THN.com Blog: NHL awards you didn't hear about
Expect big things from Anze Kopitar in L.A. next season. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
Mike Brophy
2008-06-16 14:54:57
The NHL handed out its hardware last week to some mighty deserving individuals. But not everybody who enjoyed a great season was honored. Here are some who were missed:
Best coaching job by a first-round casualty Award: Barry Trotz, Nashville. Not only did Trotz lose five of his team’s best players in a garage sale, little Steve Sullivan missed the year with a sore back. Still, Trotz guided the Predators to the playoffs in the tough Western Conference.
Best scorer on the Titanic Award: Brad Boyes, St. Louis. Scored 43 goals after managing 43 in his first two seasons combined. The question is, can he do it again?
Green Jacket Award: Radek Bonk, Nashville. Finished minus-31 on a team that prides itself on playing good defense. Bonk had 10 goals in his first 24 games and finished the season with 14 in 79.
You’ll know him next year Award: Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles. Sophomore quietly finished 23rd in NHL scoring with 32 goals and 77 points in 82 games. If the Kings can get some goaltending, this kid will put them on the NHL map.
Time for a change Award: Gilbert Brule, Columbus. Junior scoring star has just 12 goals in 146 NHL games. Maybe another team can coax the talent out of this guy.
Better buy earplugs Award: Dion Phaneuf, Calgary. Now that he’s dating Sean Avery’s former girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert, you can bet he’s going to face some serious razzing from the bench next season.
49 is good Award: Sam Gagner, Edmonton. Oilers’ teenage rookie made an immediate impact with 49 points in 79 games.
49 is bad Award: Mike Comrie, Islanders. His 49 points was the lowest of any team’s leading scorer.
Flip-flop Award: Andrew Raycroft, Toronto. Slipped from 37 wins to just two and is pretty much on his way out the door.
Mike Brophy, the co-author of the book Walking with Legends, is a senior writer for The Hockey News and a regular contributor on THN.com. His blog appears Mondays and his column, Double OT, appears Wednesday.
For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, Subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.
Daniel (Posted 2008-06-18 02:27:38)
Jack, come on, hyperbole is fun but 5 losses? Boudreau did an unbelievebale job with Washington this season, but if Ovechkin wasn't there do you think they would have had a chance? Each coach does the best they can do with who they have. That Babcock had a better team doesn't mean he's a worse coach than Boudreau, only that he didn't have to do as much to get his team to win. Babcock did, however, get his team to be the best in the NHL, Boudreau barely got his team into the playoffs, so take your pick as to who did a better job. For my money, I'll take Boudreau, but he didn't do so much better of a job than Babcock that you couldn't make an arguemant for him as well.
dominic lavoie (Posted 2008-06-18 02:18:41)
Frolov was a PPG layer who went the whole year playing with a groin injury and never complained. Cammalleri might have been better if he was centered by somebody better than Derek Armstrong and the slumping, still recovering from a blownout knee Michal Handzus...
Jack (Posted 2008-06-17 17:13:23)
Aaron,
Bruce Boudreau didn't deserve the Jack Adams Award???? Are you kidding me???He led a Caps team that only had like, 11 wins, 24 games into the season,to a playoff spot. Plus, he brought Washington within 1 measley goal of going to the second round. All Babcock had to do was tell his team when to get onto the ice. If Babcock was in Washington, he would have a 20 win season. And if Budreau was in Detroit, they'd lose maybe, 5 games a season? Maybe less??
Aaron (Posted 2008-06-17 15:08:56)
Mike Babcock should've won the Jack Adams award. Bruce Boudreau did not deserve it.
Mark Pargas (Posted 2008-06-17 14:11:29)
Anze Kopitar needs Alexander Frolov and Mike Cammalleri to avoid the slumps and mood swings that leave their young teammate exposed and overburdened with the scoring duties.
robert (Posted 2008-06-16 19:30:00)
Anze kopitar is the best player know one knows from the country no one knows, I love this kid he scored a goal in phily and I cheered which is saying some thing because I'm one those flyers fans you know the ones but I don't apologize for that
Flake (Posted 2008-06-16 17:50:41)
Anze Kopitar is for real......
Advertisement
Which team will win the Atlantic Division?
"Our give-a-crap level was like at zero."
- Atlanta head coach John Anderson on Sunday's 4-1 loss to division rival Tampa Bay.
Our Partners
The Hockey News Corporation. All Rights Reserved © 2008 Transcontinental
Standards: XHTML 1.0 STRICT + CSS 2. V 1.5 17.09.2008
