NHL Mid Season Awards

With the NHL All Star Game this weekend, it is time to take a look at my mid season favorites for the NHL's major individual awards. So without any more waiting, here we go!

Hart Trophy (NHL MVP): Rick Nash: New York Rangers

Now although Rick Nash is not leading the league in the major individual categories, he has been the prime reason for the success the Rangers are having this season. Nash is 15th in the NHL with 43 points, tied for the NHL lead in goals at 28, and 10th in the NHL in plus/minus at a +18 rating. The Rangers are sitting third in the Metropolitan Division just five points back of division leader, and in state rival, the New York Islanders. It is easy to say Nash is the catalyst to the Rangers first half success and will continue being that for the Rangers as the season continues down the stretch towards the playoffs.

James Norris Memorial Trophy (NHL Top Defenseman) Mark Giordano: Calgary Flames

Well, I think it is safe to say nobody expected the Flames to have as much success this season as they are right now and much of that is due to the outstanding defensive play or Giordano. Not only is he a factor of keeping opposing teams off the scoreboard, his +21 rating shows that he is a force when it comes to scoring goals too. He leads NHL defensemen in points (39), third in assists (28), tied for fifth in goals (11) and is second in plus/minus, only behind teammate TJ Brodie. I think it is safe to say Mark Giordano has earned this honor at the mid season point. 

Vezina Trophy (NHL Top Goalie) Pekka Rinne: Nashville Predators 

Pekka Rinne has been amazing between the pipes for Nashville in the first half of the season. Although he recently has been sidelined with injury, he still holds four more victories than any NHL goaltender with 29 in 37 games played this season. He is also second in goals against (1.96), which is also the only other goalie in the NHL below a GAA of 2. Rinne is third in save percent (.931) and sixth in shutouts (3). The numbers speak for themselves, now lets see if he can keep it up once he returns from injury.

Selke Trophy (Top Defensive Forward) Jonathan Toews: Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks are one of the top teams in the NHL once again this sesaon and their defense is one of the main reasons for their success, and Jonathan Toews is leading the defensive charge with all forwards. The Hawks as a whole are one of the top defensive teams in the league this season, just allowing 105 goals on the season. Captain Jonathan Toews, with a +15 rating always does the little things right and is not afraid to battle below the goal line and in the corners. He also is a top penalty killer for Chicago and a big part of that is because of his ability to win key faceoffs. 

Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year) Filip Forsberg: Nashville Predators
Forsberg leads every major category for skaters among all rookies. The kid has turned heads of the entire NHL and has instantly become a major part of the Nashville line-up. His 40 points have him six points ahead of Johnny "hockey" Gaudreau in Calgary. Forsberg is the future face of the Predators and will be among the top scorers in the NHL for many years to come if he can keep this dynamic style of play up. 

Jack Adams Award ( Coach of the Year) Peter Laviolette: Nashville Predators 

After the departure for the only coach in Nashville Predators history, Barry Trotz, Nashville was put up to the task of finding a replacement for the long tenured coach and Peter Laviolette was that answer. Last season, Nashville was one of the worst teams in the NHL, and with some off-season additions, or trades last year by gaining James Neal, the light at the end of the tunnel was near. Peter Laviolette has turned this ship around, at least for now, and has this team at number one in the NHL. Even with the falling of Pekka Rinne, the Predators continue to roll, and much of that is the players have the trust in Laviolette's system and trust him in his methods.

Daniel Briere goal - offsides

The Penguins announcer and the Pens fans aren't very happy about Flyers forward Danny Briere as you can see by the video he was clearly off-sides. It's a true fact, the video evidence proves that point.

Danny Briere was off-sides and he was in fact over the blue line before the puck crossed said blue line. That being said, the Pens lost the game because they stopped moving their feet and the Flyers keep clawing away and chipped away at the Penguins 3 goal lead and scored three more goals. The Pittsburgh Penguins had no answer for the Flyers tonight.

Related articles

• Penguins Prepare for Battle with Familiar Foe (insidehockey.com)
• Pens-Flyers Rivalry Heats Up in Likely Playoff Preview (insidehockey.com)
• Flyers rough up the Pens (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Flyers rough up the Pens

Steve Ott is at it again

First off, Dallas Stars hack Steve Ott is a jerk and if he never played another game in the NHL, it wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit. Second, there was no reason for Steve Ott to engage or say anything to Peter Laviolette, so what he walking down the tunnel to the locker room. If you look at the video you will see that Laviolette isn't wearing a uniform there is no reason for Ott to engage the coach of the Flyers.

After the end of the first period on Wednesday night, the Versus telecast showed Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette having some words with Dallas Stars center Steve Ott in the entrance to the tunnel. After Ott appeared to have blocked the coach's path back to the dressing room, wanting the coach to allow the Stars to go off first, Lavy gave Ott a bit of a shove to get out of his way. [The700Level]

To top it all off, during the second period of tonight's game Steve Ott continued to the be the jerk that he is. Ott was running his big mouth and chirping the whole Philadelphia Flyers bench. I mean, no one should be shocked by this, it's his modus operandi. Then when the bill came due, Ott was challenged to a fight in the second period by the Flyers defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon, and of course Ott turtled and wouldn't fight Bourdon.