CarterHud

 
  It\’s hard to win the Bill Masterton trophy. The trophy is awarded to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Bill Masterton winners usually have very touching stories during the season. This year\’s finalists are Craig Anderson of the Ottawa Senators, Andrew Cogliano of the Anaheim Ducks and Derek Ryan of the Carolina Hurricanes.

     Speaking of touching stories, Anderson probably had the most touching in all of the \”big four\” leagues. His wife, Nicholle was diagnosed with cancer early in the season, and Anderson missed more than two months to be with her. Both times (he took two different breaks) he came back, Anderson posted a shutout, including one against the Oilers he\’ll never forget. He led the Sens to the playoffs this year with a 2.28 GAA and .926 SV%.

      Cogliano was nominated for a different reason. This is actually the 4th time in 6 years he\’s been nominated. That\’s because of his iron-man streak. Since 2007-08, Cogliano has played in 786 consecutive games, never missing a game in his career. He had 35 points (16 goals and 19 assists) this year.

      An old rookie in the NHL is around 24. Ryan is a rookie, and is 30. He was undrafted, and played in junior, college, Swedish and AHL hockey since 2003. In 67 games this year, Ryan scored 29 points (11 goals and 18 assists).

      I think Anderson will win. He missed so many games with a family issue, and led his team to the playoffs. That isn\’t easy to do. If he loses, I\’d be surprised.

       The Lady Byng trophy in the NHL is one of a kind. No other sports league awards a trophy similar to the Lady Byng. The Lady Byng is awarded to the player \”adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly, combined with a high standard of playing ability.\” Basically, the formula to win the Lady Byng is to have a high number of points, and a low number of penalty minutes. The 2017 Lady Byng finalists are Vladimir Tarasenko of the St. Louis Blues, Mikael Granlund of the Minnesota Wild and Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames.

      For the first time in his career, Tarasenko played in all 82 games. He scored a career high 75 points (39 goals and 36 assists). He sat in the penalty box for just 12 minutes. The Russian probably grew up watching Russian Pavel Datsyuk, who won the trophy 4 consecutive times from 2005-06 to 2008-09. Maybe Tarasenko can become the third Russian to win the Lady Byng (After Datsyuk and Alexander Mogilny).

     Granlund enjoyed his breakout season in 2016-17. He scored a career high 69 points (26 goals and 43 assists, each career highs) in 81 games. Like Tarasenko, he sat in the box for 12 minutes. His efforts helped the Wild get to the playoffs.

     Gaudreau played the least amount of games, 72, and scored the least amount of points, 61 (18 goals and 43 assists), but he had the least amount of penalty minutes with 4. That helped the Flames make the playoffs.

     I think Tarasenko will win. He has the most points, so he already is halfway there to being the obviously choice. Gaudreau has less penalty minutes, but in less games. And it\’s not like 12 penalty minutes is so much. So, that\’s why he\’ll win.

    

Many people would tell that being a goalie in hockey is the hardest position in sports. Pucks are always flying at you, and you need to stop them. So winning the Vezina trophy (best goalie) is a great honor. The NHL announced the finalists for this year\’s Vezina trophy. They are Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens, Braden Holtby of the Washignton Capitals and Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

     In his career, Price has earned the title of being known as the best goalie in the world with a 2.39 career GAA and .920 SV%. 2 seasons ago, Price took home 4 (!!) trophies. The Vezina, Hart and Ted Lindsey (MVP like awards) and the Jennings (best GAA). In 2016-17, he had a 2.23 GAA and a SV% of .923.

    In 2015-16, Holtby tied Martin Brodeur for the most single season wins in NHL history. He also won the Vezina that year. In 2016-17, he had a better year, with a 2.07 GAA and a .925 SV%. He has a good chance at winning his second consecutive Vezina.

    After a very rough 2015-16, with a 2.75 GAA and a SV% of .908, Bobrovsky played more like his Vezina winning 2013 season in 2016-17. He had a 2.06 GAA and a .931 SV%. He led the Blue Jackets to a 108 point season and the playoffs.

   I think Bobrovsky will win. Price wasn\’t nearly as good as \”Bob\” and Holtby. Holtby had John Carlson and Matt Niskanen in front of him the entire season, and Kevin Shattenkirk at the end. Bob\’s best defenseman, Zach Werenski and Seth Jones, are 19 and 22 respectively. Usually I root for the person who hasn\’t won the trophy, but all 3 have won.

    

  Every defenseman dreams of winning the Norris trophy (best defenseman). The NHL announced the three defenseman who are finalists for the Norris trophy. They are Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks, Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators and Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

       Burns was drafted as a forward, and by a look of his stats, you would have never guessed he switched to a defenseman. For the third straight season, Burns played in all 82 games. This year, he set a career high in points with 76 (29 goals and 47 assists). He was also a +19.

Karlsson with the Norris in 2015

        For a the first time since 2012-13, Karlsson didn\’t play in 82 games. But he played in a majority of them, suiting up 77 times. He was a +10, and scored 71 points (17 goals and 54 assists). He might be the best defenseman in this generation. In 2015-16, he scored 82 points. He will go for Norris number 3 this year.

       Many people said 2015-16 was Hedman\’s breakout year, with 47 points, leading the Bolts to the eastern conference finals. In 2016-17, he had a better year scoring-wise. Hedman scored more points than Karlsson but less than Burns with 72 (16 goals and 56 assists). He was only a +3, as the Bolts struggled in net.

       I think Burns will win. Now, scoring is a bigger factor in winning the Norris than it was when Bobby Orr was around. Burns nearly scored 30 goals and 80 points. \”Chewbacca\” should win his first Norris this year.

     

Matthews (left) and Laine

The Calder trophy (best rookie) is special. For every other trophy, a player can be nominated multiple times, and win multiple times. But, you can only be nominated for the Calder once. If you win, congrats. If you lose, too bad. For the 2016-17 season, the NHL announced the finalists for the Calder. They are Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

     Matthews was the first overall pick in the 2016 NHL draft. And by the looks of his first season, the Leafs made the right choice. He played in all 82 games, scoring 69 points (40 goals ad 29 assists). Only the best players in the world can score 40 goals in a season. To be a teenager and do it (Matthews is just 19 years old) is unreal.

    After Matthews, Laine was drafted 2nd overall in 2016. He is compared to Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin, who is known for having one of the nastiest shots in NHL history. In 73 games this season, Laine scored 64 points (36 goals and 28 assists). To score a hatrick (3 goals in a single game) is very tough. Well, Laine scored a hatrick of hatrick during his rookie season.

    Werenski, a defenseman, was drafted the year before Matthews and Laine, but still had a great rookie season. He played in 78 games, with 47 points (11 goals and 36 assists). The 19 year old was a +17. He\’s the
underdog in this race, and was at the start of the season too.

     I think Matthews will win the Calder. Another fact that I didn\’t mention before is that Matthews lead the Leafs, who finished dead last in 2015-16 to the playoffs, While Laine\’s Jets went home early. Werenski lead the Jackets to the playoffs, but their offense was potent and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky should win the Vezina trophy (best goalie). Like I said, Matthews scored 40 goals. He tied with Nikita Kucherov for second in goal scoring in the entire NHL, behind Sidney Crosby. I just don\’t see him losing.