No Respect & Streit The Bully

Islanders stat master, Eric Hornick put up some information based on this years NHL awards.  I used it as a reference as I added my own commentary on the NHL and their official voting process.  Getting the most votes doesn't seem to mean what you think it means.  Even when the most are given, it's usually not due to anything but a popularity vote rather than personnel contributions and the spirit of the award.

 

2013 Hart Trophy voting results:

 

1. Alex Ovechkin, WSH        1090             (50-43-40-27-8)
2. Sidney Crosby, PIT          1058             (46-42-41-29-12)
3. John Tavares, NYI             919             (38-38-33-29-21)
4. Jonathan Toews, CHI        886             (39-35-29-29-19)

 

So Alex Ovechkin gets the Hart because he was invisible for 2/3's of the season and had a strong finish?  Some say because he "revitalized his career"?  Pathetic "Old Guard" move.  The fact that Crosby was voted into second place when the Pengwhines didn't skip a beat in the 12 games he missed is just sad.

 

How about an emerging superstar helping his team reach the playoffs for the first time since 2007?  How about that same player leading by example in a battle with the Pittsburgh Penguins and pushing them to 6 hard fought games, exposing weaknesses that teams in their later rounds would use against the Penguins with great success.  JT and the Isles should continue to improve and force the hockey world to take notice.  Until then, respect will be limited it seems.

 

 

2013 Lady Bying Trophy voting results:

 

1. Martin St. Louis, T.B.           824             (47-29-21-12-10)             Total votes: 119
2. Patrick Kane, CHI                785             (44-28-20-13-10)             Total votes: 115
3. Matt Moulson, NYI               750             (35-28-27-17-18)             Total votes: 125

 

"Isles Moulson gets most votes, but finishes third in Lady Byng again. Moulson recorded only two minor penalties all season; the last came February 7th at MSG. Ironically he received a misconduct penalty at the end of Game 1 of the playoffs. Kane had four minor penalties, while St. Louis, who is looking to become the first player since Wayne Gretzky (1994) to win the Art Ross and Lady Byng Trophy in the same season, finished with 14 penalty minutes.  It's the 7th time in the last 8 seasons that either St. Louis or Pavel Datsyuk has won the award. Datsyuk finished fourth this year."

 

"It's the second straight season that Moulson was name on the most ballots but finished third in the voting by points. Last year Moulson was named 98 of 147 ballots, to Jordan Eberle's 91 and Brian Campbell's 89 but Campbell won the Award."

 

Matt Moulson can't get respect from his native Canada by being invited to its national team despite averaging over 30 goals in his last 3 seasons with the Isles.  This season was only 48 games due to the lockout, Moulson was still able to net 15 and 29 for 44 pts.  He is rarely in the box and seems to get written onto most of the balloting, but has been ignored twice already.  The respect Moulson gets from his peers is obvious.  Not sure what more he has to accomplish to win the award.

 

 

2013 Selke Trophy Note:

 

"Islanders forward Frans Nielsen finished 11th in the Selke balloting (won by Jonathan Toews)."

 

The skill level possessed by Nielsen is high, but is no match for the level of play he brings to each and every shift.  He is either jumping into the play or defending the Islanders net with nothing left by the time he makes it back to the bench.  Still, Nielsen has mastered the two way game and gets his share of special teams play and is feared in the shootout.  Before this season, his hard work was for a string of losing seasons.  This year, he was a big part of the Isles success and their ability to reach the next level as an organization. He should be at the top of this list for this award.

 

 

2013 Jack Adams Trophy voting results:

 

1. Paul MacLean, OTT         206             (28-19-9)
2. Joel Quenneville, CHI      160            (22-13-11)
3. Bruce Boudreau, ANA      88             (6-15-13)
4. Michel Therrien, MTL        78             (10-6-10)
5. Jack Capuano, NYI           47             (5-5-7)

 

"Islander coach Jack Capuano, who led the team to their first playoff berth since 2007, finished 5th in the balloting."

 

I killed Jack Capuano for much of this season.  I was disgusted at the inconsistency of the team and the fragile nature of their psyche.  Capuano seemed to never deviate from his plan and often seemed unable to answer a change in the oppositions game plan.  But the truth is, he has improved the Isles play as a team and as their late season winning streak has shown, his system has shown improvement by the players within in.  And in the playoffs this year, the Isles had a lot more composure than most of the hockey world game them credit for.  As long as they cycled, finished hits and pressed the opposition, they dictated play and had a lot of success.  I am not saying I have bought into him completely, but he too deserves more respect than he has been shown.

 

 

2013 GM of the Year Award voting results:

 

                                                Pts.          (1st,2nd,3rd)

1.         Ray Shero, PIT             94            (14-6-6)

2.         Bob Murray, ANA         88             (11-9-6)

3.         Marc Bergevin, MTL     75            (7-12-4)

4.         Stan Bowman, CHI       36            (3-6-3)

5.         Bryan Murray, OTT      23            (2-2-7)

6.         Garth Snow, NYI           8             (0-1-5)

 

"Garth Snow was named on six ballots, and finished 6th."

 

Garth Snow's rebuild has come to show some teeth in 2013.  His draft picks, waiver wire pick ups and free agent signings don't seem like the "dumpster diving" he had been accused of.  The truth is he has a real understanding of the game and the way the NHL works and navigates it pretty well.  Of all the GM's that placed above him in voting, his team achieved the most for what they could bring to bear.  As previously stated, no other GM's had budgetary the constraints of lack of facilities that Snow had coming into last season.  Brooklyn will help their cause, but the young team with limited experience put together by Snow should continue to fight their way onto the front page, and force the mainstreamers and haters to look upon them with respectability.  If there was one thing shown to us this season, it's that they will work as hard as anyone else to earn it.

 

 

Per Darren Dreger, "Told Streit deal with Flyers is 4 years, $5.25 mil per.  Streit's agreement will also include a limited no-trade. He would submit a list of teams he would be willing to move to."  The final trigger wont be pulled until the Flyers make the required cap space to accomodate Streit's 35+ contract. (Brierre & Bryzgalov per McKenzie)

Best of luck to Streit when he isn't playing the Islanders, but man, what a bad deal for a Philadelphia.  Thats why he wasn't making JT money playing for us while in a defensive decline on the blue line. They had better hope he stays healthy.

 

 

Isles Notes:

 

 

Per Brett Cyrgalis, "NHL source says Shane Harper will likely not get a qualifying offer from Isles. In deal so Flyers get under 50 contracts."

 

Per @H_P_Hockey, Former Islanders defenseman Dylan Reese signs one-year deal with Amur Khabarovsk (KHL).

 

NHL Notes:

 

Per Chris Daniels, "Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn acknowledges recent discussions with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.  I can also now confirm Lanza and Bartoszek are the two investors interested in bringing Coyotes to Seattle."