Ovie rebounds to capture his third Hart Trophy
Bobrovsky, Huberdeau other big winners as NHL hands out hardware during final
CHICAGO — When Alex Ovechkin got off to a slow start and Sidney Crosby looked to be back to pre-injury form, for a while it seemed like the MVP debate was over.
That all changed by the end of the season, with Ovechkin capturing the Hart Trophy on Saturday.
The Washington Capitals right-winger narrowly edged the Pittsburgh Penguins centre for the third Hart Trophy of his eight-year career.
Ovechkin and Crosby finished with the same number of points — Ovechkin led the league with 32 goals, while Crosby missed the final 12 games of the season with a broken jaw.
Ultimately, Ovechkin scoring 23 goals in the final 23 games to lift the Capitals into the playoffs was enough to sway the voters.
“Sidney Crosby was definitely head over heels a front-runner and is an MVP in this league,” Washington coach Adam Oates said. “But in saying that, he also didn’t have an MVP season. Not in my view. He got hurt and he missed a sizable amount of games and I think that has to factor into the voting.”
Ovechkin received 50 firstplace votes to Crosby’s 46 and finished with 32 more points in the balloting conducted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. John Tavares, of the New York Islanders, finished third, while Jonathan Toews, of the Chicago Blackhawks, was fourth.
The lockout-shortened, 48-game season engendered plenty of debate on the interpretation of the award and whether Ovechkin deserved it after scoring just nine goals in the first 25 games. Oates pointed to his team’s slow start and Ovechkin’s transition to right wing as reasons for those struggles.
“He didn’t have a great start, but he put it to another level that nobody had for 30 games,” Oates said. “That probably factors in to maybe what almost might have cost him the award. If he had started (that way) from Day 1, it wouldn’t have been an issue.”
Crosby earned the Ted Lindsay Award as the most outstanding player as voted by members of the NHL Players’ Association. Getting recognition from his peers meant a lot to Crosby.
“It’s one of those things that when you’re in the mix and you’re that close, it’s something you’d love to win,” Crosby said of the Hart. “I feel like I had the best year I possibly could. It didn’t work out that I won it.
“I’m not going to be too upset over the fact I didn’t win it. I was in the mix. Alex had a great second half there and I ended up getting hurt and missing some time there. That’s how it works sometimes.”
Ovechkin played through injuries during the regular season, general manager George McPhee said, yet the Capitals captain did not miss a game.
“With respect to Alex, durability is part of being a great player,” McPhee said. “There are athletes that can’t play through injuries, there are athletes that can play through injuries and there are athletes that can play through injuries and be great, too. It’s pretty special.”
Other award winners dealt with different kinds of adversity.
Sergei Bobrovsky, of the Columbus Blue Jackets, won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender after being traded from Philadelphia, which opted to go with Ilya Bryzgalov instead.
“When I was traded to Columbus, I didn’t think of what people said or people think,” Bobrovsky said through an interpreter. “The most important thing for me was to concentrate how I can help this team, what can I do better, how could I prepare myself to make this team even better?”
Bobrovsky went 37-21-11 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .932 save percentage and almost led the Blue Jackets to just the second Stanley Cup playoff berth in franchise history. He’s the first Vezina winner from a team that didn’t make the playoffs.
Defenceman P.K. Subban helped get the Montreal Canadiens into the playoffs and was rewarded for his 48-point season with the Norris Trophy.
“I think I’ve grown a lot over the past three years and I’m going to continue to grow,” Subban said. “I didn’t think I would have made such a personal accomplishment at this point.”
Jonathan Huberdeau, of the Florida Panthers, earned his first personal accomplishment in the NHL, landing the Calder Trophy as the best rookie, besting Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher.