A quarter of the ’14-’15 NHL season has come and gone, ah the memories. Seems like just yesterday they had a dry scrape before overtime, remember? Well, it’s that time to sit down and think about some of the individuals who have impressed up until this point of the season. The season is long and there is certainly a long stretch of highway to go till the finish line, but, it’s worth pointing out who the leading candidates are for the NHL awards a quarter of the way through the season.
Here we go…
Hart Trophy – Candidates: Vladimir Tarasenko STL, Steven Stamkos TB, Sidney Crosby PIT
The obvious leader here is “The Kid” who leads the league in points on the East’s second best team, however, I refuse to give this award of excellence to a sniffling, whining, pain in the ass that is Sidney Crosby, so we’ll move on. Stamkos has been everything that Tampa wants and expects but I’m going to lean towards Tarasenko here. St. Louis has been a great story in this young season after a disappointing playoff exit a few months ago and the uncertainty of the team moving forward. Tarasenko has piled up a dozen goals, 11 helpers in just 22 games with a staggering +15. As I do have a bit of a shocker at the top of the MVP race I do expect Stamkos to make a huge push for this award as the season gets older. The Lightning are only getting healthier (Hedman returning this week) making Stamkos more of a potential threat to climb to the top.
Vezina Trophy – Candidates: Pekka Rinne NSH, Ryan Miller VAN, Carey Price MTL, Marc-Andre Fleury PIT
The best goaltender to date? Hmmm, this is really hard for me NOT to give the nod to Ryan Miller. I mean, come on! He’s playing on a new team on a new coast. After spending the majority of last season in Buffalo and then the disappointing playoff run with St. Louis, no one knew how Miller would bounce back. Well, all he’s done is go 14-3 while putting up a 2.47 GAA and 2 shutouts. Pretty impressive. There is NO WAY that he wins this award as of right now. Pekka Rinne has been out of this world for the Preds. He has the exact same record as Miller while posting a Hasek-esque 1.97 GAA. He finds himself anchoring the Central Division’s #1 team and the clear leading candidate for the Vezina.
Jack Adams Trophy– Candidates: Bob Hartley CGY, Willie Desjardins VAN, Jack Capuano NYI
The only worthy finalist here for me is Capuano. The Islanders are finally playing the way that Garth Snow has envisioned and Capuano has this team running on all cylinders. As of right now, they find themselves at the top of the Metro Division and are the hottest team in hockey. Not bad for a lottery team from just a season ago.
Calder Trophy – Candidates: Johnny Gaurdreau CGY, Aaron Ekblad FLA, Filip Forsberg NSH
Ekblad, who was the top pick in this year’s entry draft has been sensational, there is no denying that. He’s averaging over 22 minutes of ice time per game and has lived up to the hype. Johnny Gaudreau, the speedy little winger and former Hobey Baker award winner is putting together a very impressive rookie campaign in Calgary but neither one of these guys are holding a candle to Filip Forsberg. 22 points in just 21 games leading all rookies in most offensive statistical categories, Forsberg is easily the clubhouse leader at the quarter mark of the season.
James Norris Trophy – Candidates: Ryan Suter MIN, Duncan Keith CHI, Drew Doughty LAK
The battered Los Angeles blue line has had only one mainstay a quarter of the way through the season. Doughty has been as consistent of a d-man in the league over the last couple of seasons as there has been. Has it been hardware worthy? The answer would be yes if he didn’t play in the same league as Ryan Suter. The former first round pick for the Preds has been absolutely dominant for the Wild thus far. He’s not only logging insane amounts of ice time (over 29 minutes per game) but when Suter is on the ice the Wild simply have the puck. They lead the league in puck possession under his presence. His offensive stats won’t blow the top of your head off but expect those numbers to shift north as the season progresses.
Biggest Disappointment Award: Candidates: Thomas Vanek MIN, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars
Thomas Vanek has and always will be an enigma (ed. note: Vanek now owes Semin $1). He’s shuffled around the NHL after being dealt by the Sabres and now he finds himself being shuffled through Minnesota’s lines. The Wild have been unable to find a rhythm with Vanek anywhere. He’s currently contributed one goal despite playing with the likes of Jason Pomminville and Zach Parise. This is NOT what the Wild thought they were signing up for.
Despite winning their last 3, Dallas has found themselves behind the eight ball early on. The Stars are a team that were projected to make some noise in a very talented Western Conference but currently hold a .500 record and are on the outside looking in.
How about those Columbus Blue Jackets? Everything looked like it was on the rise in Ohio, winning a playoff series last season and everything was trending upwards, now, they find themselves smack dab in the middle of the McEichel sweepstakes. They’ve been getting healthier but they have been the biggest disappointment so far in the league and it’s starting to get late early for this group.
Biggest Surprise Award: Candidates: That 70’s Line in LA, Washington Capitals, Calgary Flames
It’s hard to say that a line that plays for the defending cup champions are a surprise but no one thought that this line would be playing this good. Jeff Carter, Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli have been not good but great. They played with each other at the end of last season and through the championship run but they’ve come out like gang busters to start this season. Collectively on pace to record 176 points, much more than any other non-top line in the league.
It’s not a surprise of where the Washington Capitals are in the standings, they’re a team that will teeter on the Mendoza line so there’s no surprise there. It’s how they’re doing it. Ovechkin is not putting up Ovechkin like numbers (a modest 18 points in 20 games) but the team as a whole seems to be playing good system, team-oriented hockey under Barry Trotz. Something far from the norm that we’ve learned to expect from the Caps. If this trend stays in the positive direction only good things can happen and maybe we’ll finally see a real run at the cup under the right coach and the sport’s most exciting player.
The winner of this award is going to go out to the mighty Calgary Flames. Yes I said, “Mighty.” My oh my things change from year to year. The Flames have caught fire despite owning the west’s second worst record last season. Calgary is fueled by a really good rookie (see above) and a roster full of no names. They do, however, have a blue line that can contribute; 3 top 20 defensemen scorers with Giordano (1st), Brodie (3rd) and Wideman (19th). I don’t think anyone saw this franchise sitting in the top tier of western teams, only 5 points separate them and Anaheim for the top spot.
A long season awaits and many surprises are still to come. There is no question that new names will highlight these awards at the halfway point but this is what we’re currently looking at. Anything can happen. Who knows, maybe the Sabres will put together a double digit winning streak, the Hurricanes will become a contender or MAYBE they’ll even decide that the dry scrape actually was a good idea. We’ll see…
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