The NHL announced their awards for the 2021 season. One of the only things we can be grateful about Covid is there we bill no awards ceremony in Vegas. No B list 
Canadien celebrities, no awkward jokes and camera shy winners. The league will release the winners names over the next couple weeks. Here’s my 2 cents on the major awards. The Lady Byng is not a major award. It’s the Daytime Emmy of hockey.
Hart (MVP)- The 3 best young superstars in the NHL. The NEXT ones if you will. Connor McDavid/ Edmonton had the most points. Auston Matthews/Toronto had the most goals. Nathan MacKinnon/Colorado was the best player on a team that won the President’s Trophy.
My Pick – McDavid
Will Win – McDavid
Ted Lindsay (Players MVP)- McDavid, Matthews and Sidney Crosby/Pittsburgh were all number one picks. The Penguins Captain led the Penguins to Eastern division title. The Eastern division was the toughest division in the NHL. Crosby was without his Hall of Fame teammate Evgeni Malkin for much of the season.
My Pick- Crosby
Will Win- Crosby
Norris (Best Defenseman) – Victor Hedman/Tampa had a great year, but we have seen him play better. Cale Makar/Colorado is Paul Coffey dipped in Bobby Orr. Adam Fox/Rangers walked into MSG and became the Rangers best defenseman in 25 years. Makar and Fox are young and will have their day soon.
My Pick- Hedman
Will Win- Hedman
Vezina (Best Goalie) – Andrei Vasilevskiy/ Tampa is so good he always makes it look easy. Marc-Andre Fleury/Vegas always makes it look exciting. Philipp Grubauer/Colorado is always in the right position. Grubauer made it thru a whole season healthy. Fleury will lose votes because Robyn Lehner got some starts. Does Tampa even have a backup?
My Pick- Vasilevskiy
Will Win- Vasilevskiy
Selke (Defensive Forward)- It would be amazing if Sasha Barkov wins this award. He’s a great player but he plays for the Panthers. It is nice seeing new blood among the Finalists. Patrice Bergeron/Boston represents old blood. Much like Boston politics he’ll be receiving Selke votes after he’s retired. Bergeron has been the gold standard for defensive forwards for a decade. Mark Stone/ Vegas is a phenomenal defensive winger but I think the award should go to a center.
My Pick- Bergeron
Will Win- Stone
Calder (Rookie of the Year)- Alex Nedeljkovic/Carolina won the starting goalie job in Carolina and he won a playoff round. Nick Robertson/Dallas came in 2nd in rookie scoring. Karill Kaprizov/Minnesota led rookies in goals and became the most exciting player in the history of the Wild organization.
My Pick- Kaprizov
Will Win- Kaprizov
Jack Adams- (Coach of the Year)- Rod Brind’Amour’s/Carolina Hurricanes won the highly competitive Central Division. Joel Quenneville/Florida got the chronically underachieving Panthers into the playoffs. Dean Evason got a team I thought was going to stink into the playoffs. The Wild pushed Vegas to 7 games. Evason coached rookie Karill Kaprizov to greatness and squeezed life into aging veteran Zach Parise. The Wild are no longer a team to ignore. They are now must see tv.
My Pick- Evason
Will Win- Evason
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