Get on your tux and put your best girl on your arm – it’s time for the Ferris Wheel 2007-08 Awards, more commonly known as the “Wheelies.”
Hart: Alexander Ovechkin was getting my pick either way, but it’s nice that the Caps clinched the playoff spot – now the voters can’t screw this up. Second: Evgeni Malkin.
Vezina: Evgeni Nabokov seems to be gathering steam here, but why not Martin Brodeur? He’s just about a dead heat with Nabby in starts (tied), wins (two less) and goals-against (three points apart), and Brodeur fashioned a .920 save percentage against Nabokov’s .910. I’d vote for Brodeur, though I fully expect Nabokov to win.
Norris: It’s such a joy to watch Nicklas Lidstrom on a nightly basis, a skating testament to the fact that being smart on the ice is more important than being a giant. No one did enough to take it away from the Detroit captain, even when he missed three weeks late in the year. Close calls to Brian Campbell (who fit like a glove with the Sharks) and Dion Phaneuf (who will win multiple statues before his career ends).
Calder: You could say Patrick Kane or Peter Mueller or Nicklas Backstrom and I’d be fine with it, but I can’t ignore what Carey Price did after the Habs handed him the keys to the car. The kid backstopped the Habs into the top spot in the east, and with all due respect to the defenders in front of him, it’s not a Robinson-Savard-Langway group.
Adams: You’re in a can’t-win position when you coach a team like the Red Wings – the casual fan says all you have to do is roll out the pucks and watch your team crush everything in its path. That’s not fair to Babcock, who’s done one of his best jobs this year, guiding Detroit to the best record despite a massive amount of injuries to the entire defense (their top five defensemen have all been hurt at one point or another, not to mention Dominik Hasek). I’ll be fine if Bruce Boudreau or Guy Carbonneau wins, but Babcock’s as good at his job as anyone is in the game. Detroit GM Ken Holland will sleep better when Babcock’s contract extension gets done over the summer.
Lady Byng: Score a lot of points, stay out of the box, that’s how you win the Lady Byng. It’s close to my heart because that’s how I played – I hit someone about as often as Deion Sanders. Pavel Datsyuk is always a good pick but there’s no reason to give it to him three years in a row; how about Daniel Alfredsson?
Best Performance from a Journeyman in a Brief Starring Role: I just want to thank Johan Franzen for his ballistic run (15 goals in 15 games) down the stretch. When you’re ready to sip from the THL Cup you helped win, give me a ring.
Playoff Predictions: Have a short memory on these, as my unbearded guesses have not traditionally held up very well (Oiler fans remember their run to the Cup finals a few years back, a month or so after I mocked them in this space).
Eastern Conference: Montreal and Pittsburgh should cruise in Round 1, but the other two series should be slug-it-out bloodbaths. I want to see the Washington advance because I like how this club is constructed, but I’m afraid that even if the Caps beat the Flyers, it’s going to take seven games and it’s going to be physically draining. I like how New Jersey matches up with the Rangers, but I’ll be surprised if Brodeur can get them past the second round.
Montreal has a sizzling power-play and a hot goalie, but is there an alpha dog somewhere else on the roster? I don’t see it. The Habs get to the finals and lose to the Crosby Show in six.
Western Conference: It’s standing-room-only on the Sharks bandwagon these days. Mike Milbury, Don Cherry, Pierre McGuire and Barry Melrose all picked San Jose for the Cup, not to mention 80 percent of the Rotowire staff.
And kick those percentages up, because I’m there too. The Sharks have everything you want to see on the form: momentum entering the playoffs; a dangerous power play; a star goalie; a stud on the blue line, backed by a host of steady veterans; and a magnetic, versatile, physical captain who won’t let the team lose its course.
It certainly helps that there’s no other major contender in the west to be afraid of. Detroit has the fancy record and all those stars, but the goaltending can be suspect (the pretty GAA numbers came from the blue line, not the crease), and there’s too much age at key positions. Minnesota? Not versatile enough. Dallas? Needs one more scoring threat, and Turco doesn’t steal enough games on his own. Anaheim? Something’s missing here, can’t put my finger on it.
Add it all up and I’ll go with the Sharks winning the conference in surprising fashion – no one pushes them to a seventh game until the finals, where they sneak by Pittsburgh in a compelling match that the game desperately needs.
Agree, disagree? I’m all ears. Toss the razor in the garbage (not intended as a Toronto joke) and let’s bunker down for the next two months.
Posted by David Ferris at 4/9/2008 2:33:00 PM
