Awards Post-Mortem

Before I get to today's piece, I'd like to say that due to a miscalculation on my part, today is going to be a review of the trophy winners instead of a predictions piece.  The NHL Awards happened yesterday, instead of today, like I thought it would be, so I take full responsibility.

That said, you are looking at what will grace the NHL 13 cover.  The likeness of Claude Giroux, as voted by the people, will be on the cover, and if you're thinking curse, this isn't the Madden Football franchise.  Patrick Kane was on the cover of NHL 10...and scored the Cup winning goal.  Jonathan Toews was on the cover the next year, and had the best year of his career so far.  Last year's cover boy: Steven Stamkos.  He only went on to win the Rocket Richard Trophy and was a finalist for the Hart Trophy, so keep the curses to yourself.  All of that coincided with the Awards, so without further ado, here are the winners:

Jack Adams: Ken Hitchcock, St. Louis Blues
Hired early in the season after Davis Payne was let go, he led the Blues to a second seed in the Western Conference.

Masterton: Max Pacioretty, Montreal Canadiens
He took a gruesome hit from Zdeno Chara last year that broke a vertebra in his back.  This year, he scored 33 goals and 32 assists in what arguably is only the surface of what he can do when healthy.

Selke: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
Long considered a good two-way player, he finally gets the recognition over the likes of Pavel Datsyuk and David Backes.

Calder: Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche
The second overall pick in last year's draft, he was just as advertised, with 22 goals and 30 assists.  He beat out Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (drafted one spot ahead of Landeskog) and Adam Henrique.

Norris: Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
How do you celebrate a new 7-year deal?  If you're Karlsson, win the Norris Trophy, which is exactly what he did.  Far and away the best offensive output from a defenseman, he did well enough on defense (plus 16) to win over Shea Weber and Zdeno Chara.

Vezina: Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
Backstopped the Rangers to the best record in the Eastern Conference, beating out Rinne and Quick, no slouches when it comes to carrying a team.

Hart: Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
No Sidney Crosby?  No problem, as Malkin took the team on his back while Crosby was recovering from concussion issues.  Lundqvist and Steven Stamkos were the other nominees.