With NHL Awards season near, our writers make a case for each of the MVP candidates. Which one is most deserving of the Hart Trophy?
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Crosby will win the Hart because he is the most dominate hockey force on the face of Planet Earth.
The Pittsburgh Penguins tantalizing uberstar can impact the game with his vision, skating, touch around the net and sheer determination to outwork his opposition. The 25-year-old native of Cole Harbor, N.S., is so damn good that he can miss an entire month of the regular season and still finish fourth in league scoring with a mind-blowing 56 points in just 36 games.
Sid the Kid blew away his competition in terms of points-per-game average with a mark of 1.56. Crosby’s offensive presence was so prevalent on a game-to-game basis that he finished 0.31 PTS/G ahead of Tampa Bay Lightning’s Martin St. Louis for the league lead.
Injuries have taken a chunk of Crosby’s prime away – if not, we would certainly be awarding him his third straight Hart. In the last three seasons, Canada’s golden boy has totaled 159 points in just 99 games and is reenergized that he is once again healthy.
“It’s an honour any time you get nominated,” Crosby told the Penguins’ website. “Especially coming off injuries and a long couple years with missing games.” – Tom Ruminski
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
On March 21, the Washington Capitals were in 14th place in the Eastern Conference and seven points out of a playoff spot. The team was fading. Adam Oates looked like a one-and-done candidate. Until it all changed with Alexander Ovechkin.
In the final six weeks of the season, Ovechkin became the old Ovechkin once again and basically buoyed the Capitals to a division title.
If the Hart Trophy is about the most valuable player, how can anyone’s effort be more valuable than what Ovechkin was able to accomplish this season?
While Sidney Crosby had some fancy points-per-game number, it was interesting that the Penguins didn’t seem to slow down without him in the lineup. They were in first when he broke his jaw, and finished first without him.
“I’m obviously biased about that, so my answer would be ‘Yup, absolutely,’ ” Oates told reporters last month of Ovie’s MVP status. “Obviously Sidney Crosby is another candidate. He had such a scoring lead, but I think you have to factor in the fact that he missed a lot of games.”
In the last two months of the year, the Capitals captain had an insane stretch that included 24 of his 32 goals and 73 per cent of his final point total.
Crosby had a great season (and should win the Ted Lindsay Award for most outstanding player) but this award is about value to a team.
And when the Capitals needed him, Ovechkin rose the occasion and brought his team out of the dumps. That’s what the Hart is all about.
Just when we thought he was starting to decline, Ovechkin made fools of us all again. Pay the man his due. – Jeff Simmons
John Tavares, New York Islanders
The chants rained down from the Nassau Coliseum rafters every time John Tavares would do something special during the 2013 regular season.
“M-V-P! M-V-P!”
And those chants were audible frequently as Tavares carried the Islanders into the postseason for the first time in six years. New York’s fans may receive their wish, as Tavares was named a Hart Trophy nominee Friday.
Sure, Sidney Crosby is the world’s best player, and perhaps Alexander Ovechkin willed the Washington Capitals to the Southeast Division title, but no player is more valuable to his team than Tavares is to the Islanders. He led New York in goals (28), points (47), game-winning goals (5), shots (162) and played in every game.
Tavares’ value was never more evident than during New York’s final 17 contests. With the Islanders’ playoff lives hanging in the balance, Tavares recorded 10 goals and 14 points during his team’s 11-2-4 stretch run that earned them the East’s No. 8 seed.
With teams gearing up to slow Tavares, he still delivered. That’s what a Hart winner does.
Plus, Tavares is the Isles’ one legitimate threat. If you take Crosby off Pittsburgh, you still have Evgeni Malkin, Jarome Iginla, Chris Kunitz and James Neal to stop. Take Ovechkin off Washington, and Mike Ribeiro, Mike Green, Troy Brouwer and Nicklas Backstrom still lurk.
Take Tavares off the Isles, and who is scaring you? He makes New York’s offence go and the players around him better.
And that’s why Tavares should be the Hart Trophy winner. — Pat Pickens
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