The NHL regular season is coming to an end, and before the playoff matchups are set I figured it would be a good time to hand out my awards for some of the best/worst of the 2013/14 NHL season before all of the good stuff happens when the playoffs officially begin.
MVP: Sidney Crosby
Pretty boring answer, but one that is painfully clear this year regardless of how the Penguins season winds up. Crosby's 102 points gives him a massive gap between the next closest player in Ryan Getzlaf and furthermore the Penguins will once again be in contention to make a push in the Eastern Conference playoffs to a run in the Stanley Cup Finals. It is boring admitting that Crosby is head and shoulders above the rest of the league, but it is simply a fact.
MVPOTSC (Most Valuable Player Other Than Sidney Crosby): Claude Giroux
Early in the NHL season the Philadelphia Flyers were terrible, 1-7 to be exact and looking like they were heading for a franchise low in terms of success for the proud franchise. Enter Claude Giroux, who channelled frustration in losing and then frustration in getting snubbed by team Canada at the Olympics to put himself well inside the Top 10 in points as well as earning the Flyers a spot in the playoffs in the Metro Division with 41 wins through 79 games. The Flyers may not be the best team in the league nor will they realistically have a chance at winning the Stanley Cup, but they wouldn't even be close to the playoffs without the world class efort that Giroux has given the team this season.
Vezina: Carey Price
I know you aren't supposed to weigh Olympic performances on NHL awards, but this is my column and I will do what I wish. Price has unspectacular numbers when it comes to leading any statistical categories this season, but his performance in shutting down the Americans and Swedes in the Sochi games earns him my bid as top goalie in the world for the 2013/14 hockey calendar. He won't win the Vezina, but if the Olympics were factored in he would be a definite contender in earning the Habs a spot in the playoffs while being Team Canada's most valuable player at the Olympics.
Norris: Duncan Keith
I have ripped Duncan Keith before for not being the world's friendliest person when it comes to being professional with the media, but he leads all blueliners with 54 assists and with Ottawa's Erik Karlsson missing the playoffs thanks to a woeful Senators season there is no doubt Keith should be a Norris contender playing on the defending champion Blackhawks.
Least Valuable Player: Dion Phaneuf
You could pick a lot of players for this award from the Toronto Maple Leafs roster as the golden child of Canada's sports networks collapsed under a full 82 game schedule after making the playoffs last year, but Phaneuf is likely the player that deserves the glory the most. With only 31 points from the blueline and countless howlers in defense, Phaneuf continued to prove his status is more about reputation than actual results. Scoring more goals in the lockout shortened series and just three less points despite having 30 more games Phaneuf's impact on the Leafs was more negative than positive and despite it not being entirely his fault that the Leafs missed the playoffs his contract and reputation demand far better.
Rookie of the Year: Nathan MacKinnon
Touted as the "Next Big Thing" before he could drive a car legally, there has always been pressure on Nathan MacKinnon to be the next "Sidney Crosby" as Crosby was pegged to be the next Wayne Gretzky like figure on the Canadian scene. MacKinnon has lived up to those expectations so far as after winning the Memorial Cup with the Halifax Mooseheads last season the young prodigy looked right at home in the NHL as playing a big role on the playoff bound Avalanche has proven his worth in the NHL. 62 points and 24 goals with three games left are solid rookie numbers and while it is a boring pick you would have to be crazy to suggest anyone else is the Rookie of the Year. Ondrej Palat of Tampa Bay is a potential dark horse with 48 points and a plus/minus of +30 on the season, but don't expect the voters to get cute and go away from the obvious choice here.
Coach of the Year: Patrick Roy
Patrick Roy has had a golden season in his debut year with the Colorado Avalanche behind the bench, guiding the team to a 50 plus win season and a long awaited return to the playoffs. I would be shocked if Roy wasn't handed the Jack Adams Award when the NHL hands out silverware as it seems as a given as the great story has been matched with unexpectedly great results for a surprise Avalanche team that currently has six more wins than the defending champion Blackhawks.
Worst Coach of the Year: John Tortorella
Tortorella was supposed to come into Vancouver to right the ship after two disappointing first round exits for an aging Canucks team. Instead Torts came into Vancouver with his same routine of making everything about him and being hard to work with, playing up his "tough coach" routine on a team that was poorly built by the GM and led to the destruction of a team that at one point not too long ago was a win away from the Stanley Cup. Now with the GM fired the Canucks are looking at a rebuild, something that wasn't planned when the team gave him a long term deal to coach in Vancouver.
Story of the Year: Olympics
Could it be any other story? From Russia's early exit in the quarterfinals to Finland, to the battles between the United States and Canada on the way to the Canadians first Olympic Gold off of home ice since NHL players were allowed at the Olympics the mid-season international tournament continued to prove it is worthwhile to break every four years to let hockey be showcased on the world stage. With teams like Latvia and Slovenia giving the world's best players runs for their money despite little NHL talent it also showed just how much the presence of hockey in the Olympics helps grow the global game. Hopefully when South Korea hosts the next Winter games the NHL continues to provide magical moments on the world stage. With the storyline and potential chance at a three-peat for Team Canada expect the NHL to go ahead and give the green light again for the Olympics even if the risk of injury makes some teams more than happy to be scrooges and attempt to get rid of the involvement in the Olympics. As of now there is no bigger non-Stanley Cup achievement in hockey so it would be nice to keep it that way for the remaining future if possible.
Worst Story of the Year: Vancouver Canucks
From rumours of who wants out and who wants to stay, to anything in between the Vancouver Canucks turned into a soap opera. Always having a "West Coast Toronto" feel to how big the Canucks are regionally and in the West, the Canucks turned into the type of dysfunction that we are accustomed to seeing in the nation's largest market. Trading both their elite goaltenders for pennies on the dollar, the team recently fired the GM about a year to late and don't expect the drama to stop anytime soon. After being consitently in the playoffs for so long, a national profile and a very public fall from grace will be one of the bigger talking points come the offseason.
