Breakaway Blog: Matthews, McDavid push each other as they chase Hart
It really does feel as if Connor McDavid is simply not going to let Auston Matthews have the spotlight entirely to himself.
On Saturday, when the hockey world was agog over Matthews’ four-point night in the Leafs win over Montreal, McDavid went out and had a five-point night against Calgary.
Both players have special talents, each pushing the other to higher levels.
They’re both early and worthy
candidates for the Hart Trophy.
In Edmonton, there are fears of an eastern bias, that the size of the Toronto voting bloc would overwhelm a McDavid candidacy. Fear not. History shows the size of the Toronto chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association has never helped a Leaf win an award he didn’t deserve.
A Leaf has never won the Hart. In fact, Leafs have won very little hardware over the last 30 years or so.
Among trophies where the writers vote: Matthews won the Calder in 2017, Jason Blake earned the Bill Masterton in 2008 and Doug Gilmour captured the Selke in 1993.
Still, Oilers fans fear their players are overlooked.
McDavid won the Hart in 2017. He lost the Calder to Artemi Panarin in 2016. Teammate Leon Draisaitl took the Hart last year. Memories of the Oilers’ good old days when Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Paul Coffey were award winners.
The writers association — about 300 members across 34 chapters, including international and lifetime — handles the voting for the Hart, Norris, Calder, Lady Byng, Masterton and Selke, as well as end-ofseason all-star and all-rookie teams.
The writers also handle the Conn Smythe in the playoffs, not that the Leafs or Oilers have had to worry about bias in those votes recently.
This is a long-winded way of saying the North is being dominated by two teams led by two players. The Leafs and Oilers appear to be separating themselves from the pack. The Jets could make it a three-horse race. After that, it’s a muddle.