With NHL Awards set for June 24 in Las Vegas, our writers make a case for each nominee — Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf and Claude Giroux — winning the Hart Memorial Trophy, which is awarded “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.” Which player is most deserving of the hardware?
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Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
No player was more valuable to his team than Sidney Crosby this year.
If we’re starting with the obvious, Crosby should win the MVP award because he led the universe with 104 points and 68 assists on the second-best team in the East. He led all forwards in average ice time and took more face-offs than any player, 104 more than second-place Antoine Vermette.
Sure, all that points to his value, but consider the year in which Crosby did all that. The Penguins lost three of their top-six forwards for long stretches — Evgeni Malkin missed 22 games with a collection of injuries, while James Neal was suspended and injured this season — yet the Pens rolled to the Metropolitan Division’s regular-season crown and scored 249 goals.
Crosby ran away with the Art Ross Trophy — he finished 17 points ahead of Ryan Getzlaf — despite playing with a veritable black hole on right wing. After regular right winger Pascal Dupuis went down with ACL surgery just 39 games into the season, and with the likes of Lee Stempniak, Brian Gibbons and Jayson Megna on his line, Crosby still posted 49 points in Pittsburgh’s final 43 games.
So, Pens fans, chant M-V-P with pride whenever Crosby touches the puck. He’s the most worthy.
— Pat Pickens
Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks
Like Sidney Crosby and Claude Giroux, Ryan Getzlaf is an offensive menace. But unlike the two other Hart candidates, Getzlaf made massive contributions in every game situation this year.
In addition to pacing Anaheim with 87 points — which placed him second to Crosby league-wide — Getzlaf spent more shorthanded time on the ice than every Ducks forward except Daniel Winnik. When their team takes a penalty, a lot of superstars get to rest up on the bench and scheme on their next offensive tactic. Not Getzlaf; he was on the ice throwing his six-foot-four body in front of perfectly teed-up slappers.
The Ducks captain was also at his best down the stretch, notching 23 points in the season’s final 21 games. That allowed Anaheim to win the Pacific Division and, let’s face it, there’s a much better chance the Ducks wouldn’t have advanced past the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs had they drawn the Los Angeles Kings rather than the Dallas Stars.
And while the Ducks boasted great scoring depth this year — 10 players had at least 10 goals — Getzlaf’s line was always by far the biggest focal point. Pittsburgh also had James Neal and Evgeni Malkin to terrorize teams when Crosby was on the bench; Philly had six other 20-goal scorers besides Giroux. The third-highest scorer in Anaheim, Nick Bonino, had 49 points.
Getzlaf knew he shouldered a huge load every night and that just seemed to make him play better.
— Ryan Dixon
Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers
If the Hart Trophy was only judged on point totals, then there’s no doubt it would go to Sidney Crosby. That is not the case, though.
The Hart Trophy is awarded to the player who is most valuable to his team and it’s hard to discount Claude Giroux in this area. Giroux overcome a rough start to the season where the Flyers fired their coach after going 3-9-0 in its first 12 games.
Giroux took a while to get going — he didn’t score until his 16th game after off-season finger surgery — but ended up finishing third in the NHL points and average 1.18 points per game in his final 67 games of the year. He put the team on his back and matched his career-high with 28 goals to help Philadelphia earn a playoff spot for the sixth time in the last seven years.
The Flyers had a 21-2-1 record when Giroux added a goal during the regular season. How could anyone be possibly more valuable than that?
— Jeff Simmons
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