A transparent look at one PHWA member's 2015 NHL Awards ballot
Each season, a majority of the members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association are asked to vote on a number of NHL trophies, and I’m proud to be a member of that bunch. Given what the awards do for player legacies and how much I value the history of hockey, I take the responsibility seriously.
We’re asked to rank players in each respective category one through five, with one obviously being our top vote. We send our votes away to an independent agency who tallies the votes, and voila – the party in Vegas is set.
Below are the players I voted for, with a look at my logic behind my picks.
HART TROPHY
If you’re interested, here’s what I think about the Hart Trophy. In a nutshell, voting for the player who most outpaces the second-best player on their team is silly (as in, should Cory Schneider win because he contributed the largest piece of “value” to the Devils?). I vote how it’s always been voted: the guy who had the best season, i.e, provided the most overall “value.”
I don’t feel my ballot below needs much of a defense. Carey Price was historically great this season, with no player making near the imprint he did on the league.
1. Carey Price
2. Alex Ovechkin
3. John Tavares
4. Sidney Crosby
5. Ryan Getzlaf
It’s worth noting that Sidney Crosby had an off year, but you need to be careful to remember we’re not voting for a player based on his expectations (which is insanely easy to fall into). Crosby’s “off year” was still amazing, as he led the league in points per game.
NORRIS TROPHY
This is another one I’m pretty damn confident in, but there’s clearly a little more explaining to do.
Erik Karlsson again led NHL D-men in scoring, finishing six points ahead of the next closest guy. He’s a breakout machine. He’s a play driver. He’s borderline unmanageable for his opponents. People love the concept of “D-man” equalling “defensive-man” – it’s so romantic! – but ask the best coaches in hockey, they’ll tell you they prefer a guy so good at turning the puck up ice, he rarely has to “defend.”
1. Erik Karlsson
2. Kris Letang
3. Mark Giordano
4. P.K. Subban
5. Drew Doughty
After that is me being a bit wishy-washy. If you believe Mark Giordano didn’t play enough games to win the trophy, most just X-ed him out, which is fair. I don’t believe in the theory that you can’t give the award to a guy who missed 21 games when there’s still so much time for a potential slump. But I do think he did enough in his shortened time – by playing like someone who would’ve given Karlsson a run – to at least deserve honorable mention. I felt similarly about Letang, so “honorable mentions” it was.
After that, well, there’s your two other finalists.
CALDER TROPHY
This one could’ve gone either way, but for me, what Johnny Gaudreau did for the Flames – dragging a team that seemed destined for the basement into playoffs – put him over the top. More than any of the guys up for this award, I thought Gaudreau became the identity of his team. He provided the teeth for what looked to be an offense without bite.
1. Johnny Gaudreau
2. Aaron Ekblad
3. Mark Stone
4. Filip Forsberg
5. John Klingberg
SELKE TROPHY
Not much to be said here. Patrice Bergeron’s exceptional play on the defensive side of the puck has been well documented.
1. Patrice Bergeron
2. Pavel Datsyuk
3. Jonathan Toews
4. Anze Kopitar
5. David Backes
LADY BYNG
Pavel Datsyuk
Frans Nielsen
Anze Kopitar
Chris Tanev
Sean Monahan
OK, on to the All-Star teams!
NHL ALL-STAR TEAM
CENTER
• John Tavares
• Tyler Seguin
• Sidney Crosby
RIGHT WING
• Patrick Kane
• Jakub Voracek
• Vladimir Tarasenko
LEFT WING
• Alex Ovechkin
• Jamie Benn
• Rick Nash
DEFENSEMEN
• Erik Karlsson
• P.K. Subban
• Drew Doughty
• Kris Letang
• Mark Giordano
• Dustin Byfuglien
GOALIE
• Carey Price
ALL ROOKIE TEAM
FORWARDS
• Johnny Gaudreau
• Mark Stone
• Filip Forsberg
DEFENSEMEN
• Aaron Ekblad
• John Klingberg
GOALIE
• Petr Mrazek
The comment section is open, friends. Let me know where I went wrong!