2014 NHL Award Finalists

nhl.com

The NHL has announced its 2014 award trophy finalists.   Some are obvious nominees and some may be a little surprising.  Winners will be announced on June 24 during the 2014 NHL awards ceremony at the Wynn in Las Vegas.  I break down the awards, the finalists, and who will be going home with the hardware.

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Lady Bing Trophy(Player with best sportsmanship) 

Finalists:  Patrick Marleau (San Jose Sharks), Ryan O’Reilly (Colorado Avalanche), Martin St. Louis (New York Rangers).

Prediction:  Patrick Marleau.  He captured his seventh 30 goal season in 9 years and helped San Jose to another 100 point season.  He’s the heart of the San Jose Sharks and leads by example. This is his 2^nd nomination for the trophy.

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Calder Trophy (Top rookie)

Finalists: Tyler Johnson (Tampa Bay Lightning), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche), Ondrej Palat (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Prediction: Nathan Mackinnon.  Nathan was electric for the Avs in his rookie season.  He led all rookies in points (63) and broke a Wayne Gretzky record for single season point streak (13 games with a point) for a player 18 or under.  Anytime you break a Gretzky record you deserve to win something.

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SelkeTrophy (Best defensive forward)

Finalists:  Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins), Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings), Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks)

Prediction: Anze Kopitar.  Anze is one of the premier back checkers in the league.  He logged the most shorthanded ice time among the top 30 scorers in the league and is tied for fourth in the league in plus-minus (+34).  Having seen all 3 players in person he is the best choice for this award.

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VezinaTrophy (Best goalie) 

Finalists:  Ben Bishop (Tampa Bay Lightning), Tuukka Rask (Boston Bruins), Semyon Varlamov (Colorado Avalanche)

Prediction: Tuukka Rask.  Helping lead the Bruins to their first Presidents Trophy (best team) since 1990, Tuukka was the only goaltender in the league to be top 5 in all major statistical categories.  He was 4^th in GAA (2.04), 5^th in wins (36), 2^nd in save percentage (.930), and 1^st in shutouts (7).  He also led Finland to a Bronze medal in the Sochi Olympics and is currently having a good playoff performance.

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NorrisTrophy (Best defensemen)  

Finalists:  Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins), Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks), Shea Weber (Nashville Predators)

Prediction: Zdeno Chara.  He is a 6’9”, 255 lbs menace and may be the best defensemen in the league.  Boston was ranked 2^nd in the league with goals against (177) and Chara was ranked top ten among defensemen with goals (17), plus/ minus (+25), power play goals (10), and game winning goals (3).

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JackAdams Trophy (Best coach)

Finalists:  Mike Babcock (Detroit Red Wings), Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay Lightning), Patrick Roy (Colorado Avalanche)

Prediction: Patrick Roy.  As well as Mike Babcock did this year with half of his team being new and under the age of 25, Patrick Roy got the Colorado Avalanche back into the playoffs with new purpose.  This was Roy’s rookie season and after the Avs finished 29^th overall last year, Patrick propelled them to 112 points and 2^nd place in the west.  Colorado also tied a franchise record with 52 wins.

thehockeynews.com

HartTrophy (MVP)

Finalists:  Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins), Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks), Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers)

Prediction: Ryan Getzlaf.  With a career high 31 goals and 87 points (second in the league), Getzlaf helped the Ducks take the top spot in the West this season.  Ryan posted a 14 game point streak and set a career high with game winning goals (7).  He was also part of the gold medal winning Canadian hockey team at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

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7 Reasons to Watch Game 7

thehockeynews.com

As the first round of the 2014 NHL playoffs come to a close, tonight we are given not 1, not 2, but 3 game 7’s.  This many games 7s in one night has not happened since 2003 and one can only hope they live up the hype.  If the idea of 3 game 7s in one night is not enough, I give you 7 reasons why you should be watching.

1. The Sharks Blow another Season – 2014 was once again the year the San Jose Sharks were going to win the Stanley Cup.  They brought back the same cast of high level scorers, tough guys, veteran defensemen, and a goaltender with a Stanley Cup ring.  The Sharks went up 3 games to 0 against the Los Angeles Kings 1 week ago and within this past week, have lost 3 straight games.  Tonight they are trying not to blow their season and lose game 7 at home to an LA Kings team who have every intention of winning 4 in a row.   Besides, I predicted the Kings in 7.

2. Patrick Roy – The former goaltender and 2 time Stanley Cup champion for the Colorado Avalanche looks to make his first game 7 appearance as a head coach.  Still as animated and crazy as ever, his stress level is at an all time high after his club gave up 3 unanswered goals in the third period of game 6.  If Colorado gets down early or a bad call goes against them, look for Roy to lose it and bring some entertainment value behind the bench.

3. Henrik Lundqvist – I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again; Henrik Lundqvist is not an elite goalie. He has been praised by analysts and writers for years during the regular season and when the big games come, he is not reliable.  His stats are great in the regular season and playoffs, but he is not stellar in clutch games (look at the Olympics most recently).  His confidence is shaky after letting in 4 goals in 23 shots in game 6.  King Lunqvist loses this one.  

4. Minnesota Upsets The Avalanche – I’ll be the first to say I was wrong thinking Colorado was going to roll the Minnesota Wild in 5 games.  However, Minnesota’s veteran players have risen up in the clutch games this series and the Avs are having trouble scoring on the Wild’s third string goalie.  My main reason Minnesota wins is the curse of the 7 seed beating the 2 seed. Last year Detroit beat Anaheim and Ottawa beat Montreal.  In 2012, Washington beat Boston who was a 2 seed.  The 7 seed beats the 2 seed more times than you think.

5. Rangers Lose, Again - Look at any headline today and it feels like déjà vu.  The New York Rangers, with 1 win left to clinch the series, are pushed to game 7, again.  The Rangers are supposedly a destination city where star players come from small markets to showcase their talents.  However the opposite effect seems to keep happening.  Players do worse there than their previous city.  Rick Nash came to New York to be the playoff goal scorer they were missing.  He has 0 goals in the series.  Flyers take game 7.

6. The Fans – Let’s all be honest, we know fans get rowdier the further their team gets in the post season.  No one fights when their team loses in the first round, but when a team loses in the finals there’s a high probability police with riot gear are waiting outside.  Whether it’s because fans know they are closer to a championship or because they drank just a little more than they should have, the fans bring excitement to the game.  Game 7 brings out the craziest fans and they’re not afraid to show it.  There was even a brawl last night at the Flyers Rangers game 6.

7. Because its game 7 – Any sports fan knows game 7 is when you see the best performances by the best players.  Game 7 for hockey is the pinnacle of any playoff game in any sport.  The crowd, the atmosphere, the players and coaches, everyone involved in the game knows it’s do or die.  All three game 7s tonight could go in either teams favor.  That’s what makes it special.  Enjoy!

Don’t forget to follow me @EJ_Hockey_Post on twitter or my Facebook fan page ericjhockeypost