So, first off, congratulations to the Los Angeles Kings for a stellar post-season to capture Lord Stanley's Cup. They're an impressive team, with a great group of players who deserve every moment. And kudos to New Jersey, a group of experienced, talented players who turned heads all post-season.
With that in mind, with the NHL Awards being on Wednesday, as well with me being from Ottawa, I was overjoyed with the hardware the Senators took home. Erik Karlsson won the Norris Trophy as top defenceman, and he was up against Nicklas Lidstrom and Zdeno Chara, a former Senator. With Lidstrom retiring, I think it would've been a great homage to send him out with another trophy. Karlsson is a young player with a ton of potential, and he will have his time once again, and hopefully with the Stanley Cup.
I wanted coach MacLean to win the Jack Adams award, but reading up on how Ken Hitchcock took the struggling St. Louis Blues, and leading them to a 43-15-11 record after replacing Davis Payne, is really something.
With the NHL draft coming later tonight (its 2:15 EST as I'm writing this), I'm excited to see who will be drafted. In my opinion, its much more open this year, meaning there isn't a clear-cut player who we all know will go number 1 overall. It will be an exciting few days of NHL transactions that are going to unfold.
Chara is the most valuable d-man in the league without a doubt. But then again Lidstrom is almost impossible to replace. How about Drew Doughty... he won the Cup and played superb finals. I guess that counts for something too.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about Nicklas Lidstrom, but as for Zdeno Chara, I respect him as a defenseman, but I feel the 2011 Stanley Cup run may only be a one-time thing. He is a stellar player, and definitely uses his size to his advantage. But with the draft today, and Boston picking up Malcolm Subban, it'll be interesting to see if he gets his shot with the team, with Thomas leaving for the year. Lets see if they're defense can hold up for another year.
ReplyDelete