With the 2013 regular season behind us it’s time to talk about who is worthy of being nominated for the NHL Awards and look ahead to the eight playoff match-ups. Who will win in the East? Which teams have a shot at an upset in the West?
As usual, there a lot of questions at this time of year. So, to help us answer many of them we’re bringing in two guys from opposite sides of the country. Joe Yerdon of NBC’s Pro Hockey Talk will share some views from the greater Tri-State, plus Jonathan Davis of Fox Sports West, TSN and The Hockey News will give a myriad of opinions as well.
This is the first of multiple shows we’ll have up this week.
Get primed for the playoffs, give it a listen…
NOTE: If you’re on an ipad, iphone or smartphone, click here to listen to today’s episode.
Also, be sure to check out some of our other shows from this season:
MayorsManor Live Radio with Tyler Toffoli – life as the Kings #1 prospect
MayorsManor Live Radio with Kelly Hrudey – Will he cry during his speech?
MayorsManor Live Radio with Jake Muzzin – making changes in his game
MayorsManor Live Radio with Jeff Carter – one of the most popular shows this year
MayorsManor Live Radio with Jim Fox – recapping the Kings’ trip to the White House
For the full list of other Kings related guests who have joined us recently – including Drew Doughty, Colin Fraser, Matt Greene, Alec Martinez, Dustin Penner, new LA assistant coach Davis Payne and dozens more – click here.
Thanks for listening!
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Interesting opinions from 2 very different guys – one west coast and one east coast.
As far as the Ducks/Red Wings series, I’m kind of leaning towards Red Wings simply because Ducks’ luck is starting to return to a more “normal” or rather “average” pace instead of being insanely high (I think I read too much JFTC) as it was in the beginning of the season. It’s difficult to say, but many people agree that it’s unlikely (though not entirely impossible) for that type of luck to be sustained over a full 82 game season. I also think that now the Red Wings feel that they have momentum on their side and they’re starting to believe in that ideal that they can beat anybody because, well, they’re the Red Wings.
For the Awards… These are kind of silly, especially the Lady Byng.
But I want to know what it is exactly that makes Ryan Suter SO *special*. His name is always coming up in terms of the Norris Trophy talks, everyone says that he’s so amazing, going up against top lines every night, playing 26+ minutes a night, etc etc. I understand that he’s part of the reason that Minny is in the playoffs, but having only seen him play three times this season, I don’t see how he’s any more special than say, Francois Beachemin who (I hate because he’s a Duck) is doing the same things, playing 24+ minutes of ice time (I think he was in the top 10 in the league of defensemen in total TOI), and arguably helped keep his team in the super high standings (along with help from stellar goal tending from Fasth) all while making key plays, being a plus player (unlike Suter who’s got an outstanding +1 rating, or it was last time I checked but that was like a week ago), AND contributing offensively. Similiarly with Drew Doughty, who it can be argued that if not for him and his ability to radically change his playing style (going from puck mover to stay at home defenseman in a complete shutdown role) in a matter of a few weeks AND mastering that new role, the Kings’ season would’ve been toast. Now I know this because I watch him every night because I’m a die hard Kings fan (betcha couldn’t tell). Without Greener or Mitchie, I think you could probably make the argument that Doughty was as important as say Nick Lidstrom (not comparing the two in terms of talent by any means, just importance and ONLY because two of the Kings’ top defensemen were out on IR). I know he didn’t contribute much offensively early in the season (only assists, no goals), but his role has really been the very definition of “all around defenseman.”
Jack Adams award, I don’t get. If a team makes the playoffs at all, you could argue that any coach is deserving of this award (unless that team plays in the super crappy South East division, because that’s such a weak division and kind of a crapshoot. I suppose I’d make the argument for the North West division which has been super sucky lately). McLean in Ottawa deserves the award for getting his team to 7th place because of injuries, right? Well how come no one has thrown out Sutter’s name? No seriously. At one point the Kings were down literally HALF their defense. They went the whole season without Mitchell, who is one of the best and most underrated defensemen in the league (granted when he’s healthy, which… no comment); no Greener, one of their Alternate captains and a guy who provides a strong identity to the team (but I guess they don’t really define intangibles in the awards, do they?) and of course Martinez was out for a couple weeks, though he hasn’t seen any ice time since, what, March? (poor Marty) so I guess he doesn’t count. Kings finish 5th, with potential to finish as high as 4 (at one point it was even 2, but that was never really realistic) but I suppose since you’re a defending SC champion, you’re expected to do well, health be damned! While the Hawks are an amazing team this season (with an asterisk), I’m not sure how much a coach deserves the award with a healthy team; it’s easy to win when your team is healthy.
My apologies for the long novel comment. I guess I don’t understand the PHWA’s definitions/interpretations of the awards. I don’t expect every player on the Kings team to be up for an award, naturally, but it’s kind of nice to hear their names thrown around every once in a while and especially when players like Kopi and Doughty have been so key to their team’s success. I know I’m biased, I admit it. I’m a die hard Kings fan so I look at things through a black and silver colored glasses (as opposed to rose colored glasses). So again, my apologies and I think I’ll stop now because the rambling has already started to creep in.