Tough races for several NHL awards

NHL general managers are polled to determine the winner of the Vezina Trophy. The NHL Broadcasters Association selects the Jack Adams Award winner, which goes to the coach of the year. The GM of the year is determined by a select panel of executives along with a handful of media members. The remainder of the league’s postseason

awards — Hart, Norris, Calder, Selke, allleague and all-rookie teams — are determined through voting by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

We all do a pretty good job, for a couple of reasons: This isn’t rocket science and, by and large, we approach these endeavors with a requisite seriousness. The ballots that were emailed Sunday night will be used to etch names into silver, for posterity, and such a process should not be taken lightly.

On Sunday in this space, I posited that Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky deserves the Vezina and coach John Tortorella deserves the Jack Adams. Bobrovsky has but one challenger, Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals. Tortorella has a number of challengers, beginning with Mike Babcock of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I think Bobrovsky and Tortorella should win but I don’t have a vote in their causes. GMs have the heaviest hand in determining GM of the year, and they tend to reward colleagues who have overseen big turnarounds or have kept a steady hand on the wheel.

There are a number of deserving candidates this year: Edmonton’s Peter Chiarelli, Washington’s Brian MacLellan and Chicago’s Stan Bowman are often mentioned. Minnesota’s Chuck Fletcher, Toronto’s Lou Lamoriello and Columbus’ Jarmo Kekalainen are also floated.

It’s a pick-em. I like Bowman.

The hardware determined by the PHWA sometimes skews Canadian because there is such a large voting bloc north of the border, especially in the Toronto area. It doesn’t always skew because, again, we all take this job seriously. This year, though, there may be a tilt because five of the seven Canadian teams have made the playoffs, and their candidates are getting a harder look. Plus, there is that American up there. They call him McJesus.

My vote for Hart goes to Connor McDavid over Sidney Crosby. This is a tough one. Crosby led the league in goals and kept an injury-riddled Penguins team glued together. He is eminently deserving. McDavid, though, pushed the Edmonton Oilers into the playoffs with a scorching display down the stretch, and he won the scoring title. (Props here, too, to Bobrovsky, who may be most valuable to his team.)

My vote for Norris goes to Brent Burns. It is true that Erik Karlsson did something similar to what McDavid did by putting the Ottawa Senators on his back in March and April. Yet, the San Jose Sharks hung their season on Burns’ body of work. His push for the scoring title lasted into January, a remarkable run for a defenseman in the modern age. (Props here, too, to Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman, an allaround beast).

My Calder vote goes to Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who took a stab at the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy (which Crosby will win) as the league’s leading goal scorer and will finish as the league’s leading rookie scorer. Patrik Laine had a remarkable campaign, but he and the Winnipeg Jets were ultimately ground down by a wicked schedule. (Props here, too, to the Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski, who will get my No. 2 vote).

My Selke vote goes to Mikko Koivu of the Minnesota Wild, a cerebral, 200-foot center who plays against top talent, wins faceoffs and leads his position in plus-minus. The usual suspects (Ryan Kesler, Patrice Bergeron, et al.) are also under consideration.

Now, let the real season begin.