Ovechkin shoots for 2nd straight NHL MVP award
Hart was 1st individual trophy presented by league in 1924
Last Updated: Thursday, June 18, 2009 | 2:09 AM ET
CBC Sports
Capitals star forward Alex Ovechkin poses with the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award at the 2008 NHL Awards. (Al Bello/Getty Images)The popular belief is Alex Ovechkin on Thursday night will be named the National Hockey League's most valuable player for a second consecutive season.
If that's the case, expect the Washington Capitals star left-winger to roll out the usual thank-you list that probably would include his family, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, head coach Bruce Boudreau and teammates.
It would be interesting to see if the happy-go-lucky Ovechkin had something to say about Hockey Night in Canada's Don Cherry, who criticized the Russian player this season for what some believed to be over-the-top goal celebrations.
Or, how would he acknowledge the accomplishments of chief rival Sidney Crosby (the pair had a few verbal exchanges throughout the season) and the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins?
Ovechkin says he didn't watch the Penguins' Game 7 victory over Detroit, noting he didn't want to see how everybody celebrated.
But the feeling among many hockey observers is the 23-year-old will be doing plenty of celebrating Thursday (CBC, 8:30 p.m. ET, 9 p.m. NT) at the annual awards ceremony, which shifts to the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas for the first time after years in Toronto.
Ovechkin is up against 2009 Cup participants and fellow Russians Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Datsyuk for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, and the Lester B. Pearson Award as top player voted by the NHL Players' Association.
The Hart was the first individual trophy presented by the league in 1924, three years before the Stanley Cup — which began as a challenge-based award in 1893 — was awarded to the NHL champion.
Most gentlemanly player trophy
In 1925, the Lady Byng Trophy was awarded to the most gentlemanly player in the game. Three years later, New York Rangers forward Frank Boucher won his first of four straight Lady Byngs, a feat Datsyuk hopes to match on Thursday.
The Russian centre has taken home plenty of hardware from the NHL awards and also been at the centre of one of its funniest moments.
After winning the Lady Byng and Frank J. Selke Trophy as top defensive forward a year ago, Datsyuk expressed love for his family and said he wanted his speech to be longer but his bad English wouldn't allow for it, at which point everyone laughed and he smiled.
Datsyuk is expected to win both awards Thursday after a 2008-09 campaign in which he posted 97 points, 22 penalty minutes and a plus-34 rating.
In 1927, the Vezina Trophy was created for the NHL's top goaltender. The list of recipients is quite impressive, led by seven-time winner Jacques Plante, Dominik Hasek (six) and Martin Brodeur (four).
This year, the so-called experts appear to be leaning towards Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins, who led the league in goals-against average (2.10) and save percentage (.933). Niklas Backstrom and rookie Steve Mason are the other finalists.
Of the NHL's 22 current awards, 18 are annual individual trophies, the most recent addition the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2007.
Scribes' votes decide 5 awards
Voting for the awards is conducted at the conclusion of the regular season, with the Professional Hockey Writers' Association casting ballots for the Hart, Norris (top defenceman), Selke, Lady Byng and Calder (top rookie) trophies.
Detroit Red Wings blue-liner Nicklas Lidstrom has won six of the last seven Norris trophies, but many say he could bow to Zdeno Chara, the Boston Bruins' six-foot-nine man-mountain. Washington's Mike Green, who led all defencemen with 73 points, is also in the mix.
Mason appears to be the clear favourite in the Calder race. He led the Columbus Blue Jackets to their first playoff appearance in franchise history and topped all goalies with 10 shutouts — the first rookie leader since Tony Esposito had 15 in 1970 — and finished second in goals-against average (2.29).
The PHWA also votes on the Bill Masterton Trophy (sportsmanship and dedication to hockey), while the NHL's 30 general managers vote on the Vezina.
King Clancy Trophy for leadership
The NHL Broadcasters' Association (NHLBA) determines the winner of the Jack Adams Trophy (coach of the year), and a special panel of representatives from the PHWA and NHLBA choose the recipient of the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership and contribution to community.
There doesn't seem to be clear-cut favourite for coach of the year honours among Boston's Claude Julien, San Jose's Todd McLellan and St. Louis' Andy Murray, but the latter is mentioned a lot after he guided a very young team to the playoffs with a 25-9-7 second-half record, best in the NHL.
Wayne Gretzky holds the major sports record for the most awards won at 47.
Thursday's 90-minute broadcast will be streamed live at CBCSports.ca (7:30 p.m. ET), with HNIC Radio host Jeff Marek participating in a live online chat.
The program will be televised in High Definition with several hockey personalities on hand: HNIC's Kelly Hrudey; Glenn Anderson; Pat Burns; Tony Esposito; Sergei Fedorov; Doug Gilmour; Jarome Iginla; Pat LaFontaine; Igor Larionov; Brian Leetch; Reggie Lemelin; Messier; Stan Mikita; Andy Moog; Luc Robitaille; Jeremy Roenick; and, of course, the Stanley Cup.
It will feature musical performances from multi-platinum recording artist Robin Thicke, Grammy winner Chaka Khan and the NHL Award house band led by Katreese Barnes from Saturday Night Live.
