The NHL season hasn’t even been over for a week and I already miss it. I have a fever and the only cure is more blaring goal horns. This season left a much better taste in my mouth than the previous one because not only did the Blues make it back to the postseason, their biggest rival didn’t win the postseason. The Red Wings had everything going their way. There hadn’t been a home team that had lost a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 38 years. The road team hasn’t won a championship in a Game 7 in any professional sport since the Pirates did it back in 1979. So Detroit took that fact and dominated the first period. Pittsburgh outshot the Wings 10-6 in the first, but it didn’t feel that way watching it. But then Detroit let them off the hook.
With no score after one frame, Pittsburgh had taken hold of the momentum. They got a turnover deep in the Wings’ zone in the first and a helpful bounce to take a 1-0 lead. Maxime Talbot was the culprit picking up his third goal of the finals. Just under nine minutes later, the Pens got an odd-man rush and Talbot struck again, firing a laser past Chris Osgood. It was a nice shot, but Osgood could’ve had it. If he stops that, it’s a completely different game. The Wings’ fans were still in the game after getting down 2-0, so staying within one likely would’ve allowed them to come back and win it. After all, they did manage to beat Marc-Andre Fleury once. Speaking of Fleury, he was a superhero for the Penguins in the third period, especially over the last two minutes. The diving save he made with about four seconds left was nearly as miraculous as Santonio Holmes’ catch to win Super Bowl XLIII. What a way to win the Stanley Cup. The Steelers got their rings last week, by the way. They weigh nearly a quarter of a pound. Now that’s some bling!
Since I consider the draft to be the start of the new season, tonight’s NHL awards ceremony will officially end the hockey season. The Blues might actually win something this year. The last time they won an award was the 2002-03 season when Barret Jackman took home the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. Coach Andy Murray is a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as the coach who contributed the most to his team’s success. The Blues seem to win this award about once a decade (Red Berenson 80-81, Brian Suter 90-91, Joel Quenneville 99-00), so if nothing else, they’re due. But more importantly, Murray guided a team to the playoffs that lost its best defenseman (Erik Johnson) to a season-ending knee injury before the season began, its star forward Paul Kariya in November for the remainder of the year, and its lone all-star and number one goaltender from the year before to Sarah Palin. (Get her David Letterman! HeHeeee!) There could’ve been other factors to the Osgood situation, but they were 4-2 when that happened and he was never the same once he came back. They also lost about a trillion other man games when you add those to Andy McDonald’s freak broken leg and Eric Brewer’s hernia among others.
The team could’ve folded numerous times down the stretch, especially having to rely on a bunch of kids to take on key minutes, but Murray kept them going. He got the players to listen, take the season a game at a time, and he certainly appears to be the right man for the job as the Blues continue to groom their kids. Murray’s competition for the Award are the Sharks’ Todd McLellan (Presidents Trophy winner) and the Bruins’ Claude Julien (Best record in the Eastern Conference). Those teams were supposed to be good this year. The Blues were picked to finish out of the playoffs by everybody and had some experts picking them to finish in the basement of the Western Conference. That was with everyone healthy. With all of the injuries and other issues overcome, Murray’s an easy pick for the win.
My other picks for the major award are as follows:
Alexander Ovechkin for the Hart Trophy (MVP)
He was drafted before Evgeni Malkin for a reason. He’s a better player. Malkin’s a great player, just not the best in the league. I’m sure he can drown his sorrows of not winning by having a drink. Maybe even out of a big shiny cup.
Pavel Datsyuk for the Lady Byng Trophy (Best Sportsmanship)
He’s won it the last three years and didn’t really change his game, so I don’t see why it would go to someone else.
Tim Thomas for the Vezina Trophy (Best Goalie)
Steve Mason was fantastic for most of the year but he trailed off toward the end of the season. Thomas’ GAA was an incredible 2.10 to lead the league and was a huge reason why the Bruins finished with the East’s best record.
Bobby Ryan for the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year)
He scored 31 goals and racked up 57 points in just 64 games this year for the Ducks. Steve Mason had an incredible run and was a shoe-in before catching mono, but that allowed Ryan to pass him up.
Zdeno Chara for the James Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman)
Nick Lidstrom has won this award six times, including the last three years and six of the last seven. That being said, his numbers are starting to decline a tad. Chara’s +50 rating make him a decent pick. Mike Green is a goal-scoring threat every time he touches the puck, which he showed by setting an NHL record for scoring goals in consecutive games by a defenseman this year. However, since the trophy is given to the best overall defenseman, not the best goal-scoring defenseman, Chara’s my pick.
Ryan Kesler for the Frank J. Selke Award (Best Defensive Forward)
The other two players strike me as more offensive players whereas Kesler just sticks to guys all over the ice. I know Datsyuk won it last year, but this trophy was made for players like Kesler.
One final note is that the Blues return to regular season action on October 2nd against the Red Wings in Sweden. It’s already on my Google calendar and only 105 days away, but who’s counting?
