And the Winners Are...

Last night the NHL gave out their annual awards. Here in the States we were shafted by Bettman's joke of a TV deal once again, and the Awards Show wasn't aired until 11pm EST.

*Update*
Apparently it was CBC's fault, not Versus, that the awards show was shown on a tape delay and not aired live.

The winners of the awards were:

Hart (Player voted most valuable to his team by the Professional Hockey Writer's Association): Sidney Crosby
Leaster B. Pearson (Voted as MVP by the NHLPA): Sidney Crosby
Vezina (Best Goalie): Martin Brodeur
Norris (Best Defenseman): Nicklas Lidstrom
Selke (Best Defensive Forward): Rod Brind'Amour
Calder (Rookie of the Year): Evgeni Malkin
Jack Adams (Coach of the Year): Alain Vigneault
Lady Byng (Sportsmanship): Pavel Datsyuk
Masterson (Comeback player of the year): Phil Kessel
King Clancy (On and Off Ice Leadership): Saku Koivu

A lot of people have said Brodeur has an advantage by playing in a system that promotes defense above all else. That may be true, but if Brodeur didn't have what it takes, why did Scott Clemensen only have one win this year? Roberto Luongo is without question and outstanding goaltender, and will no doubt win his share of Vezinas in his career, but Brodeur has earned this.

Our picks for the Calder and the Jack Adams turned out to be wrong. We thought Michel Therrien made a strong case for himself, but Alain Vigneault led the Vancouver Canucks to the Northeast Division title before being bounced by the eventual Cup champs in the second round.

Evgeni Malkin was heavily favored by many to win the rookie of the year honors, and it was no surprise that he won this award. We here at the Blueliner were pulling for his teammate, Jordan Staal to get the nod. This kid had an unbelievable season. He went from a long shot at training camp to becoming one of the Pens top penalty killers, set a rookie record for shorthanded goals, led the league in shooting percentage, was second only to Malkin in goals among first year players, and became the youngest NHL player to record a hat trick in the regular season. Not a bad first winter if you ask us.

The Masterson was pretty much a no brainer. Due to a rivalry with a certain Boston ex-pat friend of ours, we don't like to say anything good about the Bruins. But the season Phil Kessel had while battling testicular cancer definitely deserves to be acknowledged.