Let’s end the suspense- Nicklas Lidstrom has already won his sixth Norris Trophy, regardless of when it will be announced. Through Round 1 of the 2008 NHL Playoffs, here are some lesser known awards:
The “thanks for showing up” award has to go to the Ottawa Senators. Martin Gerber didn’t show up until the second period of Game 1, while the rest of the team waited until Game 2. Every member of the team worked together to cycle in their mental vacations to ensure a consistent lack of consistency. It will be interesting to see how much of this roster remains intact over the offseason.
Humanitarian Award: The Nashville Predators and Boston Bruins came short of providing blueprints for knocking out a conference’s top seed, but each team scored enough to prove that no team in unbeatable.
Better Staal: Statwise, Marc wins with a tiebreaking +3, as each Stall has put home one goal thusfar. While Jordan’s upside is just as significant, Marc has been arguably the best at his position for his team. Of course, Jordan has world class competition at his center position, but few expected Marc to outperform veterans Paul Mara and Michal Rosival.
Honorable Mention: A playoff award should not be affected by regular season play, but the Boston Bruins persisted through an adversity mired season, watched by Patrice Bergeron. Marc Savard stepped in as the centerpiece of Beantown’s blue-collar Bears, who secured their playoff spot with a run bested only by Washington’s history making push. Phil Kessel has emerged as a star, while Milan Lucic and David Kreici allow Claude Julien to cycle three playoff quality lines.
The Man With the Golden Gun: Alex Kovalev has never lost in six career Game Sevens.
Soup Nazi Award: Geoffrey Lupul deprives NBC and many a fingertip-padding executive, snatching away their Crosby vs. Ovechkin dream matchup in the 2nd round. Fans of the game realize the series would be decided on the play of Marc-Andre Fluery vs. Cristobal Huet, while the true head to head would be Alex Ovechkin vs. Evgeny Malkin.
Wake up Naked in the Barn Award: The Calgary Flames can only wonder where they are and how the hell they got there. Two years removed from his Vezina trophy campaign, Mikka Kiprusoff finishes the series riding the bench. Worse still, after sitting out Game 6 due to old age, San Jose Sharks relic Jeremy Roenick puts the Flames out with a four point dousing in Game 7. His revival game was only a Gretzky head wound short of his life changing performance in the movie Swingers.
Keywords: Alex Kovalev, Alex Ovechkin, Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Claude Julien, Cristobal Huet, David Kreici, Evgeny Malkin, Geoffrey Lupul, Jeremy Roenick, Jordan Staal, Marc Savard, Marc Staal, Marc-Andre Fleury, Martin Gerber, Michal Rozsival, Mikka Kiprusoff, Milan Lucic, Nashville Predators, NHL, NHL Playoffs, Nicklas Lidstrom, Ottawa Senators, Patrice Bergeron, Paul Mara, San Jose Sharks, Sydney Crosby, Wayne Gretzky
