The Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded every year to the player judged most valuable to his team during the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs. The Conn Smythe Trophy has been awarded 42 times to 36 players since the 1964-65 NHL season. And while there’s always been an underlying myth that amazing goaltending in the playoffs make championship winners and MVP honours, Marc-Andre Fleury and Chris Osgood aren’t the clear favorites for their teams.
Fleury, who struggled early in his career, was in danger of giving up the No. 1 job earlier this season to teammate Ty Conklin. The first overall pick in the 2003 draft elevated his play down the stretch with a 12-2 postseason record, a 1.70 goals-against average, a .938 save percentage and a playoff-leading three shutouts. Osgood, who replaced a struggling Dominik Hasek in Game 5 of the first round against the Nashville Predators, has been equally impressive with a 10-2 record, a 1.60 goals-against average and .931 save percentage.
As both netminders have been this spring, it’s hard to ignore the other candidates that are playing on the rest of the ice . For Pittsburgh, Evgeni Malkin has a very good chance to capture the Hart Trophy and playoff MVP honours in the same season. The forward has also shown the tough side of his game.
Captain Sidney Crosby is also a major contender, sharing the league lead the postseason scoring with 21 points in 14 games. While his goal total (4) is rather low, the 20-year-old has proven his worth as a top playmaker. He leads the league in playoff helpers with 17 assists and is averaging a point and a half a game.
The Red Wings’s Henrik Zetterberg is the other player who shares the league lead in postseason scoring, and another solid pick for MVP. The 2008 Selke Trophy is second in goals (11) and game-winning goals (3), and also leads in plus-minus with a plus-15 rating. The Red Wings’ other Selke finalist is Pavel Datsyuk. He has been Detroit’s on the road charm, with 14 of his 19 playoff points (nine goals, five assists) scored while not on home ice. Johan Franzen’s contributions should also be considered. He was arguably the MVP-favourite through the first two rounds, and still leads the postseason in goals and game-winners despite missing five games.
The other dark horse for the Conn Smythe Trophy is Pittsburgh’s Marian Hossa. The Penguins paid a steep price for his at the trade deadline, and the soon-to-be-free agent has certainly not disappointed. With 11 points in his last six playoff games, he could continue his hot streak into the final and potentially take over the postseason scoring lead.
Still, there are four-to-seven games remaining in the Stanley Cup playoffs and the race for MVP should be wide open right to the last minute.
The Pittsburgh Pens will try to nail a spot in the Stanley Cup finals tonight, when they aim for another sweep, this time of the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. The second-seeded Penguins have grabbed a 3-0 edge in the series people are calling the “Battle of Pennsylvania” by clinching a pair of 4-2 victories on home ice in Games 1 and 2 and defeating the Flyers in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Crosby and company will now try to end the series in Philly and reach the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since winning the second of back-to-back championships in 1992.
The Penguins won Tuesday’s Game 3 at the Wachovia Center by a 4-1 count as Marian Hossa scored twice to lift Pittsburgh. The Pens are now 11-1 overall in this postseason and have won 22 of the last 28 games dating back to the regular season. Ryan Whitney and Ryan Malone have been amazing for the Penguins. Sidney Crosby added a pair of assists to share the NHL playoff scoring lead with 19 points, while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 17-of-18 shots to record the win.
R.J. Umberger tallied for the Flyers, who are facing an 0-3 series deficit for the first time since falling to the Detroit Red Wings in a four-game Cup finals sweep in 1997.Martin Biron gave up three goals on 24 shots.
The top-seeded Detroit Red Wings will try to take an important 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals tonight, when they visit the floundering Dallas Stars for Game 3 at American Airlines Center. Detroit has taken a two game lead in this series after posting wins in Games 1 and 2 on home ice. The Red Wings recorded a 4-1 decision in game 1 last Thursday and followed with a 2-1 win on Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.
The Red Wings have won eight straight games since head coach Mike Babcock made the big decision to switch goaltenders and replaced Dominik Hasek with Chris Osgood. Osgood is 8-0 with a 1.40 goals against average and .939 save percentage in this postseason. The matchup one Wednesday should be an intense one, with the altercation between Ribeiro and Osgood in game 2 causing a lot of tension.
Mike Ribeiro, the Stars leading scorer in the regular season and the playoffs, was involved in a controversial confrontation with Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood near the end of the third period of Game 2. After Osgood appeared to hit Ribeiro in the face with the butt-end off his stick, the Stars forward then took a big swing from behind the net to hit the goaltender in the ribs with his stick. Mike Ribeiro was given a 10-minute game misconduct for the slash.
Check out the video of the clearly intentional slash.
The Dallas Stars made it back to the Western Conference finals and it only took the eighth longest game in NHL history to do it. The deciding game lasted 5 hours, 14 minutes — ending the third-longest in Stars history. Brenden Morrow scored a power-play goal 9:03 into the fourth overtime by deflecting a pass from Stephane Robidas as the Stars eliminated the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in a game that ended early Monday morning. It was the longest game in San Jose’s franchise history.
The Stars are going to the conference finals for the first time since 2000, when they returned to the Stanley Cup finals the year after winning the franchise’s only championship. They play Game 1 on Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings, who finished their second-round sweep of Colorado on Thursday night.
And they aren’t just benchwarmers - these guys are the team stars.
Dallas Stars (10 of 23) – Stu Barnes, Philippe Boucher, Trevor Daly, Mark Fistric, Brendan Morrow, Steve Ott, Mike Ribeiro, Brad Richards, Stephane Robidas, Marty Turco.
Detroit Red Wings (8 of 24) – Daniel Cleary, Dallas Drake, Kris Draper, Mark Hartigan, Darren Helm, Darren McCarty, Chris Osgood, Brad Stuart.
Philadelphia Flyers (14 of 24) – Martin Biron, Daniel Briere, Jeff Carter, Braydon Coburn, Riley Cote, Steve Downie, Scott Hartnell, Randy Jones, Mike Knuble, Joffrey Lupul, Ryan Parent, Mike Richards, Jason Smith, Scottie Upshall.
Pittsburgh Penguins (9 of 21) – Sidney Crosby, Pascal Dupuis, Marc-Andre Fleury, Tyler Kennedy, Georges Laraque, Kristopher Letang, Gary Roberts, Jordan Staal, Maxime Talbot.
The Dallas Stars will open the NHL Western Conference final in Detroit against the Red Wings this Thursday.
A power play goal at 9:03 of the fourth overtime period brought the Dallas Stars a well fought 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks in Game 6 of their NHL Western Conference semifinal. The Red Wings, who posted an NHL-best 115 points in the regular season, swept the Colorado Avalanche in four games in the other conference semifinal.
In the Eastern final, the Flyers will meet the Pittsburgh Penguins, which begins on Friday in Pittsburgh. Marian Hossa scored the winning goal at 7:10 of overtime Sunday as the Penguins as they squeaked out a 3-2 win, eliminating the New York Rangers in five games in the semifinal.
Pittsburgh led 2-0 after two periods but the Rangers fought back as Lauri Korpikoski and Nigel Dawes scored 82 seconds apart early in the third, forcing an overtime period.
The New York Rangers announced that forward Sean Avery has suffered a lacerated spleen in Tuesday night’s Stanley Cup playoff game and will be gone for the remainder of the playoffs.
The Rangers said Avery was admitted to St. Vincent’s Medical Center following a CT scan and is expected to make a full recovery. According to the teams spokesman, Avery is in “stable” condition.
This is the last thing Rangers needed, losing the last game 5-3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden. The Penguins have taken a 3-0 series lead with the win.
The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is given annually to the National Hockey League “player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability” It has been awarded 81 times to 50 different players since its inception in 1925.
This years nominees are Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres right wing Jason Pominville and Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Martin St. Louis. If he wins, Datsyuk would become the first player in seventy years to win the Lady Byng Trophy in three consecutive seasons. The last player to do so was New York Rangers forward Frank Boucher - a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame - from 1933 through 1935.
