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NHL Awards, Day 2: Ovechkin Takes Hart, Makes Tavares Sad

On Day 2 of the NHL Awards presentation, Alex Ovechkin won the Hart Trophy. Hey, at least it wasn't Crosby.

By Dan Saraceni
You'll get 'em next time, Johnny
You'll get 'em next time, Johnny
Elsa

The NHL continued its drawn-out yet low-wattage awards presentation Saturday, rolling out the most prestigious trophies to some worthy winners. Unfortunately, our lord and savior John Tavares was not among them.

Read Part 1 of our NHL Awards round-up here.

CALDER TROPHY: Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers. I think Brendan Gallagher should have been given the Calder. Gallagher settled into a role few rookies have, that of pest/agitator/pain-in-the-ass and could build on that to be a really unique weapon for the Habs. Huberdeau's got the goods, but I think Gallagher has something else. Full voting here.

NORRIS TROPHY: P.K. Subban, Montreal Canadiens. News of this one leaked a few days ago, but Subban earned this by being a force both offensively and defensively for Montreal. He beat Minnesota's Ryan Suter by just a few votes. Islander in the Mix, but not really: Lubomir Visnovsky had one fifth place vote, which is kinda sad, actually.

VEZINA TROPHY: Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets. Probably the most fun result based on the "winning one for the little guy" factor. The "little guy" in this instance being the Blue Jackets' team trophy case. But Bobrovsky damn near dragged that crew of pluggers into the playoffs by himself, blew away the Vezina voting and probably deserves a purple heart, too. I hope he doesn't take the trophy with him to Russia by signing with a KHL team. Full voting here.

TED LINDSAY AWARD: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins. Crosby will have to settle for the Most Outstanding Player award this year, which is voted on by the players. Safe to say 56 points in 36 games is pretty outstanding.

HART TROPHY: Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals. The late-season scoring surge that pushed the Caps to a division title no doubt locked up Ovechkin's third Hart trophy. With a Richard Trophy win as well, the effervescent Capitals captain is in seriously rarified air. Now, how about advancing past the second round of the playoffs...

We can and probably will debate the results for a while, but like the old showbiz saw says, "it's an honor just to be nominated." The loss stings, but A. I'm sure this isn't the last time John Tavares will be up for the Hart, and B. his phenomenal season put the Islanders back on the NHL map in a big way. I can live with that. Knowing what we know about Tavares, he probably can't.

Other Islander in the Hart mix: Take it away, Arthur Staple:

Other awards not presented on television:

ART ROSS TROPHY (most points scored): Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning.

MAURICE RICHARD TROPHY (most goals scored): Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals.

WILLIAM JENNINGS TROPHY (goaltenders from team allowing fewest goals): Corey Crawford and Ray Emery, Chicago Blackhawks.