hought it would be a bit interesting, with a hat tip to the SNYRangersblog, to list how the Rangers did at the Awards Ceremony yesterday with some comments from me as to their placement and what it means for the team. I know I am in the early stages of the 20+ questions, and we are approaching the silly FA season, but thought this review with commentary might be an interesting endeavor. Congrats to Dominic Moore on winning the Masterson, while for the rest of the Rangers, it was not a stellar ceremony.
All-Star Teams
- No Ranger made the first or second team All-Star team. - Henrik Lundqvist finished sixth in the goalie voting with five third team votes. - Ryan McDonagh finished 8th in the defense voting 1 first team vote, 9 second team votes and 21 third team votes. - Marty St. Louis finished tied for fifth in the RW voting with 3 second place votes and 5 third place votes. -No Ranger received any vote at the Center or LW position
(while the Rangers overall had a successful year, voting was conducted prior to the post-season, so the team's slow start and uneven performance was a factor in the voting. No surprise on Lundqvist, as he finished sixth here and in the Vezina voting after winning the Vezina in 2012 and finishing second last year, while he was a second team All-Star. Same with McDonagh, though I believe he should have been a lot higher. St. Louis votes are due to his pre-trade performance, since he was invisible in NY. )
Norris Trophy:
- Ryan McDonagh finished eighth with 53 points, comprised of one second place, four third-place, five fourth-place and 11 fifth-place votes
(two years ago, the Rangers had Girardi sixth, McDonagh 11th and Del Zotto 12th in the voting. Last season, McDonagh didn’t receive any votes while Girardi finished 22nd. It's no surprise that McDonagh finished in the top-10 in voting and many of us, including myself, felt he could have ended up even higher. Duncan Keith winning the award handily over Chara and Weber did not shock me at all, given the year he had. I was hoping Marc Staal might have finished in the top-20 for the season he had while Girardi struggled enough that a drop out of the voting was expected)
Jack Adams Award:
- Coach Alain Vigneault did not finish in the top-10.
(Patrick Roy deserved the award given the turnaround Colorado had. Given the start New York had following the nightmarish road trip, I though Alain Vigneault might finish in the top-10, but it wasn't to be).
Calder Trophy
- Chris Kreider finished 10th with one third-place, three fourth-place and six fifth-place votes.
(Nathan MacKinnon rightfully won it over Palat and Johnson, due to the tremendous year he had. Kreider started the year in the minors and had one really good stretch where he started to get some notice. Top-10 with all the other solid candidates isn't bad, though many of us hoped for more production from Kreider, but he really came into his own in the playoffs)
GM of the Year Award
- Glen Sather did not finish in the top-10.
(the award was won by Bob Murray of Anaheim, who had an excellent regular season. I though Sather, for acquiring St. Louis and Klein plus signing of Pouliot and D. Moore might get some consideration for the top-10, but the Rangers slow start might have adversely impacted him)
Selke Trophy:
- Patrick Bergeron won the Frank J. Selke Trophy, which is awarded to "the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game," as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. No Rangers, including Stepan not in top-10.
(in the past, Ryan Callahan finished in the top-10, but following his trade, he did not finish in that range. We rave about the defensive awareness of Stepan, especially covering up for Kreider and Nash at times, but he too didn't crack the top-10)
Vezina Trophy:
- Henrik Lundqvist finished sixth with one first place vote. WON the award with 17 first place votes, 11 second place votes and 12 third place votes. Lundqvist had a total of 120 points and Jonathan Quick, who finished second, had 63
(in 2012, the fourth time was the charm, as Lundqvist won the award. Last year, he finished second to Sergei Bobrovsky. This season, his slow start and patches of uneven performance cost Lundqvist. When he was on, he was on, but Cam Talbot helped right the ship early, which clearly hurt Lundqvist. He now has motivation for a better overall and more consistent, start-to-finish, 2014-15).
Masterson
Dominic Moore won the Bill Masterson Award, which is awarded to the player who "best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey"
(Moore returned to the NHL this season after taking a leave of absence in the spring of 2012 in order to care for his wife, Katie, after she had been diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer. Katie passed away at the age of 32 in January of 2013. Moore beat out former Rangers, Manny Malhotra and Jaromir Jagr for the award.
Separately, Larry Brooks reports that Moore has told the Rangers he wants to stay in NY but will have to see what other offers are out there if nothing is done by next week. His agent and the Rangers have been "in touch" but no negotiations have taken place. This is where Glen Sather drives me a bit crazy. You have a player who wants to stay, who did everything you needed from him and more, who wants around $1.7-$2 million for two years, which is a reasonable bump from the $2 mil for one year he got this year, yet there has been no negotiating. What is Sather waiting for, especially since Brian Boyle may leave? Find a way to get this one done and cross it off the list so you can move on to the other RFAs/UFAs).
Lady Byng
Martin St. Louis received 358 points, four first-place, 20 second-place, 27 third-place, 11 fourth-place and 10 fifth-place votes, to finish second to Ryan O'Reilly, who had 1,181 points.
(the award is given to the player "adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability," as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. O'Reilly did it on both ends of the ice, so he was clearly deserving. St. Louis might have been hurt by his public trade request and fall out for forcing a deal in Tampa Bay along with his slump when he came to NY).
Hart Trophy:
- No Rangers in top-10.
(Sidney Crosby won this and the Ted Lindsay Award over Giroux and Getzlaf. As noted above, no one on the Rangers had the kind of season warranting a top-10 finish)
Back to the 20+ questions next with #3, Anton Stralman up…Also, looks like Ryan Callahan is on the verge of signing an extension with the Lightning for at least five years in excess of $5.5 million per year. Cally wanted at least $6 mil per from NY, but the lack of state tax in Florida means that Callahan saves a good chunk of money. So the $5.5 million in Tampa is > $6 mil in New York. For the Rangers, Callahan re-signing in Tampa gives the team the Lightning's second round pick in 2015 with NY surrendering their seventh rounder to Tampa.