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Ovechkin will prevail in Hart voting

April 8, 2009 06:22 PM | Posted by   Scott Morrison  

The ballots are in the mail and soon hockey writers, general managers and broadcasters across the league will be determining the winners of the various NHL awards this season.

One of the more contentious battles, of course, is for the Hart Trophy as most valuable player. There are no shortage of candidates - Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Zach Parise, Pavel Datsyuk and perhaps even Steve Mason, Jarome Iginla and Joe Thornton.

Realistically, the field is probably limited to three or four ultra-serious candidates and even then it probably comes down to two - Malkin and Ovechkin. But who ultimately wins, or should win?

Malkin, Ovechkin top the class

There is no doubt Malkin has had a great year. He has led the NHL in scoring for most of the season, now with 110 points, four better than last year, and is also an impressive plus 15. And he has done this despite the fact two of his regular wingers, Petr Sykora and Ruslan Fedotenko, have had prolonged slumps. He has been a one-man band on that line.

Ovechkin has been a human highlight reel on a lot of nights, and in the eye of a few storms this season, and he has eased into second place in the scoring derby with 55 goals and 108 points, just two behind Malkin and just four behind his total a year ago.

Now, you can make a compelling case for both players. You can actually make compelling cases for all of those players listed above.

Crosby is a tremendous talent and about to reach 100 points and there are nights he carries the Penguins to victory. Where would the Devils have been without Parise, especially when Martin Brodeur was injured? Datsyuk is one of the best players at both ends of the rink and the Red Wings are obviously still very strong. Mason, a rookie, has Columbus in the playoffs and has 10 shutouts to boot. Iginla is simply a great leader and has steered Calgary into third in the West. And someone has to be leading the first-overall Sharks and that someone is Thornton.

Two Harts and counting

But the award goes to Ovechkin in a very tight vote. That will be two Harts and counting. He is the run-away goal-scoring leader and almost has just many assists. He leads the league in shots, may lead in points, he plays with a physical edge and many nights dominates the game. He is first with even-strength goals and was tied for first with power-play goals. He is near the top in game-winning goals and he scores as many at home as on the road.

In short, there are no flaws, not that Malkin has any.

Just a prediction, but the fact Crosby is on the Penguins will split the Malkin vote and perhaps even take some away because Ovechkin overshadows the likes of Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green, and seems to be viewed as the sole reason for the Capitals success.

In the end, it should be close vote, as it should be, but it says here Ovechkin will prevail.

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