This editor gave Stein one last chance to prove that hockey was worth writing about.  You can see Stein’s final(?) article here.  There is also a place on the page where readers can vote on the issue (“yes” to ban him from writing about hockey, “no” to keep him writing about the NHL and hockey).

Now that the background information regarding this situation is out of the way, allow me to react to this crap.

1) As a hockey fan, I continue to be disgusted by “average” America’s treatment of the sport.  I don’t care if you like it or not.  That’s each person’s choice, but to try and censor writers from writing about the sport because you don’t “like” it or “think that it’s relevant” is just absolutely asinine.

I fucking hate baseball as a sport.  I think it’s boring and pointless, and I think that the players make way to much money to stand in a field watching grass grow or sit on a bench scratching their crotches.  I would not for one second suggest that fans of the game be deprived of media coverage and articles regarding their beloved sport.  Anyone who would do this (regarding any sport) is a short-sighted buffoon, who shouldn’t be in a position of power in any media outlet.

2) If the editor really wants to cut corners and eliminate articles (for whatever reason), I suggest he look in the direction of the NBA.  Numbers and ratings suggest that the NBA is far less relevant in North America than the NHL.

For that matter, why not eliminate golf media coverage?  How about soccer media coverage?  I’m sure that those things aren’t relevant either right?  Stupid.  Stupid and short-sighted.

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Currently, the poll results indicate that the vast majority of people are fine with Mr. Stein writing hockey articles, but I encourage everyone who reads this blog to hop over there and vote “no” as well.  Even if you aren’t a hockey fan, vote “no” to this kind of horseshit media censorship that seems to be quite popular these days.

In my opinion, this award is one of the more underrated awards, and it doesn’t receive enough attention.  All of the finalists and winners of this award are every bit as important to their teams (and sometimes more important) than a great goal scorer or passer.

Finalists for this year’s Selke Award include: Pavel Datsyuk, Mike Richards, and Ryan Kesler.

1. Pavel Datsyuk – Detroit Red Wings
Datsyuk was an integral part of the Red Wings Stanley Cup season last year, and he has continued his incredible, responsible two-way play right on through the 2008-09 regular season.

Datsyuk is consistently one of the best shut down forwards in the league and this year was no exception.  He’s a 3rd defender whenever he’s on the ice, and is a large part of the reason that Detroit is the powerhouse that they are with the mediocre goaltending that they have.

He will very likely walk away with this award for the second straight year.

2. Mike Richards – Philadelphia Flyers
The 23-year old Flyers captain, Mike Richards has become the league’s short-handed expert.  He led the league in shorthanded goals this year with 7, and shorthanded points with 9.

While powerplays are usually an advantage, Mike Richards and his Flyers team make other teams with the man advantage worry not only about scoring, but also being scored upon.

Teams have developed powerplay schemes around keeping Richards from scoring on them.  In my book, whenever a team changes their offensive strategy because of the way you play defense, you must be pretty darn good at what you do.

3. Ryan Kesler – Vancouver Canucks
I like Kesler, and I think that he’s a remarkable defensive forward… but in my opinion, he’s a little outclassed (and underrated) as far as this award is concerned.

Voters will most likely look at the fact that Vancouver has a very good defense and stellar goaltender to support their forwards.  Voters will also look at the pros of the other two finalists for this award, and stack these characteristics up against the blossoming Kesler.  With the competition that he faces for this award, I just don’t think he has much of a chance.

His time will come though I’m sure.  He is young, and seems to get better with every passing season.  I’d expect to see him as a finalist for this award for years to come.

Simply put, usually it goes to the player who has the combination of high point totals and low penalty minute totals.  Pavel Datsyuk has won the award three years in a row, and is one of the finalists for the award again this year.

Joining Datsyuk on the list of finalists are: New Jersey LW, Zach Parise and Tampa Bay RW, Martin St. Louis.

Obviously, all three candidates are stellar options… but let’s briefly take a look at each player (as we have done with the other awards).

1. (LW) Zach Parise – New Jersey Devils
The 24 year old Parise finished the season with 5 goals, 94 points, and just 24 penalty minutes. 

He finished third among NHL players in goals (one behind Jeff Carter and 11 behind Alexander Ovechkin), and fifth among NHL players in points (behind Evgeni Malkin, Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and Datsyuk).

The thing that really makes Parise stand out in my opinion for this award is the amount of effort with which he plays.  Every shift, Parise seems to do whatever it takes to help his team get the win.  He goes into the high traffic areas along the boards and in front of the net and very rarely gets penalized for being over-aggressive.  Few players are as feisty as he, and even fewer are penalized as little as he. 

This combination of grit and toughness with a mind for the rule book and what’s legal/fair among players (plus his large goal total) makes him my favorite for this year’s Lady Byng.

2. (C) Pavel Datsyuk - Detroit Red Wings
Pavel Datsyuk has won this award for a few years now, and if not for Parise giving him a run for his money this season, would likely win it again.  While Datsyuk finished with 32 goals, 97 points, and 22 penalty minutes, I personally think that (points and penalty minutes being fairly equal with Parise) the difference maker will be the goal totals.

I simply cannot (and I dearly hope the voters do not) discount the fact that Parise had close to 30% more goals than Datsyuk (a substantial difference).  While Datsyuk fans will suggest that his defensive play should put him atop Parise in votes, I say that’s what the Selke Trophy (award for best defensive forward) is for. 

While I do understand that defensive play is part of the “high standard of playing ability” that the Lady Byng known for, I personally think it’s more difficult to be a 45 goal scorer and be responsible in your own defensive end, then it is to be a 32 goals scorer and excelling in your own defensive end.

The voting will likely be close, but I think this year will see the end of Datysuk’s Lady Byng reign…

3. (RW) Martin St. Louis - Tampa Bay Lightning
St. Louis has been a finalist for this award for a number of years, but has never won the award.  Sadly for Marty, this is not likely to be his year either. 

With “just” 30 goals, 80 points, and 14 penalty minutes, St. Louis was by far the least superior of the three finalists in point production (largely due to the fact that he was on the weakest team).

He does have the lowest penalty total, and 14 penalty minutes through 82 games (he played every game) is an absolutely amazing accomplishment… so if voters look for the guy with decent production and the lowest “pim” totals, St. Louis could upset and win this award.

I don’t really think that will happen, but hey… who knows?  In 2003-04 St. Louis had 38 goals, 94 points, and 24 penalty minutes, but team mate Brad Richards (who had 26 goals, 76 points, and 12 penalty minutes) walked away with the award.  So indeed, anything can happen as far as Lady Byng is concerned.

All three finalists are on teams that finished at the top of their divisions, and all three are quite deserving of the award and title as best defender of the year.

The Finalists are: Mike Green (Washington Capitals), Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings), and Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins).

I can by no means argue with these three finalists as they were all absolutely stellar this season, and I can not realistically remove any of the three in favor for any other defender that isn’t a finalist.

Let’s take a closer look at their seasons, what each of them brings to the table, and possible reasons that they should win this prestigious award.

1. Mike Green – Washington Capitals
Mike Green was hands down the most successful defender in terms of offensive production this season.  He is first among defenders in goals, points, and powerplay goals (with 31, 73, and 18 respectively), and he broke the NHL record for most consecutive games with goals scored by a defender (he scored in 8 straight games – a feat for a player at ANY position). 

He is only the seventh defender in NHL history to score more than 30 goals in a season, and he was incredibly close to breaking the NHL record for powerplay goals by a defender (19 – set by Sheldon Souray in 2006-07).

Finally, considering that Green accumulated these remarkable numbers playing only 68 games this season (10 less than Lidstrom’s 78, and 12 less than Chara’s 80), you can truly start to see just how special of a season he had.

2. Nicklas Lidstrom – Detroit Red Wings
Six time Norris Trophy winning defender Nicklas Lidstrom once again had a tremendous season, though his age does appear to be catching up with him a bit as his point totals have finally started dropping out of the heavens.  Lidstrom finished with his lowest offensive output since the 2004 NHL lockout, putting up “just” 59 points this season. 

While this is the first sub-60 point season in several years, Lidstrom still boasted an impressive plus-31 rating and is still one of the best shutdown defenders in the NHL.  He matches up against opposing teams’ best players every game, and does so with such ease and proficiency that sometimes you wonder why he’s “only” won six Norris trophies in his career.

Perennial favorite Lidstrom will give Green a run for his money (as Lidstrom excels a bit more than Mike Green in the defensive aspects of the game)… but Green’s amazing season will likely instigate a “passing of the torch” of some sort in this award, as we see the next generation of defenders start to take over where guys like Nik Lidstrom have left off.

3. Zdeno Chara - Boston Bruins
For the second season in a row, big Zdeno Chara has been nominated for an award that he will not (likely ever) win. 

Chara is an absolute monster in the defensive end, a force that no player wants to deal with on a consistent basis, but at the end of the day… it’s easier for voters to look at statistics than it is for them to look at the types of intangibles that Chara brings to his team.

No defender has won the Norris Trophy with as few points as Chara had this year (50) since Bobby Orr won it in 1967-68 with 31 points in 46 games.  That’s a lot of years and a lot of precedent towards “offensively minded” defenders going up against Chara.

As Bruins writer Matt Kalman writes: There’s no way Chara should lose this vote. But unfortunately too many of my colleagues in the PHWA probably relied on stats and highlights to make their votes. The things that made Chara the best defenseman in the league hardly ever showed up in those two places. All you have to know is he was the No. 1 blueliner on the best defensive team in the league and the team with the second-best record. That’s something neither of the other finalists can claim.

What Mr. Kalman fails to understand is that the Norris Trophy is not simply the award for the “best defender.”  With the advent of Bobby Orr, the Trophy has taken on more than that role.  This award has changed throughout the years, and should now be looked at as an award for the “best player at the defender position.”  While Chara’s defensive abilities should never be discounted completely, Mike Green 30 goals (many of which were absolute sniper-like shots) just cannot be overlooked either. 

This year, Mike Green was the “best player at the defensive position.”  This year, Mike Green should win the Norris. 

As expected, standout Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason was on the list of young stars… as was Anaheim Ducks breakout forward, Bobby Ryan and Chicago Blackhawks power forward, Kris Versteeg.

Notable exceptions to the list include the minute-muching, defensive anchor from the Los Angeles Kings, Drew Doughty; and the lanky goalie with a quick glove from the Nashville Preditors, Pekka Rinne.

Let’s break down the incredible seasons that these five young players had.

1. (G) Steve Mason – Columbus Blue Jackets
Mason is the odds on favorite to win this award largely due to the media coverage and hype that he has received and the fact that his team would likely not have made it to the playoffs without him.  In addition to these two factors Mason has going for him, there’s also his very impressive statistics: 33-20-10 record, 2.29 GAA, 91.6 save%, and a league leading 10 shutouts.

While Mason did have a tremendous season where he benefited a large extent from Columbus coach, Ken Hitchcock’s defense first system, he did have some dark days down the stretch of the regular season.  In the final 3 weeks of the season as Columbus (and many other teams) were fighting for playoff position, Mason had very pedestrian numbers: 3-3-4 record, 2.61 GAA, 89.8 save%, 0 shutouts.

The voters almost always look at the whole body of work however… so despite some late season slumping, the NHL hype machine and his amazing season stats (as a 20 year old), will likely ensure that Mason still wins the Calder Trophy.

2. (W) Bobby Ryan – Anaheim Ducks
Many will probably consider Bobby Ryan to be robbed of this award (should odds-on favorite Mason indeed win it), because Ryan was largely a victim of circumstance this season. 

Ryan missed the first 18 games of the NHL season because the Anaheim Ducks were too close to the salary cap to carry him on their roster.  He had (by all accounts) an amazing training camp, but until the Ducks lost Francois Beauchemin with a knee injury 1/4 of the way through the season, there was simply no cap room for the young star.

Once Ryan joined the Ducks roster, he never looked back.  He posted 31 goals and 57 points in just 64 games with the Ducks and quickly entrenched himself on the Ducks number 1 scoring line with Dustin Penner and Ryan Getzlaf.  Had he played the whole season with the big club, he could have very well closed in on 70 points as a rookie… and he likely would have been this year’s Calder Trophy winner. 

As it is, he’ll likely be overshadowed by another young player (who’s team didn’t have any salary cap issues in bringing him on board when he was ready).

3. (W) Kris Versteeg – Chicago Blackhawks
While Versteeg’s season stats (22 goals, 53 points in 78 games) are fairly impressive on paper, he absolutely disappeared about halfway through the season. 

Starting in mid-January, Versteeg had just just 8 goals and 15 points in his remaining 33 games of the season (a pace that’s not even good enough for 40 points in a full season of play). 

Voters tend to look at the big picture and heavily favor statistics however… so Versteeg was voted as a finalist despite (in my opinion) other more suitable selections.

– (D) Drew Doughty – LA Kings
As alluded to above, I believe that there were other more appropriate selections that could have been made for the finalist spots.  18 year old Drew Doughty from the LA Kings is one of those selections.

From the same point in January that we measured Kris Versteeg’s “second half” production, Drew Doughty had 13 points (2 less than FORWARD, Kris Versteeg).  Doughty also consistently logged over 20 minutes of ice time a game (several minutes of which was often during shorthanded situations).  He was arguably LA’s most consistent and dominant defender throughout the season, and very much so held his own against some of the most dominant forwards in the western conference and the NHL. 

It’s absolutely unheard of for an 18 year old DEFENDER to make the transition to the NHL so easily… and the fact that Doughty exibited such leadership qualities and scored close to 30 points at such a young age, should not have been discounted by Calder Trophy voters.

Regardless, he’ll become one of the more dominant defenders of his generation within a few short years, and will perhaps one day receive a nomination for the Norris Trophy (as best defender).

– (G) Pekka Rinne - Nashville Preditors
I think it’s an absolute shame that Pekka Rinne didn’t receive the same publicity, hype, and coverage that Steve Mason received this season.  His statistics (29-15-7, 2.38 GAA, 91.7 save%, 7 shutouts) were every bit as good as Steve Mason’s (his win percentage is actually better than Mason’s)… but Rinne received no where near as much publicity throughout his rookie campaign. 

I think that is tragic.  How two goalies can have such similar statistics, and one can be the “favorite” for an award that the other isn’t even a finalist for is beyond me. 

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Tremendous seasons by all the players above.  All were worthy of Calder consideration, all (to varying degrees) were worthy of being finalists for the award. 

My personal pick for the winner would have to be Drew Doughty because I honestly do not remember the last time an 18 year old defender played as well as he did at the NHL level. 

For all those looking at mason’s sparkling numbers… Consider that last year, Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire finished the season with a 24-17-9 record, 2.25 GAA, 91.9 save%, and 9 shutouts.  Is Steve Mason really as good as his numbers this season suggest?  Or is he just on a stellar defensive team?  You be the judge.

You can find more of Jenny Romanchuk’s work (as well as a place to buy prints of her artwork) here at deviantART.

Cassandra Ventura (Cassie) was born August 26, 1986.  She is from New London, Connecticut and is of Filipino, African American, Mexican and West Indian decent.

Her measurements are: 34-23-33 and she’s 5′-7″. 

To see my other posts of Cassie, search her name in the search box at the top right of this site’s homepage.

As a child, I often visited museums and art galleries, and came to greatly appreciate many different forms of art, and I look forward to posting much more of this subject here in this venue.

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This post depicts a stunning series done by Marta Dahlig portraying the “Seven Deadly Sins” of religious and other literary texts.  She uses breathtaking imagery and color to bring these separate works together as a set, while small details in each piece make the works unique as well.   

You can find more of Marta Dahlig’s work (as well as a place to buy prints of her artwork) here at deviantART.

As of April 12th, 2009… the recipients for three of the many yearly NHL awards were decided: The Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy (which is awarded to the most proficient goal scorer each season), the Art Ross Trophy (which is awarded to the most proficient point getter each season), and the Presidents Trophy (which is awarded to the team with the best record at the end of the regular season). 

These awards are not determined by votes and as of the end of the last regular season game this past Sunday night, their winners have been determined.

Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy – Alexander Ovechkin
For the 2nd straight season, Alexander “the Gr8″ Ovechkin takes home this trophy.  He scored 56 goals this year (ten more than runner up, Jeff Carter who had 46).  In four seasons in the NHL, Ovechkin has totalled 219 goals (an impressive average of 54.75 per season), and has been better than any other player in that same span. 

While this is “only” the second year that Ovechkin has won the award, but it’s safe to say that the (now) 23 year old will win it a few more times before he hangs up the skates for good.

Art Ross Trophy – Evgeni Malkin
As is seemingly the case every year, the Art Ross Trophy was quite the race down the home stretch.  Malkin has had the league lead in points for a while now, but Alexander Ovechkin and Malkin’s teammate Sidney Crosby certainly made things interesting down the stretch. 

As it worked out, Malkin won the title by finishing the season with 113 points (3 more than Ovechkin’s 110). 

Of the “big three” young stars in today’s NHL (Crosby, Ovechkin, and Malkin)… all three have now won the Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in points.

Presidents Trophy – San Jose Sharks
While the Detroit Red Wings were in the running to win the Presidents Trophy again this year, San Jose managed to finish the season with a better record than them and the juggernaut from the Eastern Conference: The Boston Bruins. 

San Jose finished with a sparkling 53-18-11 record, losing only 5 games in regulation on home ice. 

You’d have to look back to the 2005-06 season to find the last time a team finished with more points in the standings than San Jose (117) did this year.  The team to do it was none other than the Detroit Red Wings with 124 whopping points in the standings and a 58-16-8 regular season record.

Interestingly enough, that same incredibly dominant Detroit team from 2005-06 lost in the first round of the playoffs to an 8th Seed Edmonton squad that went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.  Could the surging Anaheim Ducks repeat the feat this season against the President Trophy winning Sharks?  The two underdog teams do have one thing in common: Norris Trophy & Stanley Cup winning Defender, Chris Pronger.

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As the finalists for the remaining NHL awards are released, I’ll be sure to continue to update you on them here on FEGNS. 

Enjoy the first round of the NHL Playoffs!

Some nice artistic headshots of Angelina Jolie… I could do many worse things with my day than stare at those beautiful eyes for hours on end.