No need to wait until June- Alex Ovechkin is your Hart Trophy winner. Here are the winners for Round 2 of the 2008 NHL Playoffs:
The “thanks for showing up” award goes to Sean Avery’s spleen, which ruptured along with the Rangers playoff hopes in Game 3 at the Garden. In a series where the Rangers needed to find a way to get uberstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeny Malkin off their game, Avery was held in check. Luckily, he all but wrapped up a new contract in the previous series against the New Jersey Devils.
Humanitarian Award: After a two-faced performance in Round 1, Carey Price looked more rookie than phenom in the Conference Semis against the Philadelphia Flyers. Credit is certainly due to the Flyers, as nobody makes the Conference Finals on a bye, but only Jose Theodore of the Colorado Avalanche posted worse 2nd round numbers. Theodore can at least take comfort in being steamrolled by the Detriot Red Wings, with Henrik Zetterberg scoring goals only a child would think possible, between tallies from the invincible Johan Franzen. Brick wall Marty Turco will now try to impede this immovable object.
