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It doesn't happen often, but this year, NHL players along with the members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association who do the trophy voting agreed on the top three players in the league. On Thursday, the NHL players association announced that Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames, Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals were finalists for the 2007-08 Lester B. Pearson Award, which is presented annually to the "most outstanding player" in the NHL as voted by fellow members of the NHLPA. The Hart trophy criterion is slightly different - it goes to the player adjudged to be most valuable to his team. Some years the writers and players differ on the three finalists; last year, for example, the writers nominated Sidney Crosby, plus two goalies, Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur. The players, meanwhile, picked Crosby, Luongo and Vincent Lecavalier.

Only twice in the last five years did the writers and players agree on the winner - that was Crosby in '07 and Martin St. Louis in '04. In '02, '03 and '06, the writers chose Jose Theodore, Peter Forsberg and Joe Thornton respectively as the Hart trophy winners; the players opted for Jarome Iginla, Markus Naslund and Jaromir Jagr instead. Iginla and Ovechkin both have a previous history with the Lester B. Pearson Award. Iginla was the recipient of the award in 2001-02 and Ovechkin was a finalist in his 2005-06 rookie season. The voting for both awards took place after the end of the regular season, so playoff results don't factor into the equation - although all three players made the playoffs and performed well (and Malkin continues to perform well).

As good a year as Malkin had and as well as Iginla played for the Flames, Ovechkin will likely sweep both awards. An unofficial straw poll of colleagues who voted suggest Ovechkin's victory in the Hart balloting might be close to unanimous. If the Capitals had missed the playoffs, Iginla might have had a chance. But Ovechkin's stats, combined with the way he played down the stretch to lead Washington into the playoffs after so dismal a start, cinched the award for him.

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