The half season awards

This blog is on my picks for half season awards this year.

Jack Adams (Best Coach)

Paul MacLean

This is really a easy choice. If someone would have told me the Sens would be one of the best teams in the league, I would have called them crazy. You really have to give a lot of credit to Coach Maclean. He has all the Sens players buying what he is selling. Most people were picking the Sens for a lottery team, yet Paul has made the Sens a contender.

Norris Trophy

Erik Karlsson

You don't need to go any further than Ottawa for the league's best defencemen this season. Erik Karlsson is one of the most gifted young players in the league. He is the best at carrying the puck and getting the puck up to the young forwards of the Sens. He is also one of the best powerplay quarterbacks in the league.

Hart Trophy

Evegeni Malkin

This pick was a lot harder for me. I could have gone plenty of ways. Should the award be handed to the best player in the league? Or to the most valuable player of a team? I chose the MVP player in the league. There I went to the man in Pit, Evegeni Malkin. To me, he has been the best player in the league, and more importantly, the most valuable to the team. Malkin has 24 goals and 30 assists, making him league leader when I did this blog. Here is another scary stat: the Pens have scored 140 goals, and Malkin has been on approximately 39% of the Pens goals. Which reallly makes him the Pens MVP and the league MVP.

Vezna Trophy

Henrik Lundqvist

To me, Henrik is a no brainer. I truly do not know where the Rangers would be without him. He is in the top 3 of goals against average and save percentage. The key to his succes is his postional play. He never gives up on the play. He is oustanding in all aspects, especially controlling the rebounds.


Calder Trophy

Ryan Nudgent-Hopkins

Ryan Nudgent-Hopkins is by far the most gifted young player in the league. He is a great young player who is a smart playmaker. Ryan is a great all round player who is put in all sort of situations, including the powerplay. He is has many years to come as an Oiler. He is even on the plus minus, even more impressive for a young hockey team.


There are my picks for the awards at the half season so far.

Randy