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Ted Lindsay Finalists Released

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The NHL has revealed the three finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award: Brent Burns, Sidney Crosby, and Connor McDavid.

The award goes to the player judged to be the most outstanding player in the league. The biggest difference between the Hart and the Lindsay is who votes; the Hart is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) and the Lindsay is voted on by NHL players. It’s for this reason that players often seen the Lindsay as a more prestigious award to win, as it’s voted on by their peers.

Burns had a fantastic season, finishing ninth in NHL scoring. His 29 goals and 76 points were the highest by a defenseman, six more than Senators captain Erik Karlsson. Burns lead the Sharks in scoring by eight points (Joe Pavelski had 68), and was the most dangerous player on the ice for the Sharks on most nights. Going against Burns, however, is his 16-game goalless drought towards the end of the season. After scoring 27 goals in 59 games, Burns didn’t score between February 19 and March 28. However, that also illustrates the sheer dominance of Burns prior to the drought. Also, Karlsson had 82 points in 82 games in 2015-16 and failed to even be nominated for Lindsay or Hart. The last time a defenseman won the Award was 1974-75 when some guy named Bobby Orr won it.

Crosby is the only finalist who has won the award before, having won it three times in 2006-07, 2012-13, and 2013-14. Crosby had 44 goals and 89 points in 75 games this season. His 44 goals were good to win the Rocket Richard Trophy for the NHL’s leading goal scorer. Crosby scored 17 more points than his Penguins teammate Evgeni Malkin. Crosby is three-for-three when nominated for the Award.

However, the odds-on favorite is likely Oilers captain McDavid, who was the only 100-point scorer in the NHL this season. The 20-year-old McDavid scored 30 goals and 100 points in 82 games, winning the Art Ross trophy by 11 points over Crosby and Patrick Kane, both of whom had 89 points. While the other two finalists play for perennial contenders, McDavid was a huge part of the Oilers’ jump up the standings from 29th to 8th in the league.

The winner will be revealed at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas on June 21.

Snapshots: Masterton Finalists, Sabres, Worlds

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The NHL has announced its finalists for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The Masterton is awarded to the player “who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey”. Each team nominates their own candidate for consideration, and the top three vote-getters are announced before the awards. The final three are Ottawa’s Craig Anderson, Carolina’s Derek Ryan, and Anaheim’s Andrew Cogliano.

Anderson was forced to take an extended hiatus while his wife was battling cancer. The netminder returned to action after a long stretch away from the rink, and immediately posted a shutout against the New York Islanders in February as he continued his dominance of the crease. His .926 save percentage this season was second among goalies who had played more than 30 games, and was a huge factor in his team making the playoffs. Ryan is a 30 year-old rookie, and spent his entire career toiling in the minors and overseas before finally getting his shot at an NHL roster spot. Cogliano has been unbelievably resilient and tough in his impressive ironman streak, playing over 800 straight games since entering the league. If he has another few seasons of perfect attendance, he could break ironman records thought hopelessly lost to ancient hockey history. The Masteron winner will be announced on June 21st at the NHL Awards show in Las Vegas, which will also feature the announcement of the Golden Knights’ roster selections.

  • The Athletic’s Scott Powers gave insight into Blackhawks players possibly travelling to compete in the World Championships. Ville Pokka will not compete for Finland, apparently due to a contract issue. Artem Anisimov will not play for Russia, which is a big blow for that squad, as his size and unique skillset would have been useful. He is still nursing a lower-body injury which impacted his play in the team’s first-round exit. Patrick Kane is unlikely to play for the United States, but has made no official comment on the matter.
  • The Buffalo News reflects on the season-long failure of the Sabres to provide their goalies support. Looking forward to a new GM and head coach hire, fans are hopeful for higher standards and less streakiness. This offseason, it seems as though providing goal support for Jack Eichel will be paramount, as the team struggled mightily to find steady production. Comments from players are looking forward to revamping their play style next season at even strength, by not allowing such a disparity in shot opportunities. Offensive help in terms of UFAs will be difficult to find, as there is sparse selection. T.J. Oshie, Radim Vrbata, Kris Versteeg, and Patrick Eaves are all names that should intrigue the Buffalo front-office – though it is uncertain which will still remain unsigned come July 1st.

Snapshots: Karlsson, Stevens, Hayes, Lady Byng Finalists

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Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson revealed to reporters, including ESPN’s Joe McDonald (Twitter link), that he played through the entire first round of the playoffs with two hairline fractures in his right foot.  He added that he was receiving regular injections to help deal with the pain and that he’s hopeful that it will be back to normal by Thursday.

Despite the injury, Karlsson logged a heavy workload for Ottawa in their first round victory over Boston.  He led the team (and the league) in ice time with an average of 30:23 per game while his six assists lead all defensemen in the postseason.  He will undoubtedly be a focal point of their attack as the Sens get set to take on the Rangers in the second round.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Kings named John Stevens their new head coach today. Helene Elliott of the LA Times reports that the bench boss will receive a three year contract and that there may be options involved as well.  Stevens will now turn to hiring assistants to replace himself and Davis Payne who was let go along with Darryl Sutter at the end of the season.
  • Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe suggests that it’s likely that right winger Jimmy Hayes has played his last game in a Bruins uniform. However, given his disastrous campaign, one where he recorded just five points in 58 games and his $2.6MM contract for next season, it’s unlikely that the team will be able to trade him or that Vegas will take him in expansion.  As a result, he notes that he’s a strong candidate for a buyout.  Doing so would cost Boston a cap charge of roughly $867K for the next two seasons.
  • The NHL announced the finalists for the Lady Byng Award, given to the player who best combines sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct, and ability. The top three in the voting are Johnny Gaudreau of the Flames, Mikael Granlund from Minnesota, and Vladimir Tarasenko of St. Louis.  The winner will be announced on June 21st during the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

Golden Knights Expansion Roster Will Be Revealed At NHL Awards

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The NHL announced today that the 2017 NHL Awards will return to Las Vegas for an eighth straight year on Wednesday, June 21 at the T-Mobile Arena and this year will include Las Vegas like it never has before. The NHL plans to incorporate the NHL Expansion Draft into the festivities as it will announce the 30-player roster that the Las Vegas Golden Knights select in a two-hour broadcast.

The show, which will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN in America and in Canada on Sportsnet, is expected to put quite a bit of emphasis on the new expansion franchise, highlighting majority owner Bill Foley, general manager George McPhee, new head coach Gerard Gallant and even highlight some of the players the Golden Knights will select.

NHL Awards and nominations for the awards will begin being revealed day-by-day, starting tomorrow with the Selke Award. Here are a list of some of the top awards and potential nominees:

Selke Trophy (nominations will be out tomorrow) — It should be a tight race, but the leading candidates for the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game come down to a handful, including Anaheim’s Ryan Kesler, Washington’s Niklas Backstrom, Boston’s Patrice Bergeron and possibly even Calgary’s Mikael Backlund.

Calder Trophy (nominations to be released Thursday, April 20) — The trophy that goes to the top rookie is almost guaranteed to go to Toronto’s Auston Matthews, but other possible candidates include Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine, Pittsburgh’s goaltender Matt Murray and Columbus’ Zach Werenski.

Norris Trophy (nominations to be released Friday, April 21) — The top defenseman award will come down to a few including the Senators’ top blueliner Erik Karlsson, Lightning’s Victor Hedman and Sharks’ veteran Brent Burns.

Vezina Trophy (nominations to be released Saturday, April 22) — The top netminder award falls to a few including Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky, Washington’s Braden Holtby and Minnesota’s Devan Dubnyk.

Other nominees that will be announced before the June 21 awards include Lady Byng Trophy on Sunday, April 23; Masterton Trophy on April 24; NHL Foundation Player Award on April 25; Jack Adams Award on April 26; Mark Messier Leadership Awards on April 27; Hart Trophy on May 1 and the Ted Lindsay Award on May 2.

Montreal Confirmed As Birthplace Of NHL’s First Game

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For those who relish hockey history, the CBC News’ Randy Boswell wrote an intriguing piece this morning about the recently solved mystery of who played the NHL’s first game and who scored the NHL’s first goal. There has always been confusion of that first game, although the date is not in question. However, on the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 19, 1917, two hockey games were played and there has never been any incontrovertible truth of which game was played first, and therefore, who scored that inaugural goal.

Boswell writes that everyone knows that one of the games was played in Ottawa between the Ottawa Hockey Club and the Montreal Canadiens, which was supposed to be played at 8:30 p.m. ET. However, it is the other game between the host Montreal Wanderers and the Toronto Hockey Club that was in question. New evidence verified by the Society for International Hockey Research (SIHR) was found last month in an overlooked Montreal newspaper that clarified where the first NHL puck dropped first. While most Montreal newspapers didn’t report the start time of the Wanderers-Toronto Hockey Club, a recently digitized French newspaper Le Canada ran an advertisement for the game that clearly states the game time at 8:15 ET. What added to the confusion was that the Ottawa-Canadiens game, slated for an 8:30 start time, was rumored to have been delayed by 15 minutes due to a contract dispute, further pushing it back.

So, it turns out Montreal is the birthplace of the NHL as its game started first, while Montreal Wanderers’ defenseman Dave Ritchie scored the NHL’s first goal almost 100 years ago. The game took place less than a month after the NHL formally constituted at a team owners meeting on Nov. 26, 1917, in Montreal. The revelation takes place during the NHL’s year-long 100th-anniversary season.

According to the story, this ends a debate in which many people felt that Ottawa was where the NHL was inaugurated. Many believed that Montreal Canadiens’ Joe Malone was the first to score that inaugural goal as he scored in the first six and a half minutes of play in Ottawa. However, Ritchie scored his goal in the first minute of the game in Montreal.

The story adds one more interesting fact about that Wanderers’ game. The goaltender, Bert Lindsay, who now is considered to be the first NHL goaltender to earn an NHL victory, was the father of future NHL legend Ted Lindsay, who’s name adorns the trophy given to the league’s most outstanding player. Also, the Wanderers’ player coach Art Ross, who was named after the trophy given to the top point-getter, scored his first and only NHL goal in the game.

McDavid, Crosby, Holtby Take Home Statistical Awards

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We are still a couple months out from the naming of the majority of NHL Awards – Hart, Vezina, Norris, Selke, Calder, and more – but as the regular season came to end last night, three phenoms of the game clinched some impressive hardware.

Connor McDavid, at just 20 years old, added two assists last night in a winning effort to finish the season with an even 100 points and seal the title of Art Ross Trophy winner. Awarded annually to the player with the most points in the regular season, McDavid took the lead in the scoring race early in the season and never looked back. He faced some competition along the way, such as last year’s winner, Chicago’s Patrick Kane, Boston’s Brad Marchand, and a certain superstar on the Pittsburgh Penguins, but in the end finished with 11 more points than the nearest challenger. McDavid’s point totals were mostly due to a league-leading 70 assists, seven more than second-place Nicklas Backstrom of the Capitals, and his 30 goals were not too shabby either, placing him just outside the top 25 in that category. McDavid is the second youngest winner of the Art Ross and even more impressively, won the award playing for a team that had only one other player, Leon Draisaitl, who has both 25 goals and 25 assists or better. Edmonton recorded 247 goals this season, good enough for eighth in the league, and McDavid contributed to over 40% of that scoring. The Art Ross winner is often the leading candidate for the Hart Trophy, given to the league’s Most Valuable Player, and don’t expect it to be any different for McDavid, whose efforts have almost single-handedly turned around the franchise and transformed them into a playoff team. The scary thing: he’s just getting started.

Not to be outdone, Sidney Crosby, the youngest Art Ross winner on record at 19 years old (he added another a few years later too) fell just short of a third crown in 2016-17 with 89 points, but managed to secure the goal-scoring title and the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy. Crosby’s 44 goals were best in the league, just ahead of Toronto rookie Auston Matthews and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov, while Crosby too was pressured by Brad Marchand for much of the season. In the end, the Penguins captain proved to be too good. The last time that Crosby scored over 40 goals was in 2009-10, when his 51 tallies earned him a share in the Richard with Lightning star Steven Stamkos. Crosby now joins Stamkos, rival Alexander Ovechkin, and former teammate Jarome Iginla as the only active players to have won the award multiple times. In a season marked by injury for the Penguins, the team still managed to lead the league in goals for with 282 and Crosby led the way, potting 16% of those goals. Amazingly, Crosby is still not even 30 years old, so fans have plenty of years left to look forward to Crosby-McDavid scoring races.

On the other end of the ice, it was Washington Capitals’ brick wall goaltender Braden Holtby who backstopped his team to a league-best 182 goals against. The William M. Jennings Trophy is awarded each year to the goalie (or goalies) on the team that allowed the fewest scores and by a wide margin of 13 less than the Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington led the way behind Holtby. Holtby was near the top of nearly every statistical category for keepers this regular season with a league-best 42 wins (tied with Edmonton’s Cam Talbot), a second-place goals against average of 2.07, just one hundredth worse than the Blue Jackets’ Sergei Bobrovsky, and a top-five save percentage of .925. Holtby has certainly put him self in the mix for the Vezina Trophy this season, but faces stiff competition from Bobrovksy. Not to be forgotten in the Capitals’ stingy winning equation is backup Philipp Grubauer. The Jennings  can be awarded to multiple goalies if each plays in a minimum of 25 games. Grubauer was fantastic in 2016-17, with numbers rivaling Holtby’s, albeit in a lesser sample size, but with just 23 games under his belt failed to qualify for the award. Nonetheless, Grubauer’s 2.05 GAA and .926 SV% were astounding and should earn him a look as a starter next year, whether by Washington trade or selection by the Vegas Golden Knights in the upcoming Expansion Draft.

Morning Notes: Expansion, Enstrom, Butcher

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As the expansion draft gets closer and fans start to guess what the new Vegas Golden Knights will look like, anticipation for the upcoming season has started to grow in Las Vegas. In a conversation with Josh Cooper of Puck Daddy, the league disclosed that the announcement of the roster will be televised along with the NHL Awards show, which is always held in the city.

Because the team doesn’t go team-by-team for the draft, it wouldn’t be possible to televise the actual process. But be sure that the league will make a spectacle out of the announcement—it is Las Vegas after all. Teams have to submit their list of protected players on June 17th, with the Golden Knights selecting the players by June 20th and revealing them the next day.

  • Toby Enstrom is in the hospital following a brutal hit from behind by the Pittsburgh Penguins tough-guy Tom Sestito. The enforcer was called up for the game against Winnipeg because of the expected payback against Evgeni Malkin for a hit on Blake Wheeler—except Malkin took his punishment early in the first period when he dropped the gloves with Wheeler himself. Sestito would go on to fight Chris Thorburn before taking a run at Enstrom. The Winnipeg defender is being treated for possible facial fractures, according to Sportsnet.
  • As teams begin to lock up their prospects to entry-level contracts, Mike Chambers of the Denver Post reminds Avalanche fans of a deadline approaching for one of their own. Will Butcher, a former fifth-round pick of Colorado who went on to excel at the University of Denver, will become a free agent on August 15th much like Jimmy Vesey did last summer. Though the Avalanche will try everything they can to sign him, with a deadline so close many prospects are tempted to just wait and see where the could go on the open market. Butcher would likely have several teams after him should he become a free agent, after another outstanding campaign as the captain of his university team.

Franchise Faceoff: Anaheim Ducks vs Chicago Blackhawks

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The Chicago Blackhawks have now long been one of the NHL’s preeminent franchises, winning multiple Stanley Cups and sending player after player to the podium to receive NHL awards.  They’ve had to sell off young assets to keep their roster together, but seem to continually have a dangerous team capable of winning it all. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane have developed into one of the most potent duos (though they rarely play together) in the league, and they’re supported by a strong secondary cast.

The Anaheim Ducks on the other hand, have built a powerhouse of their own, only to fall short each time they seem poised to take a long post-season run. Their own franchise duo in Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry have just as many accolades as Chicago’s while their defense corps may be second to none in the league. For some reason though, they just can’t get it done in the playoffs and as many around the league are expecting a trade, Bob Murray has said he wants to “give this group one more shot” before a possible tear down.

[Chicago Blackhawks Depth Chart vs Anaheim Ducks Depth Chart]

With both teams running into cap trouble due to their aging but still effective superstars, they each have good young players to build their next iteration with.  After we looked at two rebuilding teams in Toronto and Edmonton, and two teams trying to get back to the playoffs in Calgary and Montreal, we now ask the same thing of two teams who are perennial candidates for the Stanley Cup.

If you were buying a roster (not all the franchise perks that go with it) to build a championship team, which would you take?

NHL Award Recipients

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The NHL Awards were given out tonight in Las Vegas, with a little bit extra fanfare due to the upcoming expansion team. Here is the full list of winners, with the top two runners-up in each category:

Calder Trophy (top rookie)

  1. Artemi Panarin
  2. Shayne Gostisbehere
  3. Connor McDavid

Ted Lindsay Award (most outstanding player as voted by the players)

  1. Patrick Kane
  2. Jamie Benn
  3. Braden Holtby

General Manager of the Year

  1. Jim Rutherford
  2. Brian McClellen
  3. Jim Nill

Masterton Trophy (perseverance and dedication to hockey)

  1. Jaromir Jagr
  2. Mats Zucarello
  3. Pascal Dupuis

Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award

  1. Shea Weber
  2. Alex Ovechkin
  3. John Tavares

Norris Trophy (top defenceman)

  1. Drew Doughty
  2. Erik Karlsson
  3. Brent Burns

Selke Trophy (forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game)

  1. Anze Kopitar
  2. Patrice Bergeron
  3. Ryan Kesler

Jack Adams Award (top head coach)

  1. Barry Trotz
  2. Gerard Gallant
  3. Lindy Ruff

Lady Byng Trophy (player best combining sportsmanship and ability)

  1. Anze Kopitar
  2. Aleksander Barkov
  3. Loui Eriksson

Vezina Trophy (top goaltender)

  1. Braden Holtby
  2. Ben Bishop
  3. Jonathan Quick

Hart Trophy (most valuable player to his team)

  1. Patrick Kane
  2. Sidney Crosby
  3. Jamie Benn

Congratulations to all the winners, and the teams who employ them.

Las Vegas Officially Awarded NHL Team

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Just hours before the NHL Awards held in Las Vegas, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced that Las Vegas would indeed be the recipient of an NHL team for the start of the 2017-2018 season. Bettman indicated that the Board of Governors unanimously approved the league’s expansion. Bill Foley was named the principal owner of the new franchise. Foley indicated that the team has not settled on a nickname but speculation is that the Black Knights will be the chosen name.

Bettman confirmed many details as well. Namely, all teams will lose one player in the NHL Expansion Draft.  Las Vegas will be a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and this will give the conference 15 teams while the Eastern Conference boasts 16 teams. Yahoo Sports linked the official press release from the NHL while James Mirtle linked the NHL’s official rules regarding expansion teams.

The other interesting tidbit of information was the board deferring a decision on Quebec City and their chances at acquiring an NHL franchise. Pierre Dion, Quebecor President and CEO, spoke as well regarding the opportunity for future expansion. Dion, during the press conference, indicated that the priority is to bring the Nordiques back to Quebec City, and that the passion remains for hockey.

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