Penguins’ Malkin wins MVP honors
Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin, coming off major knee surgery, told coach Dan Bylsma in the fall that his goal was to be the best player in the world.
Malkin received official confirmation Wednesday when he won the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award at the annual NHL awards show in Las Vegas. The Hart Trophy goes to the league MVP based on the voting of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and the Lindsay Award goes to the MVP as determined by a vote of the league’s players.
Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson won what probably was the most high-profile competition when he bested veterans Shea Weber and Zdeno Chara to win the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman. Karlsson finished with 19 goals and 59 assists for 78 points this season. No other defenseman came within 25 points of Karlsson’s total.
The New York Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goalie, determined by a vote of the league’s general managers. Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP, also was a finalist, but the Vezina is for the regular season.
-Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche beat the Edmonton Oilers’ Ryan NugentHopkins and the New Jersey Devils’ Adam Henrique for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. Nugent-Hopkins had more points per game, but Landeskog was considered to have had a more complete game as a rookie.
-Ken Hitchcock, who transformed the St. Louis Blues from a struggling team into a premium contender, won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year for the first time. The league’s broadcasters determine the winner of the award.
-The Blues’ Doug Armstrong was named general manager of the year. The winner is determined by a panel consisting of team executives, broadcasters and writers. — Kevin Allen