Well here we are. The 2013 NHL regular season concluded a month ago. The dastardly Kings are creeping towards the Stanley Cup Finals again. Sergei Bobrovsky is in the running for the NHL14 cover. Things are happening. But more important than all of that is the conclusion of The Union Blue Awards for 2013. The series concludes with the most important trophy of all, The Hart Memorial Trophy. It is given out to the player judged most valuable to his team. I’m sure you all know the winner, but we had five different players receive at least one vote. With that being said, the winner of the 2013 tUB Hart Memorial Trophy is….
WINNER: Sergei Bobrovsky
AlisonL (1): “Bob showed up and showed Columbus the tangibles and intangibles of having a good goalie. Not only did Bob standing on his head night after night keep the team in games that our quiet offense couldn’t otherwise stay in, but he gave the team trust in their goaltending. This trust – finally evident on the ice – freed up the team to play true to position and to develop some confidence that we could win games no matter what.”
Canadan (1): “This selection is about as obvious as it gets. The lifeline of Columbus’ success this year, Bob single handedly thwarted opposition game after game, giving the Blue Jackets an opportunity to succeed in low scoring, low opportunity games.
What I think is important about the Hart trophy is the impact the player has on the team both when he is in and when he is out of the lineup. You can quickly turn this into the ‘most talented player’ award which I feel like the NHL did in their selections, but when push comes to shove, without Bobrovsky, I believe this team would have been dwelling in the basement rather than matching playoff teams in points.”
Derdrache (1): “The Hart Trophy is awarded annually to the “player judged most valuable to his team”. In a year that saw such so much change in composition of the Blue Jackets, I find this to be one of the hardest trophies to pick a winner for but I will give the nod to Sergei Bobrovsky. There was an air of confidence about the way this team carried itself by the end of the season and I think much of that can be attributed to the sense that with Bob in net, our skaters knew that other teams would really have to earn their goals and that our own offensive anemia wasn’t a death blow. Winning a game with 2 goals was no longer an impossible feat and 3 goals was practically a guaranteed 2 points. You need to count on your team to play consistently well to win games but the one thing that every great team has is a goaltender that from time to time can steal you a win where you maybe don’t deserve one. Bob did just that.”
The Coach (1): “Really, was there any other option? Bob put the team on his back and carried them to within millimeters of the playoffs. He was exceptional. And not Steve Mason rookie year exceptional (where GAA and shutouts were exceptional but SV% was just “above average”), but the kind of game stealing, season altering exceptional where there were nights the Jackets were just not going to lose. Not many players around the league had that kind of impact on a franchise.”
Runner Up: Vinny Prospal
Canadan (2): “It’s hard to put a true value on the attitude Vinny brings to the Columbus dressing room. A passionate veteran who refuses to lose and loves to contribute, I really don’t know that a better player could have been brought in to impact this team. While his performance has slowly tapered, especially later in the season, I believe without his passion, this team would not be as determined on the ice. A true impact player.”
CBJProspects (2): “Vinny led the team in scoring and was the team’s leader even without a letter on his jersey for most nights plus as always never forget “the point!””
AlisonL (3): “We’ve touted Vinny so much now I feel like a broken record, but value may be the best measure of what he brought to the team this year. guy played all 48 games, led in points, tied for assists and in every way challenged this team to be better.”
The Coach (2): “The difference between first and second could not be overstated. Vinny led the team in points, led the team in pointing, and just in general led the team. He’s been such a big part of the turnaround here, that I really hope that handshake deal is kept and he finds a long term role within the organization.”
Honorable Mention: Artem Anisimov
AlisonL (2): “Some of my tUB colleagues may disagree with me, but when you talk about value, Arty played a key role when the team started to change from their losing ways to winning through three shoot out goals. (That were beautiful I might add). Instantly, #42 became the guy that if you trotted him out on ice, he was a scoring threat and he became considered a lock for shoot out attempts. Couple that with perhaps some of the best quotes said to press ever – including “Russian Tough” and “tonight I will dominate him” helped turn the tide in the locker room and in the stands. Now stay healthy all season, please Arty!”
Honorable Mention: Jack Johnson
The Coach (3): “This is where the difference between the Hart and the Lindsay comes into play. Is Jack Johnson outstanding? Of course not. But there is something to be said for a guy who can play half the game, in all situations and generally battle the opponents best players to a draw on the scoresheet. I know the advanced stat crowd hates him, but JJ has improved in Columbus. He still gets killed in Corsi and shot differential, but I can forgive that when a guy plays that much, against high caliber opponents, for that many minutes, and starts that much in the defensive zone. Of the 136 defensemen with +30gp and +15es minutes per game, Johnson finished 120th in offensive zone starts and 16th in offensive zone finishes. All of that has value, whether it shows on the scoresheet or not.”
Honorable Mention: Mark Letestu
CBJProspects (3): “The teams unexpected leading goal scorer after being a scratch in the teams first few games Mark took on a role he probably hadn’t had since being one of the leading scorers for the Baby Pens in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.”
So there you have it CBJ fans. The 2013 tUB Awards have concluded. Some surprising wins, some surprising nominations, but really there were a handful of locks who went to the rightful winner. Sergei Bobrovsky cleaned up, as he well should have. To recap, the winners were:
Calder (top rookie): Dalton Prout
Lady Byng (most gentlemanly): Cam Atkinson
Norris (top defenseman): Fedor Tyutin
Vezina (top goaltender): Sergei Bobrovsky
Masterton (perseverance): Vinny Prospal
Clancy (leadership on/off ice, humanitarian): Brandon Dubinsky
Executive of the Year: John Davidson
Lindsay (most outstanding player): Sergei Bobrovsky
Jack Adams (coach): Todd Richards
Messier (leadership): Vinny Prospal
Hart (most valuable): Sergei Bobrovsky
A nice list of winners, and outside of Vinny Prospal they are all pretty young. Speaking of youngsters winning awards, stay tuned to tUB as CBJProspects hands out the CBJ Prospect Awards over the next few weeks.
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