themselves. A team that was not supposed to go anywhere is among the best in the game so he gets my nod.

 

LADY BING TROPHY And yet again, who really cares. Seriously. 

 

NORRIS TROPHY IMHO Ekblad is so far ahead of anyone else this year that there is noboby else. Ekblad is the conversation nobody else to consider when you consider the 200 foot game.

 

SELKE TROPHY Usually goes to a center but anyone who has watched Matthew Tkachuk play this year is seeing him play on a whole new level. I give him the nod over Tavares and Boone Jenner who are both having monster seasons at both ends of the ice.

 

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Here are MY "way too early" winners:

HART-- Leon Draisaitl. (EDM)
Hey, I know Ovie is on a quest, and McDavid is always McDavid, but Drai goes about his business without really caring about the situation. Even strength, PP, he gets it done in equal measure.
Couple that with a league leading RIDICULOUS 2 pts/Gm and another league leading 6 GWG's, PLUS the fact that he helps take lots of heat off Connor McDavid with regards to on ice coverage and matchups, and no one can convince me that anyone other than Drai is most valuable not only to his own team, but if you were to place him on any other team as well.

VEZINA-- Igor Shesterkin (NYR)
His GAA and Save% numbers may not be the best, but he isn't far off from the leaders in either and is at least top 5 in both.
What's most impressive about him, despite excellent years by guys like Campbell, Markstrom, Jarry, etc, is that Shester is helping to carry what is probably one of the LEAST experienced defenses of the top group of goalies.

Only Jacob Trouba and Patrick Nemeth are over 25 years of age, and of those two, Trouba is the only established guy. Other key components on the Ranger defense (Fox, Lindgren, Miller, Lundkvist) are ALL under 25, and you can see in watching games, they still are making typical 'young defenseman' mistakes, yes, even Adam Fox, due to their lack of experience.

But Shesterkin, just 25 himself, and youngest of the top goalies in the league, stays poised and calm out there, and continues to bail his young defense until they get better at their jobs.
Guy like that putting up the numbers he is, while 'nursing' a defense that is still getting up to speed, and looks like a 10 yr vet doing it, gets my Vezina vote.

 

CALDER-- Lucas Raymond (DET)
I will agree that Detroit has the two best candidates here and will also agree on giving the nod to Raymond.
Why?
Because while the Detroit defense is far from a finished product, there are at least decent veterans there to help insulate Seider (not that he needs a ton of insulating, mind you)...guys like Leddy, Oesterle, and Staal, whereas Raymond is amongst a forward group that still has largely grinders or guys who, despite being in their late 20's, have yet to really establish themselves as legit threats in the league.

Yet there is Raymond, just doing his thing despite the double team coverage, despite others on the team not quite scoring enough to take heat off of him.

JACK ADAMS-- Dean Evason (MIN)
Honestly, who in the blue hell thought the Wild were gonna make any kind of noise this season, much less be sitting in 1st place at the quarter pole with what looks like a real shot at making the playoffs?
No one, that's who.

The Wild have stuck themselves in cap hell the next 4 years by making two large buyouts (Parise and Suter), and having to rely on reclamation projects, still-raw up n comers, or guys looking to stick in the NHL after spending years in the minors somewhere.
Not only that, but in making the buyouts, the Wild have instigated a big culture change in the locker room, and those things usually take their toll on team cohesion.

But there is Dean Evason, with his "nobody" team all buying in, all playing a part, all four lines doing their jobs, all three defense pairs doing theirs, and the goaltending duo of Talbot/Kahkonen, far from anyone's dynamic duo, doing fine in goal.
The team is listening to this man, even when they are down in games they should lose, and continue to play hard till the final whistle, win or lose.
If Evason hasn't demonstrated Jack Adams mettle in shaping this team that wasn't supposed to go very far at all, then I don't know what else to say...

LADY BYNG-- Timo Meier (SJ)
Guy just doesn't take penalties....yet he is out there hitting, scoring, and rounding himself back into the form that SJ first thought they could build around.
Far from a "soft" player, but doesn't do anything to hurt his team, or make other players want to rip his head off, unlike a certain rodent-like player in the East  , all while producing.

NORRIS-- John Carlson (WSH)
This one was tough. I like Carlson, Fox, and Ekblad here.
Ek for the reasons @yave1964 mentioned, Fox because he is very young himself, still does veteran things, and as I mentioned before, helping to lead a mostly 'green' defensive corps.

But John Carlson is simply "Mr. Steady and Efficient". He doesn't care what goalie is behind him, what forward lines are being played, what partner he has, or whether the Caps are in a winning streak or a losing streak.
He is very professional, productive, and takes care of his own end, while still being a legit threat to jump into a play. Every night.
And his numbers in just about every important category are usually among the league's best for his position, including this year.

SELKE-- Adam Lowry (WPG)
A few guys I can think of for this... Eriksson Ek in Minnesota, Stamkos in TB (yes, Stammer, he does many good defensive things away from the puck, even when he isn't scoring), ol standby Bergeron in Boston, even someone like Yanni Gourde in Seattle who is a backchecking machine.

But the Jets' Adam Lowry, unheralded Adam Lowry, is not only a premier face off man and checker, but is usually called upon by the defensively challenged Winnipeg club to just shut down a given scoring threat, and in that regard, the man simply does NOT give the puck away (he is amongst the leaders in puck stinginess and has been for YEARS), and is one of the best in the league at pickpocketing, either by finesse or brute force, and relieving the opposition of the puck on top of that, as his takeaways per 60 minutes show.

His own production numbers suffer because of his defensive prowess (though he can make you pay if you ignore him in prime scoring areas), but if I need a defensive forward to win a draw, cover a known threat, or smash someone into the 5th row, while not coughing the puck up himself, I'd want Adam Lowry on the case!

[thegx.ca]

I'm biased but I think Sutter and Markstrom will run their respective categories, Sutter style hockey guarantees more shutouts on way too.

 

McJesus will win Hart, he is finally becoming the captain he should be leading Edmonton to me heights each year, like Crosby did before.

 

More biased picks, but Coleman and Backlund post against the best lines for Calgary - and the team shutouts and goals against and penalty kill are better because for them.

 

Ekblad fort Norris.

 

Ellers for Lady Byng, you can see him always breaking up and showing real concern for anyone hurt or just overall courtesy politeness.

 

Not sure about others, but those are my biased picks.

 

 

[OccamsRazor]

You forgot one...

 

 

The Flaming Turd:

 

The Philadelphia Flyers!!!

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

29 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

You forgot one...

 

 

The Flaming Turd:

 

The Philadelphia Flyers!!!

 

 

I believe they were saving that one for the Bettman Awards show  

[Math]

14 hours ago, yave1964 said:

HART TROPHY Ovechkin damnit.

 

I heard on RDS that he has missed 156 games due to Covid and lock-outs. At the same goals/game rate, he would be trailing Gretzky only by like 40-50 goals, so definitely putting the Great One off the books, which is a crazy thing given that now hockey is played with real defenses and goalies. I strongly root for him to break this record despite the missed games he had.

 

14 hours ago, yave1964 said:

JACK ADAMS TROPHY Lots of teams going good to great but to me it is one of two people

 

Dean Evason, Rod Brind'Amour for the runner-up if Carolina wins the divison.

 

14 hours ago, yave1964 said:

LADY BING TROPHY And yet again, who really cares. Seriously.

 

Not better. I randomly picked and it has fallen on... Oh damn, Brendan Lemieux. OK, I'll do another pick.

 

 

14 hours ago, yave1964 said:

NORRIS TROPHY IMHO Ekblad is so far ahead of anyone else this year that there is noboby else. Ekblad is the conversation nobody else to consider when you consider the 200 foot game.

 

I'm preaching in my own church but Heiskanen, while being under the radar due to the Stars slump early in the season, is carrying this team all by himself. He's a constant threat and he is the one who is capable to silent guys like McDavid. McJesus was invisible in the last Stars-Oilers game. He's also on pace for a 70-pt season.

 

 

14 hours ago, yave1964 said:

SELKE TROPHY Usually goes to a center but anyone who has watched Matthew Tkachuk play this year is seeing him play on a whole new level. I give him the nod over Tavares and Boone Jenner who are both having monster seasons at both ends of the ice.

 

I'd put Benn on the list since he became very good in dumping the puck and let others chasing it while sleepily go for a line change.

[SaucyJack]

On 12/1/2021 at 5:12 PM, yave1964 said:

LADY BING TROPHY And yet again, who really cares. Seriously. 

Wayne Gretzky?

Pavel Datsyuk?

Mike Bossy?

Ron Francis?

Martin St Louis?

Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy?

 

NOTE:  As the 3rd, 4th, and 5th entries indicate, there is no contradiction in being a Cap Killer and playing the game at both a high quality and gentlemanly manner. 

[FD19372]

On 12/2/2021 at 8:20 AM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

I believe they were saving that one for the Bettman Awards show  

Right after they win a Stick a Fork in em' Award.

[yave1964]

7 hours ago, SaucyJack said:

Wayne Gretzky?

Pavel Datsyuk?

Mike Bossy?

Ron Francis?

Martin St Louis?

Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy?

 

NOTE:  As the 3rd, 4th, and 5th entries indicate, there is no contradiction in being a Cap Killer and playing the game at both a high quality and gentlemanly manner. 

I know, I know, I just think the award needs retired, it is a bit of a joke at this point. I remember Datsyuk won it a couple of years in a row and the following year in the season opener he got into a fight with Corey Perry, a real good scrap. Mickey Redmond chuckled and said he guessed Pavel did that in the opener so he wouldnt have to worry about having to win the Bing the next year and getting teased again by his teammates... 

[SaucyJack]

3 hours ago, yave1964 said:

I know, I know, I just think the award needs retired, it is a bit of a joke at this point

Probably right.  The award seems of a time when all the genteel influencers also figured it would be a smashing idea and Great Fun for Olympic athletes to live for two weeks in a “village” of dorm rooms like college freshmen and really really get to know each other between training and events.  
 

Oh and of course to not make a nickel as professionals in their chosen athletic endeavors, I mean how crass would that be?  (Ah, but we can’t let 19th century idealism totally die can we?)