NHL Awards (Predictions) 2007-2008 season

As the NHL regular season starts to come to a close, I'm going to take a look back on this season and predict (hopefully fairly accurately) who will win what award for this year. Some will be fairly obvious, some will be a toss-up, and some will be complete guesses, but here are my predictions (with the occasional commentary):

1) The Stanley Cup: Dallas Stars-I hate to vote against my hometown team from Minnesota, but I have to be realistic. The Wild are playing terribly right now, so there is no way in hell I can confidently say I think they have a shot at winning it all. The Stars on the other hand are up there at the top of the conference. Although they are only 6-4 in their last 10 games, the Stars definitely have the firepower to go far in the playoffs. At 89 points they are in first place in their division (although San Jose is creeping up really fast) and second only to Detroit in the conference. With the acquisition of Brad Richards at the trade deadline, look for the Stars to go deep into the postseason.

2) Presidents Trophy (Best overall record): Detroit Red Wings-This one is pretty obvious because, hey, they're the almighty Red Wings. Even though they have stumbled recently (4-5-1 in their last 10), they have the players that will be able to right the ship and take home the trophy for the best overall record.

3) Prince of Wales Trophy (Eastern Conference Champion): Pittsburgh Penguins-This is a very tough choice, I like the Devils and the Canadiens as possibilities for this too, but the Penguins became the front runner as soon as they got Marian Hossa from the Thrashers. With Sid the Kid back on the ice and Evgeni Malkin collecting points like they're pennies, this team is going to be unstoppable, at least until they meet the mighty Western Conference in the Stanley Cup.

4) Clarence S. Campbell Bowl (Western Conference Champion): Dallas Stars-I already chose them to win the Cup, so by default they win this too.

5) Art Ross Trophy (Most Individual Points Scored): Alexander Ovechkin-I love how Malkin has come onto the scene in his sophomore year and lit the lamp, but there is no way I'm going to vote against a guy that will most likely hit 60 goals and has a shot as 70.

6) Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year): Niklas Backstrom-Patrick Kane is probably the most talented rookie this year, but I think that Backstrom will overtake Kane in the points department and take home the trophy. Peter Mueller is also a very talented rookie, and Kane skates along side Jonathan Toews, but Backstrom will end up with this one.

7) Hart Memorial Trophy (Most Valuable Player): Alexander Ovechkin-No question about this one. If he hits 60 goals, it's already a lock, and since he's on pace for 70, this is the only clear-cut choice.

8) Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year): John Stevens (Philadelphia Flyers)-I'm going to be honest and say I really can't stand the Flyers as a team. After a rash of suspensions for the team at the beginning of the season, the only thing I saw them as was a team of thugs. But being realistic, this team has made a dramatic turnaround from last season. At this point this season, the Flyers are already 22 points ahead of where they finished last year with 56 points and in dead last in the Eastern Conference. With 13 games left to go, the Flyers should have no problem passing the 90 point mark and making it into the postseason.

9) James Norris Memorial Trophy (Top Defenseman): Nicklas Lidstrom-This is definitely a no-brainer. Lidstrom has shown year in and year out that he is the premier defenseman in this league, and this season is no exception. Lidstrom has 7 goals and 52 assists this year to go along with a 38 +/- rating. Those numbers scream Norris Trophy.

10) Maurice Richard Trophy (Top Goal Scorer): Alexander Ovechkin-I've said quite enough about this guy in this post.

11) Vezina Trophy (Top Goaltender): Martin Brodeur-Evgeni Nabokov has shown that he is one of the best goalies in the league, but I believe the voters will give this trophy to Marty. The Devils are leading the Eastern Conference and Brodeur's 2.12 goals against average shows where much of the credit goes to. Although Nabokov has his team near the top of the West, I think Brodeur will get the benefit of the doubt due to reputation.

It's always hard to predict trophies and awards with 13 or so games remaining in a season, but based on how the season has gone so far, this is what I see happening. I'm still holding out hope that the Wild can bust out of their major slump and start scoring goals, but until that happens, I'm just going to hope that Mike Modano can bring the trophy home for the Stars.

Skoula sits, Wild win...Coincidence? I think not

After a disappointing loss at the hands of the San Jose Sharks a few nights ago, the Wild were looking for a way to bounce back in to the win column. They found that way in the form of quick scoring and solid defense against a good Dallas Stars team. After failing to keep the momentum against the Sharks, the Wild jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back, en route to a convincing 6-3 win versus the Stars.

Marian Gaborik had two goals, and Brent Burns added three assists to propel the Wild to a win over a Dallas team that demolished them two weeks ago with an 8-3 defeat. The Wild got into some trouble early when Brent Burns was called for interference just 3:44 into the game. The Wild were able to stifle the Dallas powerplay, which had been connecting on 20.5 percent of their chances this year, before Brian Rolston took a penalty at the 8 minute mark of the first, this one also for interference. Looking at the prospect of giving up the first goal of a game for the sixth time in a row, the Wild responded in a big way when Pavol Demitra flipped the puck out of the neutral zone to a streaking Gaborik who caught Marty Turco committing early. Gaborik backhanded the puck over a sprawled out Turco to put the Wild up 1-0 with only the second short-handed goal for the Wild this year. Less than two minutes after the Wild scored first, Demitra cashed in with a goal of his own when he wristed a shot past Turco and into the back of the net. It took the Wild just another two minutes to score yet again, this time it was Pierre-Marc Bouchard who joined the scoring frenzy to put the Wild up by 3 goals in the first period. That third goal by the Wild was enough for Stars coach Dave Tippet to pull the plug on Turco and replace him with backup Mike Smith. The Stars would answer back with a goal of their own only a minute after the Wild, but Gaborik extended the lead again with another goal with just 1:30 left in the first.

The second period started off fairly even as the Wild and Stars traded shots before the Wild finally scored again with a goal from Eric Belanger. Belanger received a beautiful pass from Gaborik and Belanger, using the perfect screen Aaron Voros was setting up, rifled the puck past Smith to put the Wild at a comfortable 5-1 lead. The Stars would respond with two consecutive goals in the second period to get the game to 5-3, but that's as close as they would get. Mark Parrish nailed the coffin shut with a goal with less than 4 minutes left and the Wild came away with a 6-3 victory.

The most notable aspect of the game was the absence of Martin Skoula at the blue-line. After a series of articles written in the local paper about Skoula the last few days, Jacques Lemaire may have been feeling a little bit of pressure to sit Skoula to see what happens. The Wild fans have been clamoring for Skoula, who has now sat a total of 2 games while in a Wild uniform, to be benched in favor of a better defensemen such as Keith Carney or Kurtis Foster. Tonight, Carney was the lucky recipient of the ice time and he proved that he still has some game (at least more game than Skoula). Lemaire has shown an infinite amount of confidence in his seasoned blue-liner, but what he sees in Skoula is something that pretty much everybody in the State of Hockey is missing. Lemaire says that Skoula uses his big size to his advantage, yet the last time I saw him intimidate a player with his size was...I can't even remember. Guys skate right around Skoula and usually that leads to a goal. I do not believe it is coincidence that the defense was good tonight with the absence of Skoula; I feel the blue-line is much safer without him there. I don't know what stat Lemaire is looking at, but what I look for in a defensemen is his +/- ratio. A player gets a + if he is on the ice when his own team scores; a player receives a - if he is on the ice when the opposing team scores. Let's take a look at the defensemen on the Wild and compare that stat:

Brent Burns: +2
Kim Johnsson: -6
Kurtis Foster:-4
Petteri Nummelin:+2
Nick Schultz:-3
Keith Carney:+7
Sean Hill:-4
Martin Skoula:-13

That stat is pretty telling. Generally when a coach plays a guy that is terrible on either side of the puck, it means he adds some sort of threat on the other side. When Skoula plays, he is at the very least a liability on defense and he adds absolutely no scoring threat whatsoever. What Lemaire sees in him, I have no idea. Carney on the other hand, a seasoned veteran who is a career +163, sits pretty much every game. And even though Foster is a -4, he adds a scoring threat that is pretty much unmatched by any of our other defensemen (minus Brent Burns), yet he's been a constant healthy scratch. I am glad to see that Lemaire, whether he took the articles and the fans reaction to heart or not, finally did what every Minnesota Wild fan was looking for: giving Skoula the heave-ho. Now the only thing that would make it better would be for Doug Risebrough, the Wild General Manager, to let Skoula go for good.