Viewpoint

Dear MC,
Now, Yes a Defenceman should be considered as MVP, Yes Points shouldn't matter, but without Lidstrom the Red Wings would still make the playoffs...he's a vital cog YES, but not the Top dog on the team, without Lidstrom, Detroit could very well still win the cup. (Go Wings Go)
Without Ovechkin, the Capitals would probably be the worst team in the NHL. Without Lecavlier TB would be...oh wait they already are in the basement, thus why he doesn't get the nod.
BTW MC...Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP is already a trophy...there is two MVP's for the season, Hart and Conn Smythe...

Gee MC, last time I checked the Hart was the regular season mvp and there's something called a Conn Smythe trophy I believe for playoff mvp.

Back to Ovechkin, it would be a travesty if he doesn't win. 65 goals, 112 points, 11 game winning goals and a +28 on an awful team. Sure they have Green and Backstrom but who makes those players good? It's Ovechkin. Ovechkin has contributed to 47% of their goals. Without him, they'd be easily in last place. It's most valuable to his team, not league as the true definition of MVP and while Malkin stepped in beautifully, Pittsburgh is much more balanced than Washington with guys like Sykora and Malone, Gonchar etc. I'm also a huge Brodeur fan and he should win the Vezina yet again and yes his team sucks without him but not to the extent Washington would be without Ovechkin.

While it is sad that defencemen don't always get the recognition they deserve, the Hart Trophy should clearly be awarded to Alex Ovechkin.

I agree that Martin Brodeur should be one of the finalists; both have had amazing seasons.

The statistic of him being involved in 47% of Washington's goals is simply staggering.

Ovechkin should be a nominee, yes, and likely the eventual winner. But it is not a runaway. Nick Lidstrom should be considered, in my opinion, as others here have pointed out Detroit is NOT the same team without him. Malkin should also be nominated, with Crosby and Marc Andre Fleury going down for extended periods this year, Malkin stepped up BIG TIME and took a lot of pressure of trying to rush Crosby back. Ovechkin, Lidstrom, Malkin should be the nominee's and I can see any of them winning it.

Come now - Ovechkin has been good, but Malkin is the real Hart winner. Without Crosby, and only in his second year, Malkin took that team over and drove them straight to first place winning their division. The Pens may also claim the Eastern crown. He is also just a few points behind Ovechkin in the scoring race.

Ovechkin does not deserve the Hart! There are OTHER tropies at the awards ceremony that he will obviously win. The Hart isn't for the leading points getter or player with most goals it is for the MVP. MVPs elevate their teams and teammates to greatness! Not 9th place in the conference, especially considering their division is so useless! My beer league team could of had as many points as Washington in that division.

His numbers are outrageous and he's a delight to watch whenever he hits the ice. He's been playing on a team with inconsistent goaltending that fired its coach half-way through the season ---- and yet the Capitals still have a chance to go to the Big Dance.

Ovechkin for MVP. No question about it.

To be fair, there should be two MVP awards... one for the regular season, and one for the play-offs. The summum would be to win both the same year.
It is both hard and somewhat unfair to disregard what could and will happen during the play-offs based on what happened during the regular season. For all sorts of circumstances, players that were excellent during the regular season without making the MVP short list stand on their head during the play-offs and shoulder their teams through.

Again, there should be two MVP recognitions; regular season and play-offs. The play-offs MVP trophy could be called after say... Wayne Gretzky! How about that... the Gretzky Trophy... Sounds good doesn't it?

Oh by the way, there is no question that Ovechkin has my vote for the regular season MVP.

Ovechvin is MVP of his team and maybe the NHL for sure. Why is it that Nick Lidstrom never gets MVP talk. He is simply amazing. Never makes a mistake, top +/- in the league, his team is #1, he's a norris winner just about every year. It's not all about points people. Also deserved of a mention are the legendary Marty Brodeur and Luongo - both teams would be nothing without them.
But in the end people - TEAM GAME - if you don't make the playoffs then you can't really be MVP. Just like if you never win a cup - are you really a great player? Team Game and the only goal is to win the cup. All the points in the world mean nothing, Mats, if you never win a cup. (Go Habs Go!)

With five years of misery coming from DC, it is nice to finally see columnists and others recognizing the Caps and Ovechkin's contributions. The Caps have been a growth team for so long but under wise leadership and new, solid goaltending, are ready to start competing again. Ovechkin is a solid contributor that is not afraid to make mistakes and learn. Always a goal-scorer, he is now a forechecking, feisty, all-around forward that is noticed every single moment he's on the ice. Hart would go nice with the Art Ross.

I am not quite sure of the criteria for Most Valuable Player..is it most valuable to their respective team or most valuable to the entire league when professional sports writers cast their votes. Either way Ovechkin should be voted this years MVP.I can't imagine where the Capitals would be without him. Not withstanding the importance of the Hart trophy there should a new award presented to the leagues best player overall..call it the Wayne Gretzky award similiar to what they invented to the Rocket Richard trophy for most goals, to recognize the achievements of great players who unfortunately might play for sub par teams.

No. If a team does not make the playoffs, then the season is not a success. He failed to bring his team to the post season, and for that, should not even be mentionned in talks for the MVP award.
It`s mot like the Caps have only him either. They have Backstrom, Mike Green (2nd amongst defensemen in goal scoring), Semin, Kozlov, Fedorov... let's not forget Kolzig and Huet in net (Huet has 2 SO's in 11 games)... they have a really good team and the postseason should be expected from them (before Boston, or even Philly). If they do not make it, then they've underachieved, and an underachieving team should not have the league MVP on its roster.

In TB, Lecavalier only has St-Louis...

Better candidates would be Malkin, Getzlaf, Nabokov, Kovalev, Gaborik...

The Hart trophy is not to recognize the best player in the league, as Ovechkin is, but tradition warrants that a team has to make at least playoff to have one of their players considered for the award.

Ovechkin is definitely a candidate for the MVP. I don't think he is going to win.

'Gino' Malkin has made a far stronger case to win MVP by keeping the ship afloat when Crosby got injured. EVERYONE expected the Penguins go down without a real fight. THEY ARE NOW ATLANTIC DIVISION CHAMPS. All because Malkin put the Penguins on HIS shoulders.

His ability to do this far exceeds Ovechkins’ ability to score 60 + goals. Malkin is just as feisty as Ovechkin in terms of being physical and competitive. I think Malkin is a LOCK for MVP because he not only carried his team when they were down, but he also made everyone around him better, this was quite MVP Like.

Finally a guy who actually lived up to deserving his huge contract. This guy is by far the best of the best. No Camadian of recent memory has shown this kind of savvy like this kid has done. A true rarity in sport today!

One has to admit that this year NHL is more exciting to watch in big part thanks to Ovie, it is not? He is the most energizing player right now, and look at the Washington, it's completely different team right now, although BB also played an important role in this transformation. MVP- Most valuable player - this is exactly what Ovie is for Washington, it really shouldn't matter, if the Washington makes playoffs or not. Ovie or MVP!

My answer would be no for one specific reason. A few years ago in 2001-02 these same questions were asked about Jarome Iginla and it was decided by the voters that season that Iggy was not a good candidate for the MVP due to the Flames missing the Playoffs. I believe this sets president and to give Ovechkin the award this year is a slap in the face to players like Iginla in the past. Ovechkin will get his turn, he is a great player. If the Caps reach the Playoffs, he is a most deserving candidate.

Almost consensus. Wow. I agree. Ovechkin gets the nod over Iginla and Brodeur.

Ovechkin should defintitely win the hart for a couple of reasons one he leads the league in almost every category two without ao the capitals would be worse than the leafs thirdly he is a fantastic hitter. So no question that ovechkin should win the hart trophy

THE REASON why Ovechkin is the MVP this year (even though the Capitals don't make the playoffs), is that if they finish 9th, they will only be something like 10pts behind the 1st place in the East!! It's not like finishing 9th and being 25pts behind the 1st place... they are tie with Carolina, and one point short of Boston and Philadelphia. He is the MVP this yeart, without any doubt.

I fully agree Alexander "the Great" Ovechkin deserves the MVP award and nobody else comes close. Don Cherry I'm sorry, he isn't Canadian but he plays like one. He is a very complete player who has dragged his team along and with some luck they may make the playoffs. That leads to the other star from Washington Bruce Boudreau "Coach of the Year". Despite all the press earlier in the season of Gretzky getting this award, Boudreau has done a fantastic job since he took over. Gretzky is still an "also ran" when it comes to coaching!

THE REASON why Ovechkin is the MVP this year (even though the Capitals don't make the playoffs), is that if they finish 9th, they will only be something like 10pts behind the 1st place in the East!! It's not like finishing 9th and being 25pts behind the 1st place... they are tie with Carolina, and one point short of Boston and Philadelphia. He is the MVP this yeart, without any doubt.

Absolutely right. He is one of the few players around these days that requires his own game plan from the opposition.Without him the Caps would be in LA King territory point wise.Fit him for the tux now

I do agree with you. If there is one player that has the real spirit of the game, he is the one. Pretty exciting to see him celebrate after a goal whether he scored or any other members of his team did.
Not scared to go in traffic or to give good body check. Must he be green, black, yellow or white. Russian, Greek, Korean, Americain or Canadian. He is actually the best overall hockey player in the NHL.

For once, I agree with you Scott...172, that's how many goals Washington would have without Alex in the lineup...Of course you'd have to figure in all the assists He made too. So that's 125 Goals the rest of the team made without Alex's presence...
How is that not MVP, they'd be last in the league, and probably not to far off matching their NHL Record Setting worse season...(78 - 79 I believe?)
How he could not be MVP is just unimaginable. Is it not the idea of MVP, being that you are the most valuable to your team? Without Alex O, Ovie...Alex the Great, whatever you want to call him, Washington would be nothing more than cannon fodder...
I hated him in the World Jr's, but now...I can't get enough of Alexander the Great!

I agree Ovechkin should be considered for the hart whether washington makes the playoffs or not. But my other Questions is why do Defensemen never get considered for the Hart. Nick Lindstrom should be also a favorite for the Hart. Look at Det record when he was hurt in Feburary. His name is hardly ever metioned for that award yet he plays more minutes per game then any foward.

I disagree. Ovechkin is good, but I would have to say Marty Brodeur. He has kept the Devils in playoff contention, and has pulled through when they needed him the most, which is every game so far. This team would, I'd have to say, be at the bottom of the barrel. Brodeur continues to show no sign of slowing down or even giving up. Marty Brodeur is the real deal !

Well said. Ovechkin has been the best player in the NHL this season, bar none. Malkin played well in Crosby's absence, but AO has been the best all season long. Ovie is an amazing player with speed, skill, finesse, power, and the best wrist on the planet. He has lead the Caps out of the basement and into a tie for the division lead. He's collected 63 goals along the way and leads the league in goals, points, PP goals, shots, and GWG. All this while being one of the hardest hitters in the NHL. How can he not be the MVP? I'd vote for him just based on his $14 haircut and gap-toothed smile alone:)

Ovechkin should definitely win mvp..

other close candidates should be

Kovalev for Montreal (hell of a year)
Lidstrom for Detroit (they're terrible without him in their line up)
Campbell for San Jose (Sabres dropped without him, now hes carrying SJ to the top... their record since acquiring Campbell is 17-0-2.. wow)

It's very simple Scott: How do you punish Ovie for his teammates quitting on Hanlon? That's why they are in this predicament. Under Boudreau only Det,Pit and SJ have better records. Ovechkin had 14 goals in Hanlon's 21 games so for those who say he dogged it they are sadly mistaken. It's good to see someone in the media that knows what he's talking about.

Tell Merick he can still jump on the bandwagon, Scott. There's room for him to change his mind and accept AO as the only legitimate choice for the Hart.