NHL Awards Preview Part 2

Welcome back. Last week I profiled the favourites for the NHL Awards. It was so good, it was a featured article on MSN Canada, and I'm in a great mood.

We'll start again with the Vezina Trophy. My pick was Dominik Hasek, but since the Hart was voted on by the hockey writers and the Vezina by the General Managers, it could be different. Martin Brodeur has always been a good goalie. Or maybe a lucky goalie if you watch the highlights of him making a stick save from the other side of the net, or getting a glove on the puck as it's crossing the line (The rule is no part of the puck may be touching the line. The whole puck must be in.) His GAA was a miniscule 1.89, which put him in second, 0.01 behind Belfour, with a save percentage of .917. He also lead the league in wins with 43, six ahead of Belfour. His 10 shutouts put him in second in the league, three behind Hasek. He was also the backbone of the disappointing Canadian team in Nagano.

Next trophy is the Lady Byng Trophy which I said last week would be won by Teemu Selanne because it combined playing ability with sportsmanship. Nipping on his heels is Ron Francis. Voted by the NHL coaches as the top faceoff man in the league a couple of times, Ron Francis and Mario Jr. Jagr have been to Pittsburgh what Selanne and Kariya have been to Anaheim. His 87 points was one more than Selanne, with 25 goals and 62 assists, making him seventh in the NHL. This was a big season for him as he hit the 1,400-point plateau, putting him in ninth on the all-time list, jumping six spots, and vaulting ahead of names like Bucyk and Lafleur and recent retirees Hawerchuk, Kurri and Trottier, not to mention Bourque, who is still active. The stat that makes him most eligible, though, is the penalty minutes. He had the lowest number of the three nominees with 20. That is a number that wins this award.

Last week, I said history would repeat and Pat Burns would win the Jack Adams Trophy. I stick by that, with only a shadow of a doubt that Dallas Stars' Ken Hitchcock would win. Only five coaches have won the award on the league champion team since its inception in 1974. They are Scotty Bowman, Montreal 1977 AND Detroit, 1996; Al Arbour, Islanders, 1979; Pat Quinn, Philadelphia, 1980; Mike Keenan, Philadelphia, 1985; and Glen Sather, Edmonton, 1986. However, Hitchcock can be considered the best coach in Minnesota/Dallas history with franchise records for wins and points, which also led the league for the 1998 season. I said before only two coaches have won the Presidents' Trophy and Adams in the same year, so history is on Burns' side and not Hitchcock.

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