I rarely do hockey blogs, but as the playoffs are getting set to begin I’m actually getting excited by NHL hockey again, so I figured I’d put something up.
First off, Alexander Ovechkin should NOT win the Hart. I’m so tired of hearing sports reporters talk about what an injustice it is that “Alex the Great” is not playoff-bound, and how a player should not have to qualify for the playoffs to win the trophy. It’s immaterial. If Ovechkin hadn’t spent the first half of this season concerned only for his own statistics, the Capitals would be in the playoffs. If the Alex Ovechkin who started the season were the same Alex Ovechkin who has played the last two months, they might have the top seed in the East. I can’t abide giving the MVP to a guy who was only valuable to his team for half the season. This is the same reason I disqualify Evgeni Malkin; 20 games being the best player in the league does not an MVP make.
Even if the Caps make the playoffs, which would be entirely on Ovechkin’s play, I still don’t want to see him rewarded – although I’m certain he would. Today’s NHL is exactly the kind of league to reward a guy for being selfish and flashy, and only playing for his team when it was in his own personal interests.
I know an overwhelming majority of the fans seem to think that the 
Hart trophy is a scoring award – and so, the past few years have shown us, do many of the judges – but that’s what the Richard trophy and the Art Ross are for. The Hart is not about superior statistical performance. It is not even about stardom. It is about value to a team – not just for a handful of games, but for the entire season.
So who is my pick? I’ve got to go with Marty Brodeur. Though I loathe the Devils, I hope it’s obvious to everyone that Brodeur is the only reason they are going to the playoffs, the only reason they won more than a handful of games this season. Accuse me of goalie bias if you like, but I don’t see how any player was of more value to his team this season than Marty.
A few other NHL notes:
With two games left to go until the playoffs, NHL referees have become consistent in calling their new unwritten penalty, “hitting the superstar.” I miss the days when the NHL was proud of its physical nature, before they decided that slightly-less-dismal TV ratings were more important than integrity. I also miss the days when stars like Owen Nolan and Mark Messier initiated contact. Today’s stars are better practiced at embellishment and whining at the referee.
The Sharks (my pick for Cup Champs, btw) made news because they sat Nabokov when he had a shot at an NHL record for wins. Can we talk about how meaningless that is? 6 of his wins were in the shootout, which didn’t exist when Bernie Parent and Terry Sawchuck were taking the first and second spots on that list. In pre-2005 numbers Nabokov is 40-21-6, which doesn’t even put him on the single-season wins list. Last year when Brodeur took away Bernie Parent’s record, he had 10 shootout wins. Bernie, you’re still the record holder in my book. “Only Jesus saved more.”
If the Flyers miss the playoffs, they can look squarely at the 17 points they missed in overtime and shootout games. For some reason Marty Biron, IMO the most solid all-around goaltender the Flyers have handed the keys to since Pelle Lindbergh, turns to crap in overtime. There’s only one reason for it: confidence. One can only hope the Flyers will have the good sense to try and cure his head rather than trading him away and starting yet another season with a new guy in the net.
What about my Rangers? Beating up on the Islanders is great and all, but how about not playing the first 55 minutes of every game completely passive? There’s no shootouts in the playoffs, guys, so you’re actually going to need to score some old-fashioned goals if you’re going to win anything!
- And finally… I came across the photos below while looking for images to illustrate this blog. I’ve got to say, Sidney Crosby may be totally overrated in most ways, but Wayne Gretzky never looked this good with his shirt off. Maybe he’ll do us all a favor and pull a Tlusty so we can do a thorough evaluation.
