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.

Habs Shut Out At NHL Awards

Not surprising by any stretch of the imagination – The Canadiens "watched" last night's awards ceremony in the hockey hotbed of Las Vegas to come away with nothing. Astute members of the team would have been prepared, as trips out west rarely produce anything but heartache and highlights of opposing players celebrating over and over again.

It got me thinking about how far this Habs team is away. Last season was a close call as Carbonneau was nominated for the Jack Adams trophy, Carey Price 4th in Calder voting and earning an all-rookie team nod and Markov and Kovalev sniffing about the Norris and Hart trophies, respectively.

Well that mirage has passed and we're left with Markov and a team of third liners who were swept by their biggest rivals in an uncontested and largely unentertaining series. Not exactly the Canadiens of the 1970s who took temporary ownership of some awards.

If Columbus can have a surprise trophy winner and nearly a Vezina from a rookie, anything can happen, surely. But just where is our breakthrough likely to be?

To attempt to put some perspective on things, I have lined up the Canadiens candidate (selon moi) for each award next to the actual winner and nominees. Just for fun, I have also noted the player who would be nominated from our currently signed players:


Hart trophy:
Alexander Ovechkin (WAS)
Evgeni Malkin (PIT), Pavel Datsyuk (DET)
vs.
Andrei Markov (MTL) – has requisite Russian citizenship


Conn Smythe trophy:
Evgeni Malkin (PIT) – 36 playoff points and Stanley Cup
vs.
Saku Koivu (UFA) – 3 playoff points, 4 games, no wins
Yannick Weber (MTL) – 2 playoff points, 3 games, no wins


Art Ross trophy
Evgeni Malkin (PIT) – 113 points
vs.
Alexei Kovalev (UFA) – 65 points (57.5%)
Andrei Markov (MTL) – 64 points (56.6%)


Maurice Richard trophy:
Alexander Ovechkin (WAS) – 56 goals
vs.
Alexei Kovalev (UFA) – 26 goals (46.4%)
Andrei Kostitsyn (MTL) – 23 goals (41.1%)


Norris trophy:
Zdeno Chara (BOS)
Mike Green (WAS), Nicklas Lidstrom (DET)
vs.
Andrei Markov (MTL)


Vezina trophy:
Tim Thomas (BOS) – 2.10, 0.933, 5 SO
Steve Mason (CBJ), Niklas Backstrom (MIN)
vs.
Jaroslav Halak (MTL) – 2.86, 0.915, 1 SO


Selke trophy:
Pavel Datsyuk (DET)
Mike Richards (PHA), Ryan Kesler (VAN)
vs.
Maxim Lapierre (MTL)


Lady Byng trophy:
Pavel Datsyuk (DET)
Martin St Louis (TB), Zach Parise (NJ)
vs.
Chris Higgins (RFA)
Josh Gorges (MTL)


Calder trophy:
Steve Mason (CBJ)
Bobby Ryan (ANA), Kris Versteeg (CHI)
vs.
Matt D’Agostini (RFA)
Max Pacioretty (MTL)


Jack Adams trophy:
Claude Julien (BOS) – 53-19-10
Andy Murray (STL), Todd McLellan (SJ)
vs.
Guy Carbonneau (UFA) – 35-24-7
Bob Gainey (MTL) – 6-6-4


Bill Masterton trophy:
Steve Sullivan (NAS) – returned from 18 months of rehabbing
Richad Zednik (FLA), Chris Chelios (DET)
vs.
Patrice Brisebois (UFA) – Old and unbelievably hanging on to NHL employ
Glen Metropolit (MTL) – Nominated before for playing in Finland when no NHL team signed him


Foundation award:
Rick Nash (CBJ)
Alexei Kovalev (MTL), Dustin Brown (LA)
vs.
Alexei Kovalev (UFA) – actual nominee, hooray
Georges Laraque (MTL)


King Clancy trophy
Ethan Moreau (EDM)
vs.
Alexei Kovalev (UFA)
Georges Laraque (MTL)


Mark Messier trophy
Jarome Iginla (CGY)
Zdeno Chara (BOS), Sidney Crosby (PIT)
vs.
Saku Koivu (UFA)
Maxim Lapierre (MTL)


As you can see, our team was not stiffed. It just doesn't stack up to the quality of player around the NHL (with the exception of the excellent charity work, of course).

It was mostly pathetic attempts to win: see the Maurice Richard trophy, the Calder, Selke and the Vezina. The only way you see a Canadien in the running at all is if you consoder the season that Andrei Markov had – you'd have to think he's top 6 in Norris voting again.

Going into the future (next year, for example), it looks like Markov is our only shot at any silverware. Aside from the charity/leadership trophies (who would have guessed Moreau in a million years?).

Where do you think our best chance at a trophy will be for next June?

My top three would be:

1. Jack Adams trophy (Jacques Martin) – a bad end to this season already puts him in the running
2. Lifetime achievement award (Henri Richard) – one place we're stocked
   
3. Lady Byng trophy (Georges Laraque) – a fighter who asks before fighting, how gentlemanly

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.