With the 2013-2014 NHL season in the books, Scott Cullen has his final take on the award races. . As I get more interested in hockeys advanced stats, there comes a challenge when handing out awards and it dovetails with a discussion that occurred at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference this year. When discussing a college football ranking, ESPNs Dean Oliver asserted that the "best" and "most deserving" teams arent necessarily the same thing. As it pertains to college football, its entirely possible to see a team that has lost still get favoured against an unbeaten team (think Alabama vs. Notre Dame in the 2013 national championship game) because their relative strength of schedule isnt the same. At the same time, an unbeaten Notre Dame team had every right to be included in that game because of what they had accomplished. It can get complicated trying to weigh the results with the circumstances under which those results were achieved. How does this apply to end-of-season hockey awards? Well, individual hockey players dont all get the same opportunities or play against the same level of competition and that has to be taken into account. At the same time, in many cases, there is an element of good fortune involved to be considered among the elite players in a given category and some of that can pertain to percentages that arent sustainable over the long-term. When it comes to awards, though, Im still of the opinion that a player shouldnt be penalized for scoring on a higher percentage of his shots than normal. It may not be something that he can carry over to future years, but thats not relevant to the discussion of a players contribution in the 2013-2014 NHL season. With that in mind, here are my picks: HART TROPHY Winner: Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Runners-up: Ryan Getzlaf, C, Anaheim; Joe Pavelski, C/LW, San Jose Comment: While there is an argument to be made that Getzlafs production, in the Western Conference, could warrant the honour, Crosbys production against the West (35 points in 27 games) was plenty impressive and he topped 100 points this season despite having a mish-mash collection of right wingers after Pascal Dupuis was hurt. Yes, an injury to Pascal Dupuis raised Crosbys level of difficulty. In any event, Crosby played at least 80 games for only the third time in his career and topped 100 points for the fifth time and is a deserving MVP. Thats not to suggest that Getzlaf didnt have a great season in his own right, scoring a career-high 31 goals and his 87 points in 77 games represented the best points-per-game scoring rate of his career. Pavelski, who has long been a very good player, raised the bar this year, finishing a career-best 18.2% of his shots on his way to scoring a career-high 41 goals and 79 points. Pavelskis strong finish (23 points in the last 21 games) pulled him ahead of Alex Ovechkin, the leagues only 50-goal scorer. Getzlafs right winger, Corey Perry, is right in the discussion as well after finishing with 43 goals, including a league-best 35 at even strength. NORRIS TROPHY Winner: Duncan Keith, Chicago Runners-up: Shea Weber, Nashville; Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Comment: For much of the year, Keith has been at the head of the class, a dominant two-way player on a dominant team, but Webers impressive finish (8 G, 8 A in final 17 GP) closed the gap, enough that when digging deeper, to compare quality of competition, teammates and zone starts, that Webers my choice in a very close race. I wouldnt have any qualms about Erik Karlsson winning either, even with a minus-16 rating. Karlsson has a rare ability to drive play forward which is shown in his strong Relative Corsi, though his plus-minus ended up being undermined by subpar goaltending when he was on the ice. If he played a full slate of games, Calgarys Mark Giordano would have a strong case, because he had an exceptional season, without an ideal supporting cast, and Tampa Bays Victor Hedman was lurking around the race for much of the season, scoring a career-best 55 points with strong possession stats. VEZINA TROPHYWinner: Tuukka Rask, Boston Runners-up: Semyon Varlamov, Colorado; Ben Bishop, Tampa Bay Comment: Theres not a lot to choose between the leagues top goaltenders, but Rask led the league in 5-on-5 save percentage (.942) as well as overall (.930), good enough to take home the hardware. Varlamov, who doesnt have the benefit of a strong defensive unit, gets the first runner-up spot while Ben Bishop and Carey Price are so close for the next that Bishop gets the edge for playing a handful more games. Reigning Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky is close to that group as well, but not quite. CALDER TROPHYWinner: Ondrej Palat, LW, Tampa Bay Runners-up: Nathan MacKinnon, C, Colorado; Jacob Trouba, D, Winnipeg Comment: This was really a surprisingly good race, as Palat wouldnt go away, even once MacKinnon surged into the rookie scoring lead. MacKinnon held on to win that race, 63 points to Palats 59, but Palat faced higher-quality competition, as he was an offensive driver for the Lightning even while Steven Stamkos was injured. Its very close, to be sure, but I give Palat the edge. Among the runner-ups, Jacob Trouba gets the edge over Torey Krug even though Trouba missed 17 games. Trouba played more minutes, against tougher competition and was productive in that role. Krug was really a power play ace for the Bruins, scoring 19 of his 40 points with the man advantage, but he didnt have the kind of responsibility that the Jets put upon Trouba. Palats frequent linemate, centre Tyler Johnson, was also a worthy candidate after scoring 24 goals to tie MacKinnon for the rookie lead. SELKE TROPHYWinner: Patrice Bergeron, C, Boston Runners-up: Anze Kopitar, C, Los Angeles; David Backes, C, St. Louis. Comment: This is an increasingly fascinating award, as more and more statistical measures become available to help gauge a players effectiveness. When looking at the top contenders -- Bergeron, Kopitar, Backes, Jonathan Toews, Gabriel Landeskog, Alexander Steen -- they are all very good two-way players. Landeskog, Toews, Backes and Steen face the higher quality of competition, Bergeron, Kopitar and Toews have the most dominant possession numbers, and Bergeron does it while starting 46.6% of his shifts in the offensive zone. The numbers, then, support Bergeron, who won the award in 2012. LADY BYNG AWARDWinner: Ryan OReilly, RW, ColoradoRunners-up: Tyler Seguin, C, Dallas; Jay Bouwmeester, D, St. Louis Comment: There are many players who play a clean game with a high level of skill, but no one should match OReilly, the Avalanche forward who scored a career-high 64 points and took his only minor penalty (playing with a broken stick) in his 72nd game of the season. JACK ADAMS AWARDWinner: Jon Cooper, Tampa BayRunners-up: Patrick Roy, Colorado; Mike Babcock, Detroit Comment: Its difficult to determine how much credit a coach deserves for a teams success in a single year because sometimes that success is predicated on percentages. That doesnt inherently mean a coach isnt deserving, but if their success isnt sustainable, should a coach really be rewarded for his team being lucky? To that end, a hot goaltender can make a coach look awfully good and so it is with some trepidation that I take Jon Cooper as my Jack Adams pick, because goaltender Ben Bishop played such a big part in the Lightnings 101-point season. At the same time, Cooper kept the Lightning going even though Steven Stamkos was out for nearly four months with a broken tibia and they traded Martin St. Louis at the trade deadline. Pushing through that, with rookies like Palat and Johnson handling big minutes, is deserving of credit. Roy may be the popular choice, since hes a well-known former player, and hes no doubt improved the Avalanche, but how much of that is tied to Semyon Varlamovs superb season? Cooper faced a little more adversity. If adversity is the criteria, Babcock might have a strong claim. His best two players, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, each missed 37 games, and those were only the most prominent on a regularly long injured list. That the Wings reached the playoffs, with rookies scattered throughout their forward ranks by seasons end, is enough reason for consideration. Bostons Claude Julien, Anaheims Bruce Boudreau and Columbus Todd Richards are some others that I would give strong consideration to this season. Scott Cullen can be reached at
Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. . The Pacers rallied from 17 points down in the first half and almost wiped out another double-digit deficit after halftime, but had the same offensive troubles late that plagued them early in the game. Paul George had 27 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Pacers, who stayed a game and a half up on Miami for the lead in the Eastern Conference after the Heat lost in overtime to Chicago. . A two-sport standout in his senior year of high school, Larkin went to the University of Michigan on a scholarship to play defensive back for Schembechlers Wolverines. . -- Montee Ball acknowledges he was "a little bit" intimidated by Peyton Manning last year, something he says contributed to his slow start.Depending on ones level of optimism, the Toronto Maple Leafs are either running out of time or are completely out of it in their search for a playoff berth. The Leafs have lost eight straight games and have tumbled all the way from second in the Atlantic Division to two spots back of the final Eastern Conference wild card position. Reminiscent of the teams struggles in February of 2012 that saw them drop 10 of 11 games and fall from fourth in the Eastern Conference all the way to 10th, it appears that the proverbial 18-wheeler is going off the cliff once again, to borrow former Leafs general manager Brian Burkes immortal turn-of-phrase. The 2011-12 failure would cost head coach Ron Wilson his job, with Randy Carlyle taking over before the Leafs March schedule even began. Burke, too, would become a casualty in the seasons aftermath. He would be replaced by his colleague - Dave Nonis – prior to the lockout-delayed start to the 2012-13 season. The Leafs are still mathematically in the thick of the wild card hunt – two points back of the Columbus Blue Jackets entering Monday night. But with games-in-hand to be factored, the hill could become steeper still. Regardless of whether the team makes the playoffs or not, they have certainly done themselves no favours with the slide. With the skid, the Leafs have lost the possibility of home-ice advantage against the likes of the Montreal Canadiens or Tampa Bay Lightning and have painted themselves into a black-and-gold corner that would likely see them draw the Boston Bruins (again) in the first round - that is, if they even make the playoffs. So who takes the blame this time around? Traditionally, the coach is the first to shoulder the load. So does Carlyle wear the horns? He has been a polarizing figure if former players like Mikhail Grabovski are to be believed and as the old adage goes, "you cant fire the team." Dion Phaneuf has drawn his share oof criticism over the streak as well, making notable on-ice gaffes against both the Philadelphia Flyers and St. . Louis Blues and taking additional heat after refusing to speak to the media after the streak hit seven. He has posted a minus-8 rating in the Leafs past three games. Nonis, too, could shoulder some of the blame for failing to add to a team that many had predicted was overachieving earlier in the season. Not only did Nonis not make a trade leading up to the Mar. 5 trade deadline, the Leafs war room was shown deserted in the minutes leading up to 3pm et that day. A lack of deadline activity is nothing new to Toronto as the team has avoided big name additions in each of the last three seasons, but should Nonis have pressed harder to improve his club? Or does the blame fall to the teams long-term core? The Leafs have five forwards - Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul, David Clarkson, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak – locked up over the next four seasons beyond 2013-14 at a combined cost of just under $27 million. While Lupuls productivity has actually trended upwards during the slump (three goals in his last five games and six points over the eight games), the big line of Kessel, van Riemsdyk and Bozak has not been up to the lofty standards it set earlier this season. Kessel has scored just twice in eight games and the entire line has combined for just 12 points with only one player (Bozak) having managed a multi-point game over the stretch, and that only once. As for Clarkson, his career lows in goals and assists this season speak for themselves. The blame game could go on and on. The team has given up three goals or more eight straight games. That statistic could be pinned on the defence corps, overall team defence, or a four-game stretch without Jonathan Bernier. So who takes the blame for the Leafs late-season struggles? As always, its Your! Call. ' ' '
by ldh2013 » Sat Jun 18, 2016 8:03 am 
