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With No Inter-Conference Play There Should Be Two MVPs Awarded. |
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The Finalists for the Hart Trophy are out today and the list is impressive....
from the NHL...
NEW YORK (May 10, 2013) – Center Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, right wing Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and center John Tavares of the New York Islanders are the three finalists for the 2012-13 Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded “to the player adjudged to be the
most valuable to his team,” the National Hockey League announced today.
The Hart trophy is voted on by the hockey writers and it is hard to argue the impact all three players had on their squads. The debate will always rage as to what "Most Valuable" means but I think most people believe the Hart goes to the "player of the year" more than the most valuable player...The most valuable player would probably be a goalie every year...This year I don't think there is any question that Sergei Bobrovsky was the "most valuable" to his team especially when there is another award, "The Ted Lindsay Award," which goes to the NHL's most outstanding player.
The Lindsay Award nominees for this year, as selected by the players, were announced yesterday and included Crosby and Ovechkin, but instead of Tavares the players added Marty St. Louis who had a remarkable season and just keeps on going.
It's obviously hard to select 1 player from all of the teams in the East, but....wait...this is supposed to be the whole NHL not just the Eastern Teams?
It's pretty hard to tell...
What about the seasons Jonathan Toews and Kane had for a Chicago team whose point totals if they were stretched over 82 games would have been among the best seasons in NHL history? What about Datsyuk/Zetterberg? How about Getzlaf?
Problem is no one in the big media markets in the East saw them play this year. Without inter-league play and without many off nights this season was very much a tale of two leagues with each really only able to pay attention to itself. I know I watched far fewer games in the West this year and I was kind of shocked to see that Taylor Hall finished 9th in NHL scorers...What about Taylor Hall?
Since no team from the West ever played a team from the East the NHL should go old-school baseball and name one MVP from each Conference. It just makes more sense.
I know this will not happen but maybe we can remember this for the next lockout shortened season...this and the fact that in shortened seasons you HAVE to start awarding three points for regulation wins. The NHL would have been much more interesting and the races for playoff spots would have been far more exciting with three points for a regulation win.
Well maybe next time... (yeh, I know, but what have we seen that tells us there won't be another lockout shortened season?)
What do you think?
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