Spacek For The Norris Trophy

Now that the Habs have clinched a playoff berth and got a virtual by to the Conference final, it's only natural that we Canadiens fans start talking trophies.

Between the obvious bids: Price for Vezina and Jennings, Plekanec for Selke, Martin for Jack Adams; I feel some deserving members of the team have fallen through the cracks.

Take Jaroslav Spacek.

He plays on the team that has allowed the least goals per game in the NHL. He is the #1 in all but name (and minutes played). He frequently lines up against the other team's top lines and makes them shoot from the outside. How else to explain Montreal's suddenly impervious net?

Against those top lines, Spacek is an impressive +4, and that doesn't account for his penalty killing excellence.

He has an incredible 15 takeaways already, easily outnumbering his 14 giveaways. that puts him 10th in the league. And only Lidstrom of those ahead of him can boast fewer giveaways. But Jaro has hit and blocked more shots than that pretender.

Realistically, the best defender in the league should come from one of the best defensive teams. And what better defensive team than the Habs? Sure, you could say the Bruins, but they are only riding two goalies who for consecutive years posted league best numbers, and following the orders of a coach who is afraid to attack.

Spacek, as a member of the top pair on the top team, and with better looking stats than Hamrlik deserves full consideration for the Norris trophy. And what better time to start lobbying than in November, now that most stats have been compiled?


Tom Pyatt, gentleman

While we're about it. How has Tom Pyatt been in the league so long without gaining recognition?

Here we are talking a bout a guy that has played in every game (well nearly) for the best defensive team in the East. He's played against the Bruins, the Flyers, the Leafs, the Panthers, his enormous brother and plenty of other goons and yet continually upholds the values of sportsmanship.

Even his obvious frustration built form the inability to direct shots within 45 degrees of his desired target hasn't come to the boil.

At this critical juncture in the deciding who will and won't win trophies this season, it shouldn't be forgotten that Tom Pyatt has only visited the penalty box a single time, and that was a misunderstanding (hooking) in the very first contest of the season.

He's a virtual lock for the Lady Byng trophy to anyone with a serious interest in that trophy.

"We used to wait for it.
We used to wait for it.
Now we're screaming sing the chorus again..."

Patience good fans, the awards will be awarded when they are awarded. The playoff teams will be known after Game 82. The Cup will be won in June.

24 games does not a season make.

NHL Awards: Habs Shutout

As nominations were being prepared, Habs fans were thinking that the Canadiens could realistically take a shot at 3 of the trophies – the Calder, the Jack Adams and the Hart. The optimists were hoping for nominees in even more categories with Markov a borderline Norris candidate based on his regular season play.

Nominations for the trophies (or published top threes in voting), left us with one man standing: Guy Carbonneau for the Jack Adams trophy.

Last night was the final cull for the Habs, as Carbonneau lost out to Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals.

The voters got it wrong with this verdict.


Boudreau's accomplishments pale in comparison to Carbonneau and Babcock (the other nominee) and even to a few others who were not nominated in the end.

While Boudreau's supporters vaunt his impressive 37-17-7 record in the last 61 games of the season, they just as eagerly ignore that Carbonneau's Canadiens went 35-19-7 over the same span. Babcock's Wings did better at 39-16-6.

Boudreau turned a team around. Carbonneau and Babcock kept their teams consistent enough to win.

Boudreau took a non-playoff team to the last available place. Carbonneau took a non-playoff team to first. Babcock managed to get the perennial leaders interested in another runaway regular season win.

So why was Boudreau chosen?

The answer eludes me.

Lots of teams improve from one season to the next – going from non-playoff team to qualifier. If that was the criteria for coach of the year, surely John Stevens would outclass Boudreau. Carbonneau's Canadiens went from 11th to first, comfortably cruising into post-season play with time to spare. He must trump Boudreau here too!

Perhaps the answer was Boudreau's ability to turn a flailing Capitals franchise around. If so, he won a Jack Adams trophy on the back of poor work from both Glen Hanlon who should and could have done better preparation with the Capitals and from Peter Laviolette who coached his talented team out of the playoffs again.


I have Carbonneau as the coach of the year, regardless of what the mopes on the voting panel say. Carbonneau not only turned his team around, won the East and somehow managed to get Kovalev into the mood to be a serious mentor, but he also did it in a seriously difficult division, with no help over the season from his GM.

It shouldn't be forgotten that Carbonneau and his team also revamped the number one which had lost its main weapon of the previous campaign – actually improving it. Over the season they also turned the Canadiens young crew into extremely effective penalty-killers and defenders and even the number one offensive team in the league.


After putting all this down on paper, it's pretty clear Carbo deserved more than the invitation to dress up and do his best good loser impression for the cameras.