Thursday, June 24, 2010
By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/?m=1
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Mark Messier and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins pose with the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award Wednesday at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Crosby won the award.
LAS VEGAS -- No one wanted to predict who would win the major trophies before the NHL Awards gala, and it turns out there was good reason.
Things got spread around at the NHL awards show Wednesday at the Palms Casino Resort, and not only between the league's poster boys -- Penguins center Sidney Crosby and Washington left winger Alex Ovechkin. This time, Vancouver center Henrik Sedin joined the party.
Sedin won his first Hart Trophy as MVP of the NHL as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and Ovechkin won the Ted Lindsay Award for outstanding player as voted by the league players.
Crosby was not shut out. He won the Mark Messier Leadership Award overseen by the Hall of Famer, was recognized for sharing the Maurice Richard Trophy with Steven Stamkos as the top goal-scorers with 51 each and was named the second-team center behind Sedin on the postseason All-Star teams.
Penguins center Jordan Staal finished third as a first-time finalist for the Selke Trophy, which goes to the best defensive forward.
Sedin broke a stranglehold that saw Ovechkin or Crosby win the Hart and Lindsay (formerly called the Lester B. Pearson Award) the past three years.
"That says a lot," Crosby said of injecting a little diversity into the results. "Alex year after year is right there for individual awards. Henrik had a great season. I think everyone kind of saw that coming with the great seasons he's had year after year.
"I don't think there were any surprises. Those guys had terrific seasons."
Sedin, 31, has been a quiet star for the Canucks before winning the scoring title with 112 points this past season. In the Hart voting, he garnered 894 points, including 46 first-place votes.
Ovechkin -- who tied Crosby for second in scoring with 109 points but played nine fewer games -- was second in the voting with 834 points, including 40 first-place votes. He won the Hart and Pearson awards the past two seasons, beating out Penguins center Evgeni Malkin both times.
Crosby was third with 729 Hart points, 20 first-place votes. He won the Hart and Pearson in 2007
"When I won the second year [of my career], I was fortunate to that point to do really well at award shows, win things," Crosby said. "I think part of me probably didn't appreciate it quite as much. I think now I do. I realize how tough it is. I was just happy to be here.
"When you're looking at the three guys who were nominated, all the guys had great seasons."
Sedin said a day earlier he did not think he had a chance to win because he was up against Crosby and Ovechkin.
"They've been the faces of the sport since they joined the league," Sedin said. "I'm very proud. Those players are second to none. I thought the Hart was out of the question."
He was proven wrong.
Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk won the Selke for the third consecutive season with 688 points, including 37 first-place votes. Vancouver's Ryan Kesler, a finalist for the second year in a row, was second with 655 points, including 36 first-place votes.
Staal, 21, had 528 points, with 24 first-place votes. He tied a career high with 49 points, including 21 goals, in 2010-11.
He was a bit dazzled by the experience.
"Vegas itself is a pretty cool city," Staal said. "Being up for an award like that is something really special and exciting. It wasn't the way I wanted it to end, but there were some great players beside me.
"I was disappointed, but that comes in the same breath as being excited just to be here and be a part of it."
On a night when awards host and comedian Jay Mohr had the audience in stitches, the most touching moment came when Washington goaltender Jose Theodore won the Masterton Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
"It brought back some tough memories," said a tearful Theodore, who lost his infant son, Chase, a few weeks before training camp last summer. Chase would have turned 1 Tuesday.
"I'm still struggling to get by every day," said Theodore, who established the "Saves the Kids" charity.
In the other major awards, Buffalo defenseman Tyler Myers won the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year; Phoenix's Dave Tippett won the Jack Adams Award for top coach; Buffalo's Ryan Miller won the Vezina Trophy as the top goaltender; Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis won the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship; and Chicago's Duncan Keith won the Norris Trophy as the top defenseman.
NOTES -- Crosby has another celebration around the corner. He will take part Monday in a large festival of Canadian Olympians and the military in Edmonton. Crosby scored the overtime goal against Miller and the United States in the gold-medal game in Vancouver in February.
Shelly Anderson: shanderson@post-gazette.com.
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