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 Thursday, April 12, 2001
Time to hand out the hardware
By John Davidson
Special to ABC Sports Online
It's time to hand out the season's awards.
Hart Trophy (MVP)
Joe Sakic, Colorado
|  | | Joe Sakic is second in the NHL with 112 points. |
He is not a streaky scorer, but he may be the most consistent big scorer in the league. Not too often do you see Joe string a number of two and three-goal games and then be quiet for a couple of weeks. He gets a lot of his goals early in the game to help set up his teammates, similar to what he did against Edmonton Monday night. There might not be a guy in the league with more first goals.
Sakic's also a playmaker. He is at the top of the league in assists. He plays with young players on his line. They're great players, but unlike Jaromir Jagr, he doesn't have a Mario Lemieux with him.
Vezina Trophy (Top goaltender)
Martin Brodeur, New Jersey
He just continues to show his consistency. For the fifth straight year, he has won at least 37 games (and reached 40 for the third time Tuesday night). No matter how the Devils play, and it is a very good team, Brodeur is always there. Dominik Hasek had a slow start to his season, but he has picked it up.
This was a close race with Patrick Roy. They are both are terrific goaltenders. Sure, Colorado and New Jersey are great teams, but without terrific goaltending, the Avs and Devils wouldn't be so great. I flipped a coin and came up with Brodeur.
Norris Trophy (Top defenseman)
Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit
No more Susan Lucci syndrome. Lidstrom has been the runner-up the past three years. Of all the great defensemen in the league, he has had the most consistently strong season.
Calder Trophy (Top rookie)
Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose
He has played fairly well throughout the season. He hasn't won many games lately, but the Sharks have not given him too much offensive help. This is a very interesting race with Tampa Bay's Brad Richards.
Nabokov's goals-against average is microscopic (2.18), and he has 31 wins and a .915 save percentage. As a rookie coming from a different country, he has been San Jose's MVP.
Lady Byng Trophy (Gentlemanly play)
Adam Oates, Washington
Oates is a terrific playmaker. No matter who plays on his line, he continues to set them up properly. He's a terrific face-off man. He's extremely cooperative with his time. He's an asset to the game, which is what the Lady Byng should be about -- a gentlemanly player. He's an asset to the NHL.
Jack Adams Trophy (Top coach)
Scotty Bowman, Detroit
This was a tough one as well because of how well some teams did. But the team that needed to really get it done was Detroit. Bowman has won the award twice before, but the Red Wings coaching staff -- this award isn't just for the head coach -- has done a great job. They are second in the NHL and have had a terrific second half to the season. There have been a lot of question marks surrounding the Wings -- their age, goaltending, etc., but Detroit has had a terrific season. Scotty did a good job this year.
It's a tough one because Colorado's Bob Hartley also deserves the award, as does Ottawa's Jacques Martin.
There was also a terrific job done by the Minnesota Wild (Jacques Lemaire) and Columbus Blue Jackets (Dave King) staffs as well. It was just remarkable what they did with those teams.
Selke Trophy (Top defensive forward)
John Madden, New Jersey
He knows how to play on the defensive side of the puck, and has been able to add 22 goals, which is pretty good for a defensive forward.
Had Radek Bonk not gotten injured, I would have considered him as well.
This weekend's games on ABC
It's the final week of the regular season. ABC has three games this weekend that will help determine the seeds (3 p.m. ET).
Pittsburgh at Philadelphia
|  | | A healthy John LeClair is vital to the Flyers making an extended run in the playoffs. |
The Flyers are battling for home ice for their first-round matchup with Buffalo -- a battle they would like to win. Just as important, they are working in their healthy players who are all back, except for Keith Primeau. Daymond Langkow is playing, John LeClair is trying to find his game and Simon Gagne is playing with a bad shoulder. They are giving it their best shot for home ice and getting their games back.
Hopefully, Mario Lemieux will return for the Penguins on Saturday after sitting out Monday's game to rest his back.
Colorado at Detroit
It could be an exhibition game in September and these teams would play hard. The interesting thing to watch is Sakic's scoring race with Jagr. That means a lot to both of them.
Dallas at San Jose
The Western race is really something to watch. Dallas is on top of its game. San Jose has had dreadful starts to its games. The Sharks have Teemu Selanne scoring now (five goals in his last three games), which is key. But they have to play a more disciplined game. They have taken as many bad penalties as anybody in the league. They have to play on the edge, but they have to play on the right side of the edge.
Dallas has an 11-game unbeaten streak. Pay attention. They know how to crest at the proper time.
John Davidson is ABC's studio analyst and will contribute regularly to ABC Sports Online throughout the season.
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 Joe Sakic fires the shot past Byron Dafoe nine seconds into the first period.
avi: 1444 k
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Joe Sakic breaks free and puts the backhand past Brent Johnson.
avi: 823 k
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Joe Sakic shows his puck-handling skills before setting up Ray Bourque for the one-timer.
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Martin Brodeur denies Dave Scatchard of a goal on a penalty shot.
avi: 606 k
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John Madden steals the puck and fires it past Roberto Luongo for a goal.
avi: 424 k
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San Jose's goalie Evgeni Nabokov stops Trevor Linden on a breakaway in the first period.
avi: 856 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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