Other than the charming spectacle of Jiri Hudler accepting the Lady Byng Trophy in stocking feet, there was not much drama or suspense associated with last year's NHL awards presentation.
People knew it was going to be the Carey Price Show – and the Montreal Canadiens' goaltender obliged, winning in every category he possibly could: Hart, Lindsay, Vezina, Jennings.
But Price was out of contention early this year, a knee-ligament tear in December ultimately keeping him on the sidelines for the final three quarters of the season.
It left wide open the Hart Trophy conversation, awarded to the National Hockey League's most valuable player. For most of the year, it looked as if it would be a two-way race between the runaway points' leader, the Chicago Blackhawks' Patrick Kane, and the record-setting goaltender, Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals. Toward the end of the season, a surging Sidney Crosby joined the discussion as well.
There are enormously good contests coming up for the Calder (rookie of the year) and the Norris (top defenceman). And while Hudler will not successfully defend his Byng crown, there is a chance his former Calgary Flames' linemate Johnny Gaudreau could follow in his shoeless footsteps.
Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association vote for the Hart, Calder, Norris, Selke and Byng while the NHL Broadcasters' Association votes for the Jack Adams. Ballots are due before the playoffs start Wednesday. Here is how we handicap the race:
Hart Memorial Trophy – "to the player adjudged to be most valuable to his team"
1. Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals. 2. Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks. 3. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins.
After a glacially slow start, Crosby started catching fire after Christmas, and even with all the injuries that befell the Penguins, he managed to get a team that was 12th in the Eastern Conference at Christmas into a playoff position and home-ice advantage for the first round. Kane became just the second NHL player in the past four years to break the 100-point barrier (Crosby was the other) and the first Blackhawk to do so since Jeremy Roenick back in 1994.
But Holtby tied Martin Brodeur for the single-season wins record (48), and his overall numbers compared favourably to Price's when Price won all that hardware last year. Goalies rarely win the Hart – and if Holtby should win a year after Price did, it'll mark the first time goalies have won the MVP in back-to-back years since Dominik Hasek in 1997 and 1998.
Calder Memorial Trophy – "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition"
1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers. 2. Shayne Gostisbehere, Philadelphia Flyers. 3. Artemi Panarin, Chicago Blackhawks.
Panarin ran away with the rookie scoring race and was a dazzling addition to the Stanley Cup champions, finding instant chemistry with Kane. But he is a support player on Chicago, while both McDavid and Gostisbehere fundamentally became the engines that drove their respective teams. Despite missing the middle third of the season recovering from a broken collarbone, McDavid averaged better than a point a game; and three times this year, was chosen as the NHL's rookie of the month. Gostisbehere joined the Flyers in the second month and immediately transformed them into a playoff team, with his darting, creative play – sort of a poor man's Erik Karlsson.
The issue with McDavid will be games played – he will finish with fewer than 50. In 1992, voters gave the Calder to the electrifying Pavel Bure, even though he played in only 65 games. Accordingly, there is a precedent for giving the award to a dominant rookie, even if he played less than a full season, though Panarin's numbers will count for a lot, too. Flip a coin.
James Norris Memorial Trophy – "to the defence player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-around ability in the position"
1. Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings. 2. Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators. 3. Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks.
Karlsson has had another exceptional offensive season, and finished fifth in the NHL scoring race. Burns wasn't far behind – 75 points, including a league-high 27 goals for a defenceman. Along with Joe Thornton, Burns did yeoman's work in making the Sharks a playoff team again.
But the award is specific – it is given to the player demonstrating the "greatest all-around ability" in the position; and that is Doughty, who plays 28 minutes a night for the Kings and, along with goaltender Jonathan Quick and centre Anze Kopitar, is primarily responsible for making the team so good defensively. In addition to his strong defensive work, top possession numbers and great plus-minus, Doughty has also added a goal-scoring dimension to his game (14 to go along with 37 assists) in another exceptional all-round performance.
Jack Adams Award – "to the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed most to his team's success"
1. Barry Trotz, Washington Capitals. 2. Gerard Gallant, Florida Panthers. 3. Dave Hakstol, Philadelphia Flyers.
Honourable mentions should go to Peter DeBoer in San Jose, Bill Peters in Carolina and Dave Tippett in Arizona who squeezed excellent results out of middling-to-below-average teams. Hakstol got the Flyers into the playoffs in what was clearly a rebuilding season. Some coaches do well with older players, some with young up-and-comers. The genius of Gallant's work in Florida was doing so well with both – from Jaromir Jagr and Willie Mitchell at one end of the roster to Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad at the other, Gallant has had the Panthers mostly on the same page all year and has them in the playoffs for only the second time in 15 years.
But Trotz, who unbelievably has never won the Jack Adams, guided the Capitals to a wire-to-wire finish atop the league. He managed to integrate new faces T.J. Oshie and Justin Williams into the lineup, nurture youngsters Evgeny Kuznetsov and Andre Burakovsky into top-six forwards and keep Alex Ovechkin committed to playing a far more complete game than before Trotz arrived. (Ovie was a minus-35 two years ago. This year, he is plus-21, impressive considering how much of Washington's scoring comes on the power play.)
Frank J. Selke Trophy – "to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game"
1. Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings. 2. Ryan Kesler, Anaheim Ducks. 3. Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks.
Toews and the two-time reigning champion, Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins, are always in the Selke conversation because both are such consistent two-way players, who win faceoffs, kill penalties and score points. Kesler, the 2011 winner, has had a fabulous year for an Anaheim Ducks team that turned its season when it managed to add an offensive component to a club that played well defensively from wire to wire and won the Jennings on the final day of the season.
But Kopitar, a Selke runner-up in 2014, has had arguably the best season of his career for a Kings team that is thin at the bottom end of its roster and relies heavily on its top-end talent to produce its most consistent regular season in decades.
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: "to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability"
1. Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames. 2. Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings. 3. Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars.
The Byng almost always goes to a high-end scorer, with a minimal penalty total, which is how Gaudreau's teammate, Hudler, won it last year. But Gaudreau meets the standard on every level – he has followed up a fine rookie campaign, with no hint of sophomore jinx, and was Calgary's most dynamic player, finishing in a three-way tie for sixth in the scoring race.
Kopitar plays hard minutes for the Kings and does so by rarely fouling an opponent, while Seguin was a top-five scorer for most of the year until a sliced Achilles tendon put him on the sidelines for the final month of the Stars' season. All are worthy of consideration.