Recap of the 2012-13 NHL Awards

The NHL awards were announced on June 14th and 15th and here I will give my thoughts.

Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP in regular season): This award was won by Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and John Tavares of the New York Islanders were the other finalists. This is the third time Ovechkin won this award. He also won this award in the 2007-08 season and the 2008-09 season. Ovechkin was 3rd in the NHL in points with 56. He was first in the NHL in goals with 32. Ovechkin helped his team have the 3rd best record in the Eastern Conference with 57 points. Crosby was 2nd in the NHL in assists with 41. Crosby was also tied for 3rd in the NHL with 56. Crosby helped his team earn the 2nd best record in the NHL and best record in the Eastern Conference with 72 points. Tavares was 3rd in the NHL in goals with 28. He was also 17th in the NHL with 47 points. Tavares helped his team earn the 6th best record in the Eastern Conference with 56 points. I agree with Ovechkin winning this award. Sidney Crosby won the Ted Lindsay Award for being the most outstanding player even though Ovechkin won this award.

Vezina Trophy (best goaltender): This award was won by Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers and Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks were the other finalists. This is the first time Bobrovsky won this award. Bobrovsky was 5th in the NHL in GAA at 2.00. He was 7th in the NHL in wins with 21 and 2nd in save percentage at 93.2%. Lundqvist was 6th in the NHL in GAA at 2.05. He was tied of 1st in the NHL in wins with 24 and was tied for 5th in save percentage at 92.6%. Niemi was 10th in the NHL in GAA at 2.16. He was tied of 1st in the NHL in wins with 24 and was tied for 7th in save percentage at 92.4%. I believe Lundqvist should have won this award. Their numbers are very similar but the additional wins puts Lundqvist ahead in my head.

James Norris Memorial Trophy (best defensive player): This award was won by P.K. Subban of the Montreal Canadians. Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ryan Suter of the Minnesota Wild were the other finalists. This is the first time Subban won this award. Subban was tied for 248th in hits with 51 and was tied for 128th in blocked shots with 49. He was tied for 45th in plus/minus his was +12. Letang was 290th in hits with 45 and was 93rd in blocked shots with 59. He was tied for 20th in plus/minus his was +16. Suter was tied for 391st in hits with 33 and was tied for 54th in blocked shots with 74. He was tied for 231st in plus/minus his was +2. I thought Letang deserved this award more than Subbon. Even though Subban had more hits, Letang had a better plus/minus and more blocked shots.

Frank J. Selke Trophy (best defensive forward): This award was won by Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks. Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins and Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings were the other finalists. Toews was tied 312th among forwards in hits with 24 and tied for 204th among forwards in blocked shots with 16. He also was 3rd among forwards in plus/minus at +28. Bergeron was tied 282nd among forwards in hits with 28 and tied for tied 83rd among forwards in blocked shots with 25. He was 6th among forwards in plus/minus among forward at +24. Datsyuk was tied 260th among forwards in hits with 31 and tied for tied 46th among forwards in blocked shots with 30. He was 9th in plus/minus among forward at +21. I thought Pavel Datsyuk should have won this award. 

Calder Memorial Trophy (best rookie): This award was won by Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers. He is 19 and was the 3rd overall pick in the 2011 NHL draft. Brendan Gallagher of the Montreal Canadians and Brandon Saad of the Chicago Blackhawks were the other finalists. Huberdeau scored 31 points which was tied for 4th among all rookies. He also scored 14 goals which was tied for 6th among rookies and 17 assists which was tied for 9th among rookies. Gallagher is 20 and was the 147th overall pick in the 2010 NHL draft. He scored 28 points and was 7th among rookies. He also scored 15 goals which was tied for 4th among rookies and 13 assists which was tied for 17th among rookies. Saad is 20 and was the 43rd overall pick in the 2011 NHL draft. He scored 27 points was tied for 8th among rookies. He also scored 10 goals which was tied for 8th among rookies and 17 assists which was tied for 9th among rookies. I agree with Huberdeau winning this award. All three guys look to have bright futures in the NHL.