NHL 2013/14 Awards

The award ceremony for the NHL is tomorrow so I'm gonna go ahead and give you who I think should win each award.

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

This trophy is awarded "to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability," which usually means it goes to a player who has one of the lowest PIM totals in the league. However, just having the fewest PIMs isn't the only factor, as they also consider playing ability, so a player needs to also play big minutes and put points on the board.

Finalists: Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks, Ryan O'Reilly of the Colorado Avalanche, Martin St. Louis of the New York Rangers. 

My Pick: I'm gonna go with St. Louis. After the year he's had I think he's well deserving. He lead the Rangers in the play offs even after the death of his mother. That takes some serious dedication. He played 1,696 minutes this season but was only assessed 10 PIMs. He also recorded his 7th 30+  goal season. Pretty impressive if you ask me. 

Calder Memorial Trophy

This trophy is awarded "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition," so the standard Rookie of the Year award. There is a heavy bias towards forwards and the primary focus is on offensive output, which means it is not surprising to see there were no defensemen or goaltenders amongst the finalists. 

Finalists: Nathan Mackinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, Tyler Johnson of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ondrej Palat

 My Pick: I've got Mackinnon here. The guy was fantastic this season. He was playing like a veteran, not a rookie, which I suppose is kind of expected for the 1st overall pick. Still the guy was great and I hope he keeps it up in the future. Some of the things I saw him do with the puck absolutely blew my mind. 

Frank J. Selke Trophy

This trophy is awarded ""to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game," although in practice it really goes to two-way forwards who are good at both ends of the ice.

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

My Pick: Godda go with my Boston boy Patrice on this one. I may be a little biased but god damn was Bergeron good in his own end this year. The guy just doesn't lose face offs, it literally does not happen. He also had one of the best plus/minuses in the league which just shows he is great in his own end. I think what will give Bergeron the edge on Kopitar is how good he was on the PK.

Vezina Trophy

This trophy is awarded to the best goaltender of the season.

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

My Pick: Although my personal favorite goalie is Rask. I godda go with Ben Bishop. The guy stood on his head this year. He started 63 games, which is the most out of the three finalists, and he finished with a 37-14-7 record. I'm not picking Rask because I don't think he was all that great in the play offs. He wasn't the star that the Bruins expected. 

James Norris Memorial Trophy

This trophy is awarded "to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position," although more often than not all-around ability takes a backseat of scoring ability, so usually this trophy actually winds up going to the best offensive defenseman in the league.

Finalists: Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins, Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks, Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators

My Pick: Going with another Bruin here. Big Z was an absolute rock on defense for the B's this year. He lead a group of young defenseman and showed them the right way to play the game. He also chipped in on offense. The Bruins put him in front of the net on the PP so they would have a big body up there and Chara adopted well. 

Mark Messier Leadership Award

This trophy is awarded "to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey."

Finalists: Dustin Brown of the Los Angeles Kings, Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks, Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks

My Pick: This is a tough one. All of these guys are great hockey players and incredible leaders. I'm going to go with Dustin Brown for this. He lead the Kings to the cup and that speaks in volumes. Getzlaf and Toews are great leaders as well but being the captain of the Stanley Cup winning team is huge. 

Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy

This trophy is awarded "to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey."

Finalists: Jaromir Jagr of the New Jersey Devils, Manny Malhotra of the Carolina Hurricanes, Dominic Moore of the New York Rangers

My Pick: This is an easy one for me. Dominic Moore 100%. The guy came back to the NHL after his wife died and that's just incredible. If you haven't seen the Dominic Moore story yet, check it out here.

NHL Foundation Players Award

This trophy is awarded to "an NHL player who applies the core values of hockey – commitment, perseverance and teamwork – to enrich the lives of people in his community,"

Finalists: Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins, Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks, Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks

My Pick: Once again, I'm gonna go with Patrice Bergeron. The guy eat, sleeps and breathes Bruins. He doesn't care about anything else. I think he proved that in their 2013 Stanley Cup run, even though that doesn't matter for this years' awards. 

Hart Memorial Trophy

The Hart trophy is awarded to the player that is deemed most valuable to this team. 

Finalists: Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks, Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers

My Pick: I'm gonna go with Getzlaf on this one. I'm sure most people are taking Crosby but I think his play off performance wasn't what it should be for such a superstar. Getzlaf really stepped up and lead the ducks this year. He took a slap shot to the face and kept playing. That takes quite a bit of perseverance.

Ted Lindsay Award

The Ted Lindsay Award is voted on among the players of the NHL and given to the most "outstanding player"

Finalists: Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks, Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers

My Pick: It pains me deeply to type this but, I'm going with Crosby for this. He had 104pts in 80 games. That's pretty damn impressive. He also averaged 1.30 PPG. 

Jack Adams Award

The Jack Adams award is given to the coach that contributed the most to his team's success. 

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

My Pick: Gonna go with Patty Roy for this one. It was his first season coaching and I thought he did a great job. The players respected him and listened to him because he used to play and the guy knows what he's talking about. I thought he also did a great job with superstar rookie Nathan Mackinnon. In one of the first games he showed that he cared about the team and would fight for them when he shoved the glass partition in-between benches towards the Anaheim Ducks bench when he was arguing with Bruce Boudreau.