Thu Jun 12 22:35:21 2008

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Ovechkin, Datsyuk highlight NHL award winners

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Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - The National Hockey League announced its season-ending awards on Thursday night and Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin won the most notable of them all, as the 22-year-old took home the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player.

The 22-year-old Ovechkin -- the first Washington player to ever win the Hart Trophy -- led the league in both goals (65) and overall points (112) and in the process also captured the Maurice Richard and Art Ross Trophies. This was the first time in Ovechkin's brief career that he was nominated for the award, which he captured over Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin and Calgary forward Jarome Iginla, who was up for the honor for the third time in his career.

Ovechkin led a fierce late-season rally by the Capitals, who vaulted from the Eastern Conference cellar in late November to the Southeast Division title. He garnered 128 of 134 first-place votes and 1,313 total voting points. Malkin finished second with 659 points (one first-place vote) followed by Iginla with 565 points (2).

"Next year is going to be a big year for the Capitals -- I want to win the Stanley Cup," said Ovechkin.

Malkin ended second behind Ovechkin in scoring in 2007-08 with 47 goals and 59 assists. He and fellow star Sidney Crosby, who won the Hart last season, form the best young 1-2 scoring punch in the league for Pittsburgh, which lost in six games in the Stanley Cup title round to Detroit.

The veteran Iginla finished second in Hart voting in 2002 (Jose Theodore) and 2004 (Martin St. Louis), and had another outstanding offensive campaign. The Flames sniper scored 50 goals in 2007-08.

Ovechkin's head coach, Bruce Boudreau, who ignited the Caps' turnaround after he took over behind the bench at Thanksgiving, also took home a piece of hardware on Thursday night. He won the Jack Adams Award as the top coach as voted by the NHL Broadcasters' Association.

"I am happy for him," Ovechkin said. "I thought he would win it and I thought he deserved it."

Boudreau edged Montreal head coach Guy Carbonneau, 31 first-place votes to 24 and 208 points to 196.

He took over behind the Capitals' bench on November 22 when Washington was 6-14-1 and at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. From there, he led the squad to a 37-17-7 mark and the Southeast Division title. Washington was seeded third but lost to Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs.

"One year ago, I never thought I would be here," said Boudreau. "I have to thank the players for paying so hard, and I want to thank the Washington (management team) for taking the chance on a first-year coach."

Carbonneau was the driving force behind a Montreal team that finished 2007-08 with 104 points as well as the Eastern Conference regular season title.

The other nominee was Detroit's Mike Babcock, who led the Red Wings to the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best team in the regular season with 115 points.

Ovechkin also won the Lester B. Pearson Award, which is give to the NHL's Most Outstanding Player as voted by the players.

"It's a big award," said Ovechkin of the Pearson. "The players speak who the best player in the NHL is. I'm honored."

Ovechkin, who was a finalist for this award in his 2005-06 rookie season, finished with 112 points (65 goals, 47 assists) and also officially took home the previously-determined Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading point-getter and the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league's top goal scorer.

The first overall pick in the 2004 draft, he set the single-season NHL mark for goals by a left wing, passing Luc Robitaille's 1992-93 season of 63 with Los Angeles. Ovechkin's 65 goals were the most in the league since Mario Lemieux's 69 in 1995-96 for Pittsburgh.

As was the case with the Hart Trophy, the finalists for the Pearson were Malkin and Iginla.

Pavel Datsyuk, who helped the Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup earlier this month, won both the Frank J. Selke trophy and the Lady Byng Trophy. The Selke goes to the best defensive forward while the Lady Byng is given to the player who combines sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct with excellence on the ice.

The 29-year-old Datsyuk led all NHL players in plus-minus rating with a plus-41 mark and finished tops among forwards in takeaways with 144. Datsyuk, who helped Detroit win the Stanley Cup earlier this month, also blocked 42 shots this season.

Datsyuk tallied 31 goals and 66 assists this season and notched six game- winning goals.

The other finalists for the Selke were Datsyuk's teammate Henrik Zetterberg and New Jersey's stalwart defensive forward John Madden.

This marked the first Selke win of Datsyuk's career.

For the Lady Byng, this was the third straight season that Datsyuk won it. He played in all 82 regular-season games and became the first player in more than 70 years to win this award three straight times. He is also the first player since Ron Francis (1995, '96, 2002) to win the trophy three times in his career.

Datsyuk received 75 first-place votes, while Tampa Bay's St. Louis gained two and Buffalo's Jason Pominville notched three.

As usual, Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils captured the Vezina Trophy as the top goaltender for the second consecutive season and the fourth time in his storied career.

Brodeur, who also won the award in 2003 and 2004, finished with a 44-27-6 in 2007-08 with a 2.17 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. He posted four shutouts and led all goalies in minutes played (4,635). He was once again the backbone of a hard-working Devils team that finished second in the Atlantic Division.

"The last few years have been great, but I don't have an idea on how long I can keep it up," said Brodeur. "I had a new coach this year and it took a while for me to get used to him. Losing in the first round to the Rangers was not the way we wanted to finish."

Brodeur, who some argue is the best goaltender to ever play in the NHL, garnered 113 points, while San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov totaled 106 points and Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist had 13 points.

The Vezina Trophy is voted on by the general managers of the NHL and has been awarded annually since 1927. It is the second-longest continually-awarded individual postseason honor next to the Hart Trophy.

In 2006, the only season in the last five that Brodeur did not win this award, he finished second behind Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff.

Much like Brodeur, this night was more of the same for Nicklas Lidstrom, who won yet another James Norris Memorial Trophy, the sixth of his amazing career, for best defenseman.

"It never gets old," said Lidstrom. "I never take it for granted. I have to put in my hard work every summer to get prepared. I never, ever take (his success) for granted."

The Red Wings blueliner, who has now captured this award in six of the last seven seasons (Scott Niedermayer, 2004) dominated the voting this year. He received 127 of 134 first-place votes compared to only three first-place votes for Boston's Zdeno Chara and two for Dion Phaneuf of Calgary.

The Norris Trophy is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.

Lidstrom had 10 goals and 60 assists in 76 games this season, with a staggering plus-40 for the Presidents' Trophy winners. This win vaulted Lidstrom, 38, past Ray Bourque and into sole possession of third place on the all-time list for Norris wins. Former Bruins great Bobby Orr won the award eight times, while Montreal's Doug Harvey ranks second with seven.

"I watched them on tape, but I never saw them play live," said Lidstrom of Orr and Harvey. "I don't feel like I belong in the same category as them."

Chara had 51 points -- 17 goals and 34 assists -- for the Bruins, and Phaneuf had 43 assists and 17 goals for 60 points. They were vying to be the first person other and Lidstrom to win the award since Scott Niedermayer for the 2003-04 season.

Chicago forward Patrick Kane was tabbed as the best rookie and took home the Calder Trophy. Kane won the award with 71 of 133 first-place votes and 1,078 points over teammate Jonathan Toews and Nick Backstrom of Washington. Kane tallied 21 goals and 51 assists in 82 games this season and led all rookies in total points.

"The big thing for me was the shootouts, where I was 7-for-9," said Kane. "That's when i realized I had a chance for a good season. I played awful in the preseason, but the way we started the regular season, I thought there might be something special."

This award was won by a Chicago player for the first time since goaltender Ed Belfour took it home in 1990-91. Toews led NHL rookies in goals (24) despite missing five weeks of action with a knee injury, while Backstrom finished with 14 goals and 55 assists for the upstart Capitals.

Tampa Bay forward Vinny Lecavalier was honored with the King Clancy Memorial Trophy while Toronto's Jason Blake won the Masterton Trophy, which is given under the trusteeship of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

In October, Blake was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a rare but treatable form of cancer. However, he completed the season as one of only three Toronto players to appear in all 82 games. He finished the season with 15 goals and 37 assists and in the month of January he donated $1,000 per goal and $500 per assist to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada.

"I have three young kids, and I was most concerned about seeing them grow up," said Blake. "I had great support from the people of Toronto, the fans, the media and the whole organization, and especially my family. The doctors here gave me hope to live a long happy life. That's the most important thing."

Also, Detroit's goaltending duo of Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek, who retired from professional hockey earlier this week, captured the William Jennings Trophy. Legendary Gordie Howe received the first ever Lifetime Achievement Award.

The All-Rookie team included goaltender Carey Price of Montreal, Backstrom, Kane and Toews. The league also announced the All-Star first team of Nabokov, Lidstrom, Phaneuf, Malkin, Iginla and Ovechkin.