08-09 Fantasy Hockey Awards

Hart Trophy:  Alexander Ovechkin
The controversy is over.  Love him or hate him, when it came to fantasy hockey this year nobody was more valuable than Ovie.  He led the league in goals with 19 of those coming on the power play.  He also contributed 54 assists which is pretty high for a guy that took over 500 shots.  Ovechkin was a one man offensive wrecking crew for countless fantasy leagues this season and should be, without question, the number one overall pick going into next season's fantasy drafts.

(Photo By Getty Images)

Vezina Trophy:  Niklas Backstrom
It really depends on the type of league you were in to determine this award, but in most leagues, Minnesota's backstop, Niklas Backstrom was the most valuable goaltender.  The knock against Backstrom coming into the year was that he only played in 40-60 games.  This year he played in 71 games and was stellar all season long.  Bruins goalie Tim Thomas finished as a close second, but lost because of the lack of games played (54).  If he's not in the net, he's not helping your team.

Norris Trophy:  Mike Green
This wasn't tough decision at all.  Nobody stood out more from the blueline than the Capitals Mike Green.  Green lit up the red light 31 times and helped light it 42 times, but he did it in just 68 games.  In February, Green set an NHL record  by scoring a goal in 8 consecutive games, something that has never been done by a defenseman in the NHL.  Just in case you thought he was all about offense, he also finished with a +24.  I would be shocked if he didn't win the real Norris trophy this year as well.

Calder Trophy:  Steve Mason
After what Mason did for the Columbus Blue Jackets this year, could you seriously consider anyone else?  In addition to leading Columbus to their first ever playoff berth, he also led the league in shutouts and the Western Conference in GAA.  When I talk about goldmines sitting on the waiver wire after fantasy drafts, this is what I'm talking about.  Mason was a monster between the pipes this year and he went undrafted in most, if not all, fantasy leagues.

Selke Trophy:  Pavel Datsyuk
This trophy goes to the "forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game".  This best all around player this year was hands down, Pavel Datsyuk.  He finished 4th in the scoring race behind the big three (Malkin, Ovechkin, Crosby) and finished with a higher plus/minus (+34) than all three of them combined (+28).  Datsyuk is the ultimate fantasy weapon making big contributions to most fantasy categories.

Daigle Trophy:  Vincent Lecavalier
The Daigle Trophy, named after former Senators center Alexandre Daigle, goes to the player that had high expectations coming into the season, but flopped when it was all said and done.  Lecavalier was a first round draft pick in a lot of leagues, but those that drafted him thinking they were getting someone that was the same caliber as Ovechkin or Malkin were seriously disappointed.  The former 50 goal scorer, finished with just 29 goals and 38 assists with a minus 9 rating.  To be fair to Vinny, he was playing hurt for most of the year, but that won't console the owners that used a high draft pick on him, watched him play bad, then shut it down during the fantasy hockey playoffs.

Carey Trophy:  Jean-Sebastien Giguere
The Carey Trophy, named after former Capitals goalie Jim Carey, goes to the goalie that had a lot of potential coming into the season, but finished it on the bench.  Giguere started the season as number two on my goalie rankings before the season started, but injuries and the passing of his father, really affected his play all season long and now he sits behind rookie Jonas Hiller on the depth chart.  I'm just going to chalk this up to being a fluke season for Jiggy, but I wouldn't reach too far for him next year, especially if he's still Hiller's back up. 

Forsberg Trophy:  Alexander Semin
This award goes to the player that played great and could have been the best in the league if it hadn't been for a rash of injuries throughout the season.  Despite only playing in 62 games, Semin racked up 34 goals and 45 assists to go along with his +25 rating.  He was this season's best high risk / high reward player.

Who would you pick for your awards?  Who was your most valuable player on your fantasy hockey team this year?  Let me know!

Posted Apr 13 2009, 09:15 AM by Nick Fruscello
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Comments

Buc Fever wrote re: 08-09 Fantasy Hockey Awards
on Mon, Apr 13 2009 8:14 PM

You can't go with anyone other than the massive failure of Giguere as the Carey Trophy winner, just because he was a top 2 or 3 goalie. But...any other year, Carey Price probably could have walked away with the hardware. I single-handedly blame him for taking 3rd place in my one league this season. My team was STACKED, and I thought I would have a rock in goal with Price. Instead, I ended no worse than 9 in every offensive category (7 categories), yet still only made 3rd place because of my goaltending.

I won my other league, despite my mid-season trade of Cam Ward for Giguere, trying to buy low. I guess I bought "as-is", but the emergence of Alex Semin & Phil Kessel, and the return of Elias was enough late round offense for me to pull it out. Lundqvist and Conklin as my other 2 in net didn't hurt either.

Nick Fruscello wrote re: 08-09 Fantasy Hockey Awards
on Tue, Apr 14 2009 9:02 AM

It will be interesting to see how well he does next year or if he's even with Anaheim.  They wouldn't be smart to trade him now with his value so low, but then again when you have two of the best defensemen playing in front of you and you look awful, how high can it get?  Carey Price looked good in the first half, but never returned to form after his injury.  I'm not the biggest Carey Price fan either, but he's still too young to give up on.