Resurgent Crosby right in the thick of MVP race

Just another hockey season when what seemed so very evident back in October and November seems rather wrong now that spring is upon us.

The Montreal Canadiens were going to run the table. Bruce Boudreau was never going to survive in Anaheim. It was just a matter of time before Steven Stamkos signed a new contract in Tampa. Nobody was quite sure how well three-on-three in overtime would work. Vincent Lecavalier looked utterly finished as an NHL player.

Oh yes, and Sidney Crosby was, at 28, no longer the world’s best hockey player.

Here we are in April, and Crosby’s turnaround from having five points in October to having more points than anybody since Jan. 1 probably stands out as the most remarkable individual turnaround of the season.

He didn’t just save himself and his reputation, however. He saved his team, dragging the Pittsburgh Penguins kicking and screaming into the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Pens now seem to be a serious challenger in the Eastern Conference just weeks after it appeared the team might miss the playoffs and generate massive organizational changes in Pittsburgh.

In recent days, the Penguins have won nine of 10 games without the injured Evgeni Malkin, once again fueling that endless debate in Pennsylvania over which of the two superstars — Crosby or Malkin — is that team’s most vital cog.

Pittsburgh’s resurgence is about more than just Crosby, as it has to be in this sport. Kris Letang is quietly having a Norris Trophy-quality season, Derrick Pouliot has jumped in and filled in nicely for Olli Maatta and Phil Kessel has found his shooting eye.

Bu at the centre of it all, figurative and literally, is Crosby, just as it has been, for the most part, since 2005. Last fall, however, it really did seem like his skills had diminished, and while Canadian officials planning ahead for the 2016 World Cup assured one and all that No. 87 was still part of their core group, there was significant concern on both sides of the border as to whether too much hockey and too many miles had simply ground Crosby down to being ordinary.

Perhaps we should all agree not to doubt him again.

He’s caught Patrick Kane in the Hart Trophy race, and with the champion Blackhawks stumbling a little down the stretch, Crosby looks like he should win league MVP honours for the second time in three years.

Maybe that’s a little unfair to Kane, who leads the league in scoring and has been brilliant as the Hawks patched together their roster after winning the Cup last spring, having had to jettison several elite players.

Jamie Benn, with 40 goals, has also been terrific for Dallas, and along with Tyler Seguin has made the NHL relevant again in Big D.

But Crosby is Crosby, and while every draft year comes along with a player promising to be the next “generational” talent — the next Crosby — it still hasn’t happened. Perhaps Connor McDavid will be that player.

Until then, if Crosby is no longer indisputably the best player in the world and if his rivalry with Alex Ovechkin no longer dominates the NHL’s conversation as it once did, the pride of Cole Harbour has again demonstrated his remarkable resilience.

Once it seemed concussions would finish him, but they didn’t. This season it seemed creeping age might knock him down a peg, but it hasn’t.

He’s the NHL’s most valuable player for 2015-16, a redoubtable figure in a season in which many of the seemingly obvious truths of the fall have again proven to be not obvious at all.

Here’s a quick guess at the other major NHL trophy winners:

Norris Trophy: For sheer depth of field, the vote for the NHL’s top defenceman could be the most difficult of them all this spring. Just narrowing down the field to three finalists is a challenge. San Jose’s Brent Burns has 27 goals, and he’s challenged to be a finalist, while Erik Karlsson is among the league’s scoring leaders despite playing for the lousy Ottawa Senators. We mentioned Letang’s excellence for the Penguins.

But it’s Drew Doughty’s turn, finally, isn’t it? He plays as much as anybody, the Kings are back as a force after missing the playoffs last spring and he drives everything that team does.

Vezina Trophy: Back in October, it looked like Carey Price had this sewn up. And then it was Braden Holtby’s year. Confusing the picture is how several top teams — St. Louis, Dallas, Anaheim — are using two goaltenders on a regular basis.

Before getting hurt, Cory Schneider of the Devils looked like he might challenge Holtby of the Capitals before joining Price on the sidelines. The Washington netminder, however, has been mostly superb from the start of the season to now, backstopping the league’s best team. That deserves recognition as this year’s Vezina winner.

Calder Trophy: This is going to be a complicated vote, and the field is deep. McDavid’s prolonged absence from Edmonton’s lineup changed the dynamic and allowed the likes of Dylan Larkin, Jack Eichel, Max Domi and Artemi Panarin to make strong statements. Defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere of the Flyers, meanwhile, was a big part of that team making its surprise playoff charge. Anaheim goalie John Gibson has terrific numbers.

But ask the very simple question: “Who is the best player among NHL freshmen?” and the answer is clearly McDavid. How many games he has played is almost irrelevant.

Jack Adams Award: Well, we know Mike Babcock’s going to be denied again, although he’s done excellent work with the restructuring Maple Leafs. Your finalists probably have be Washington’s Barry Trotz, Gerard Gallant of the Florida Panthers, Dallas coach Lindy Ruff and Darryl Sutter of the L.A. Kings. Boudreau and Philly’s Dave Hakstol get honourable mentions.

Out of that group, Trotz gets the nod, with the voting conveniently concluded before we find out whether the Caps have the right stuff in the post-season this year.

This poor award still doesn’t have a name — The Sam Pollock Award? — and maybe it should be for accountant of the year, what with how salary cap machinations are such a factor in what teams do and don’t do these days.

Jim Nill has done terrific work in Dallas, while Stan Bowman has survived another forced purge of talent in Chicago. Dale Tallon’s patience has paid off with the Panthers, and Bob Murray should get consideration just because he chose not to take the easy way out and fire his coach with the Ducks.

To me, Bowman just doesn’t get the credit he deserves, partly because of the shadow of his legendary father, and partly because Tallon started the rebuild in the Windy City. But the Hawks could win their fourth Cup in seven years, a modern dynasty, and Bowman has overseen all the tough decisions along the way.

He gets the Pollock this year. Damien Cox is a broadcaster with Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada. He spent nearly 30 years covering a variety of sports for the Star, and his column appears here Saturdays. Follow him @DamoSpin.