Countdown to the Hart Trophy

[Dude]

My point is +/- isn't a great indication of contribution in this instance.

Otherwise, Jinky's right.

 

[Hands of Stone]

How Swede It IS or which Swede is IT

Hate to say it, but with Forsberg winning the scoring tilte today and also pushing his team to the Div. Title, he may be the front runner for the Hart.
The Aves have been on fire since Jan. and Forsberg has had alot to do with that beibg back fron injury.

Still hope Nazzy gets it, because we may not be a play-off team without him, but hats off to Forsberg. And the two of them could be playing together for Mojo in a few years.

Tough day, but Nazzy sumed it up, they Choked

hos

 

[sensei_hanson]

Originally posted by sensei_hanson
Bottom line is that Naslund deserves to win the Hart, and he's going to. Case closed. Pud.

Will this come back to bite me in the arse? Hedjuk's got the Richard, and Forsberg has the Art Ross. I still think Naslund deserves the honor, but I've got a western bias.

-Leaf Fan.

 

[sensei_hanson]

At the conclusion of the NHL's 2002-03 regular season SI.com spoke to Sports Illustrated senior writer Michael Farber about his picks for the major awards.
Affairs of the Hart: Forsberg an easy choice over Naslund for MVP

Hart Trophy: Peter Forsberg, Colorado

This is an easy choice. When Colorado struggled without Joe Sakic for 20 games in two stretches, Forsberg carried the team. Absolutely carried it. Most of his points came 5-on-5, where he led the league. He's never scored more than 30 goals, but he's physical and a great playmaker. He played on the wing some early, he's played center, and he dominates games in ways no one else in the league does.

The players chose Markus Naslund in a recent poll by The Hockey News, which shows just how wrong players can be, though he does deserve honorable mention for all of his game-winning goals and for helping Todd Bertuzzi to become a force. Bertuzzi, in turn, deserves recognition for becoming the perfect compliment to Naslund and for becoming a horse of a power forward, what John LeClair was a few years ago, but bigger.

Runners-up also include Martin Brodeur for putting the Devils where they are even though they don't always score a lot of goals. And Joe Thornton, who is just a superb all-around center, was instrumental in the Bruins' fast start that turned out to be enough to keep them in the playoffs.

Vezina Trophy: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey

This is as much a lifetime achievement award as it is for a guy whose save percentage of .914 is fine, but not startling. The 40-win season puts him over the top. Marty Turco is 1a. If Turco hadn't missed that stretch with a high-ankle sprain, and if sentiment weren't on Brodeur's side, this could have been his award. Honorable mention: J.S. Giguere in Anaheim, Ed Belfour in Toronto and Patrick Roy in Colorado.

Norris Trophy: Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit

There is a lot of sentiment to give this award to Al MacInnis, not exactly as a going-away present but as a tribute to what could be his final kick at the can. MacInnis had a tremendous season nurturing Barret Jackman and holding together a team that had uncertainty in net and injuries throughout, but none of that makes him a better defenseman than Lidstrom, who is the single best positional defenseman of his generation. MacInnis is the runner-up.

Jack Adams Trophy: Jacques Lemaire, Minnesota

Simply the best coach in the National Hockey League, and wouldn't it be wonderful if the best coach actually won the award? Lemaire has a lineup that if painted in broad strokes is Marian Gaborik and 19 guys you haven't heard of. But they did it with speed, team play and the most surprising individual performance of the year from Dwayne Roloson. Honorable mentions include John Tortorella in Tampa Bay, Mike Bab**** in Anaheim and Dave Tippett in Dallas.

Selke Award: Jere Lehtinen, Dallas

He had a very strong season both ways, but Lehtinen gets our vote here because he's the most conscientious forward in the league away from the puck. Boston's Brian Rolston deserves honorable mention.

Calder Trophy: Jay Bouwmeester, Florida

Tough one here, but my choice is Bouwmeester. I like him because I've seen Florida play a number of games this season, and he's been absolutely remarkable in five of the seven games. He's poised and big, and matched for the most part with another youngster in Mathieu Biron, having to play as a No. 1 pair. Bouwmeester won't win, won't even be a finalist -- Jackman is the likely winner -- but Jackman was able to learn from MacInnis while Bouwmeester had to learn on his own. Jackman, Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg and Rick Nash in Columbus are our runners-up.

Lady Byng Trophy: Lidstrom

Lidstrom plays more minutes against the top players in the league every night. It's far more likely you'll pick up penalties as a defenseman in that role than any of the others who will receive honorable mention -- Paul Kariya, etc. -- and 38 minutes is almost high for him, but it's still a pittance and, to me, that's gentlemanly.

 

[Dude]

Naslund will win: SI has just given the kiss of death to Forsberg.

 

[Jinky]

SI is a valid hockey authority.

It's got all them pretty pictures.

 

[sensei_hanson]

Sports Illustrated might not be, but I think Michael Farber knows his stuff. That whole getting elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame thing would indicate as much.