NHL Awards were a bit of a pet project for me last year as I went Searching For An Eastern Bias. Ultimately I found that there may be some degree of Eastern Bias but it wasn’t as pronounced as I would have expected (if it existed). My other conclusion was that without more information we wouldn’t have the means to definitively say one way or the other on the topic of Bias. NHL votes were done relatively anonymously and there was no way of knowing for certain if it was a Toronto based beat writer who voted Nazem Kadri for the Selke or some wingnut on the West coast.
If you’ve been following the hockey media then you would have noticed a recent trend of journalists publishing their ballots for NHL awards. While it isn’t really NHL Awards season, it is the season for voters to get their picks in. The NHL Awards are awarded for the regular season accomplishments of the players and as such the votes must be cast before the playoffs begin. Most of the time the NHL Awards come and go and we might talk about why one candidate won vs another but generally speaking they are awarded without much controversy.
Last year was not such a time, however, as the NHL awarded Alex Ovechkin 1st Team All-Star nods on both the Left and Right wings despite the fact that he hadn’t played the Left wing all year. The Professional Hockey Writers Association became the subject of ridicule for their gaffe and the NHL was left embarrassed by the situation. And rightfully so! The mistake was not made for an unknown player who made an unannounced change of positions. We’re talking about one of the NHL’s premiere players and a change of position that was widely reported and discussed. The fact that enough people who are paid to cover the sport didn’t know that Washington’s number 8 was a RW left a black eye on the PHWA.
In the wake of that embarrassing situation the leadership of the PHWA has attempted to make what changes they could and one of them has been attempting to be more transparent. Hoping to capitalize on the spirit of Transparency I asked Mark Spector, Edmonton’s Chapter Chair and Executive Vice President of the PHWA, about the changes to Awards voting this year. This conversation occurred via Twitter on April 15th.
Matt Henderson: In what ways have the PHWA changed its voting process this year compared to last? If you dont mind me asking.
Mark Spector: We've gone down to 154 voters (minus 40 or so), and been meticulous on clarifying player positions. LIke Joe Pavelski. Led SJS in face-offs taken, but was played as a LW by the club. He's a LW. Vote him at C = spoiled ballot.
MH: Is the focus on transparency still just up to the voter or has the PHWA requested voters publish their ballots?
MS: Up to voter. Doesn't seem right to demand one publishes one's vote. We suggest it, we RT it, but do not require it.
MH: One last one and thanks for answering. With the Ovie situation from last year, why did you not spoil votes for him at LW? (This, as it turned out would not be my final question)
MS: Didn't see it coming. Would have had to be set out PRE VOTE, as it was this year. A screw up we have worked to correct.
MH: Again, thanks for answering my questions. Looking at voting became a bit of a pet project for me last year.
MS: With so many more PHWA member in East, it is a very tricky job. Our smallest chapters are all in the West.
MH: So has the distribution of voting members changed at all? (East/West/International in various proportions)
MS: No. Some International Chapter are annually counted on to balance the Eastern glut. History shows no bias twds East.
MH: I certainly tried to find evidence of it but came up short.
MS: I think this year people may be crying "Western bias!" Because the West is better, will likely win more Awards, All-Star spots
MH: It's a single round of voting via email (I believe). Have there ever been thoughts of changing the method and process?
MS: Ballots are emailed to Ernst and Young by 7 ET tmw, where they are tabulated. It's the NHL's process - we provide the voters.
MH: Excellent, thank you.
A FEW THOUGHTS
I appreciate the time that Mark Spector gave me to answer my questions about how this year’s voting would be different than last year’s. Spec was a bit off in his estimation of how many fewer voters there would be this season vs last (179 in 2013 to 154 in 2014 is a difference of 25 not 40) but it’s clear that the PHWA wants to be more discerning with who they allow to vote. How they determine who gets a vote and who doesn’t wasn’t discussed but I would be shocked if seniority/years in the PHWA wasn’t taken into consideration.
I recognize that the NHL and the PHWA leadership didn’t foresee the Ovie situation but I don’t understand why somebody didn’t create a rule on the fly to spoil those votes cast in error. The NHL is famous for making up rules as they see fit and that was one where nobody would have questioned it. That said, it is good to know that a situation where a player occupies 2 All-Star positions by mistake will not happen again. Part of me wonders if the mistake of voting Ovechkin in at 2 spots was allowed to become final as a means of shaming the members of the PHWA. I have no evidence of that, just speculating out loud.
On the topic of publishing votes, I like the trend towards Transparency. The more information we have about the votes and the voters the better. It adds to the legitimacy of the award knowing where it came from and who voted for it. What I don’t like is that Journalists are publishing their votes now and the Awards won’t be handed out for some time. The members of the PHWA are just trying to do what their leadership has asked them, but certainly it would be better if they waited until after the Awards were announced. It might be better still if the PHWA simply published every ballot themselves after the awards were announced. Some might not be happy with their votes being made public, but, to borrow from Tyler Dellow (mc79hockey), if you don’t want your vote published, then don’t vote.
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