04/25/24
June 23, 2006
The results are in: and Thorton wins the Hart Trophy as the NHL MVP. The award was given at the NHL Awards show last night. Previously, SpoFites attempted to predict the winners in a Locker Room Thread.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia to hockey at 06:32 AM - 14 comments
I liked Renney or Laviolette over Ruff for the Adams and I think the NHL should consider re-naming the Norris trophy. I don't think he should have won it, but Manny Fernandez should have at least been mentioned along with the Vezina.
posted by HATER 187 at 08:24 AM on June 23, 2006
You're missing the most important award: the cover boy for EA Sports' NHL 2007.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 08:26 AM on June 23, 2006
Yerfatma, my love/hate feelings for your comment reflects my love/hate relationship with the Bruins. I am not sure how to feel.
posted by Samsonov14 at 08:26 AM on June 23, 2006
I was actually suprised that Thorton won...maybe I should preface that by saying that I am a lifer Ranger fan. I thought that it would be difficult for a west coaster to win mvp, due to lack of media coverage on the east coast. Jagr lost because of goals. I will say that he was the mvp of the rangers and was the catalyst to their sucess this past season. I also give Renny alot of credit for keeping egos in line and finally making a ranger team click and work together. He desserves alot of credit for that and may be the last coach in the past 10 years that got the rangers to play as a team.
posted by NYRBeeker16 at 09:28 AM on June 23, 2006
The problem with Renny is that the Rangers blew the lead for their division in the waning weeks of the season. It seemed that they had it close to clinched, but let Jersey take over. As far as righting that ship, yeah, Renny did a great job doing that this season. Speaking as a Hurricanes fan, the Jack Adams could have gone to either Lavi or Ruff. They both did a helluva job in turning their respective teams around. So, I'm happy with Ruff getting that award. I would've been really pissed if the Selke had gone to anybody but Brindy though. I'm still pretty much awestruck by the season he has had. I heard somewhere that Gary Roberts mentioned during the playoffs that Brindy had changed his workout routine during the lock-out and that's why he seems faster and more offensive-minded. Just a rumor though. I was happy to see Joe Thornton win the Hart. He was pretty great this season and a huge reason that the Sharks turned into a strong team after the xmas holidays. Although the programs itself was a train wreck, it was great to see 54-40 again. I was half expecting to see the Long Ryders jump out on the stage as well. Ahhh...the real best of the '80s.
posted by NoMich at 09:56 AM on June 23, 2006
I'm happy to see that two of my Wings won their respective trophies.
posted by wingnut4life at 11:05 AM on June 23, 2006
ESPN has anti- awards which are worth reading
posted by garfield at 11:37 AM on June 23, 2006
But Joe wasn't good enough for the mighty Bruins. He knows how to score and dear, lovable Harry (Jerk) Sinden doesn't like that. All that matters with the Bruins is defence. The Bruins will never have another Stanley Cup until Harry is long gone.
posted by bob1942 at 12:14 PM on June 23, 2006
garfield: Those anti-awards were pretty cool. I was sad Quinn didn't make the anti-coach list though. He had a truly momentous year of brutality.
posted by fabulon7 at 12:58 PM on June 23, 2006
Ugh. I think Quinn is a great coach, but last year brutal. The team country-clubbed its way into the new calendar year. I don't know how player-friendly the practices were, but all that saved energy should've produced much more hustle in game situations. I can't stand a team that doesn't hustle back for the puck on the powerplay, and the Leafs were guilty of this on a nightly basis. And how long did it take for the Leafs to adjust and implement some-stretch plays that took advantage of not having the two-line pass rule? I smelt trouble when I read about the Hurricanes and Sabres were using the new officiating standards in training camp and making players do sprints if they held on too tightly to their old ways. I just knew the Leafs wouldn't be as ready as other teams would be. Oh well. Personnel decisions stunk too; never giving Czerkawski a legit chance, giving O'Neill and Domi way too many chances. And staying with Belfour too long cost the team the post-season.
posted by garfield at 01:53 PM on June 23, 2006
Woo-Hoo Leafsfilter!! Garf - 100% on the Quinn synopsis. I think he's a wonderfully respected man and a HoFer. But he did a woeful job with the Loafs. I think it's a case where he just hung around too long and too many of his boys got too old and slow. Loyalty is a wonderful trait, but his was follyin several specifc instances. There were no adjustments on this team, and it actually was worse than it's record, given the over-reliance on the power play (which propped it up many a night against similar competition). Here's hoping for next year. But I just can't see who they're going to manage to get that's really going to make a difference. I hope the answer to that is Chara, but it's no longer Brad Richards (where'd the Lightning find the money?).
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 02:50 PM on June 23, 2006
I love how almost every anti-award has a Penguins player in it. Isn't it a bit harsh to say Mario "mailed it in?" I'll cut the guy some slack... after all he's been through, he still tried and was finally taken down with an irregular heartbeat.
posted by SummersEve at 03:11 PM on June 23, 2006
Everything that I have to say about the Wings was already said by wingnut.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 08:09 PM on June 23, 2006
But he couldn't help the Bruins. Good for Joe.