As the NHL season begins to wind down, trophy speculations begins to heat up, who is going to win what, will so and so be able to take the lead in this category to claim the scoring title. However, on awards voted on by the hockey writers association, it looks like Western Conference players are going to be hard pressed to win awards again.
This isn't saying that there aren't talented players in the East but teams in the West have a far more difficult schedule and that most of the writer's who vote on this live in the East and couldn't care if you lived out west and don't watch any games out there unless the team they are covering is playing them. The main concern here comes from two players who are out West who are likely to be given the snub when it comes to the voted on awards, they are Phoenix goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, and Canucks center Henrik Sedin.
The reason I say these two will get the snub is because of there location, where Bryzgalov will have tough competition and is an underdog to Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller, they face tougher competition in the Hart against guys who are big names in the East.
The Hart trophy given to the NHL's MVP of the regular season, and this is where the debate will begin. The main names from the East who will be getting recognition are Washington Capital forward, Alex Ovechkin, Pittsburgh Penguin center Sidney Crosby, and Buffalo Sabers goalie Ryan Miller.
Here are my argument you can make against all three of those players, all but maybe 14 or 15 road games are played in the same time zone. where if the Canucks play a road game in there division, they have to make a time change. The Coyotes are close to this too as they have to change time zones to play 3 of the 5 teams in there division.
The individual arguments are as followed.
Sidney Crosby (PIT): Even though he is one of the premier names in the game, he has probably the most well known supporting group in Evgeny Malkin, Bill Guerin, Jordan Staal, and Sergei Gonchar. Not only that, he is ten points behind the current leader in points and has not looked very dominating this year.
Alexander Ovechkin (WAS): The superstar Russian has missed 10 games this season due to injury and suspension, this may play against him because even when he has been out of the line up, the Capitals have kept on rolling without missing a beat which is part of the Hart Trophy which is most valuable to his team. Where would the Canucks be right now if they didn't have Henrik Sedin or the Coyotes didn't have Ilya Bryzgalov, a place those fans don't want to think about.
Ryan Miller (BUF): The case for Miller is less strong on this but where he has been the best goalie this year, his team currently holds the least amount of points by a division leader.
Here is my current voting if I had a say who the players would be if I had a vote:
1. Henrik Sedin (VAN) - leads the league in points, career high in goals, assists, and points. Plus where would the Canucks be without him
2. Alex Ovechkin (WAS) - having a good year but not as dominant as years past. However team has been successful in his absence
3. Ilya Bryzgalov (PHX) - has lead the Coyotes to the most points in team history
4. Ryan Miller (BUF) - my choice for Vezina but has easier schedule the Bryzgalov
5. Sidney Crosby (PIT) - set career high in goals and has kept the Penguins near the top of the Eastern conference
Also having to do with this, is my biggest screw job of awards handed out in years past:
2003: Peter Forsberg wins Hart Trophy over Markus Naslund. I didn't know you could play only half a season and win this award, this award is for consistency through the year, not just the second half.
2000: Olaf Kolzig wins Vezina over Curtis Joseph. Look above for reason, Cujo was spectacular the entire year where Kolzig was playing in the weakest division in hockey and thrived playing against weak opponents.
1998: Sergei Samsanov wins Calder trophy over Mattius Ohlund. This was obvious that people on the East coast didn't stay up to watch the games the Ohlund was in, even though Ohlund wasn't on a good team, he was a shining beacon for the Canucks when they were suffering.
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