Takin' Care Of Business

Just some odds and ends that I need to address:

I'm not even going to touch on Sean Avery Dance Fever because I think the blogosphere has pretty much beaten that horse to death, but I do think the NHL made the right move in the manner and timeliness in which they handled the situation.

****************************************

My latest contribution over at Fanball/RotoTimes is part of a piece handing out some awards for the NHL regular season. Some of them are standard stuff while other pertain solely to the world of fantasy hockey. In an interesting turn of events, you can also read the article over at Sports Illustrated's FanNation site. A little more exposure is never a bad thing...

If you care, my votes were:

• MVP - Malkin
• Vezina - Nabokov
• Norris - Phaneuf
• Calder - Price
• Out of Nowhere Star - Ribeiro (almost voted for Green)
• Most Overlooked - Staal
• Fantasy Bust - Marleau
  

****************************************

The Vs. Network is cranking up the ol' hype machine again for the playoffs:
So far their coverage has been pretty excellent and it has been nice to have two games to watch every night since the playoffs started. I only wish circumstances allowed me to watch more than I have been able. Vs. will continue to show two games per night as long as there are games to show as well as keep their Hockey Central studio show rolling along with various guests from the NHL filling in throughout the playoffs. Manny Legace was in studio for the first week of the playoffs and a new player should be starting their week (or so) run on Hockey Central tonight.

Vs. also seems to be quite pleased with the viewing numbers they are getting for their coverage. This is from their latest press release:

Now in its third year televising the NHL, VERSUS has seen a substantial increase in total viewership and ratings for the 2007/08 regular season compared to the 2006/07 campaign. At the conclusion of this year’s regular season, national household ratings were up 50 percent (.3 vs. .2), total viewership showed an increase of 28 percent (272,417 vs. 212,366), household impressions were up 20 percent (192,675 vs. 160,134) and viewership for Men 25-54 was up 45 percent (99,753 vs. 69,018).

It's nice to see NHL viewership growing. Hopefully this along with the NHL's many efforts online will help the sport catch on with fans. Especially younger ones who may not have been exposed to the sport, and playoff hockey in particular.

****************************************

One last thing...

As any of you who have been with me here for a while already know, along with being a hockey fan I am also a big soccer fan and a Liverpool supporter in particular. Today is the 19th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. If you get the chance during your day, take a second and say a prayer for the families of the 96 we lost that day.

07-08 NHL Regular Season Awards And Recap

With the playoffs underway I thought I would take one last look back at the regular season that was, and hand out a few awards along the way. So without further delay...

MVP - Evgeni Malkin (PIT) - Most people out there are all too eager to hand the MVP award to Alex Ovechkin this season, but I'm not buying in to that argument. Malkin is the guy for me. Geno is the total package for the Penguins. He is nearly impossible to knock off the puck, is a juggernaut through the neutral zone, and is very underrated in the defensive end. Malkin is also much more of a playmaker and makes those around him much better, just ask Ryan Malone and Petr Sykora (see below). On top of all of this, Malkin finished just 6 points behind Ovechkin in the scoring race and never went more than 2 games without a point over the entire season. All of that adds up to NHL MVP in my book.
Runner-up - Jarome Iginla (CGY)

Defenseman of the Year - Dion Phaneuf (CGY) - Dion Phaneuf had offensive numbers similar to many of the other top defensemen in the NHL this season. What gives him the edge here is the level of physicality Phaneuf brings to the ice on a nightly basis. Phaneuf is well on his way to being the top blue liner in the NHL for years to come and should start building a nice sized Norris trophy collection real soon.
Runner-up - Sergei Gonchar (PIT)

Goalie of the Year - Evgeni Nabokov (SJ) - Evgeni Nabokov was handed the starting role in San Jose when the Sharks traded Vesa Toskala to Toronto and he did not disappoint. Nabokov started an astounding 77 games and led the league in wins with 46 and tied for third in Goals Against. Those numbers are especially strong when you consider that Nabokov played with little margin for error as the Sharks were so bad offensively for most of the season. To put this in perspective a bit, in only 3 of Nabokov's losses did the Sharks manage to give him more than 2 goals to work with.
Runner-up - Martin Brodeur (NJ)

Rookie of the Year - Carey Price (MON) - There was another strong class of rookies in the NHL this season, but none had more of a positive impact on their team than Carey Price. Price was dropped right into the proverbial fire in Montreal and only had the pressure on his shoulders increase when the Habs traded veteran Cristobal Huet to Washington at the deadline. All Price did to respond was lead the Canadiens to the top of the Eastern Conference. By comparison, highly touted rookies Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews could not even get the Blackhawks into the playoffs.
Runners-up - Peter Mueller (PHX) and Tobias Enstrom (ATL)

Coach of the Year - Joel Quenneville (COL) - Few coaches had as much to deal with this season as Joel Quenneville did for the Avalanche. Expectations were high for the Avalanche after they made a big splash in the free agent market during the offseason. Things went downhill pretty quickly for the Avs thanks to a rash of injuries, but Quenneville kept hope alive in Colorado until they could get healthy. On top of that Quenneville had to handle inconsistent goaltending for much of the season and mixing in some new (yet familiar) faces at the trade deadline. Quenneville overcame all of these challenges and more while leading the Avalanche to the 6th seed in the Western Conference. Quite a performance from the very underrated head coach.
Runner-up - Barry Trotz (NSH)

Line of the Year - Malone/Malkin/Sykora (PIT) - Michel Therrien put this line together full time after Sidney Crosby went down with a high ankle sprain and the results were as impressive as they were instant. The "Syko MaMa" line was a dominant force in the NHL in 2008 as all three players tormented opposing defenses with their combination of skill and power.
Runner-up - Heatley/Spezza/Alfredsson (OTT)

Goal of the Year -


Fight of the Year -