Blackhawks & Capitals Big Winners at NHL Awards in Las Vegas

The NHL Awards were handed out last night in Las Vegas, coincidentally the same day that Sin City was officially awarded an NHL expansion franchise.

The annual gala was hosted by Actor Will Arnett, and if you had no idea who he was before watching, you would have never guessed he is actually a funny dude. His humour throughout the show seemed very dry and at times got no response from those in attendance. He was visibly reading from cues and at a couple points had trouble reading the cues. Don't take his performance to heart, it is not his gig.

But enough about the host, let's get to the nitty gritty. The players are the showcase of the event and they did not disappoint. Throwing in witty banter and chirping opponents and who can deny the style that was on display. Perhaps the best were Brent Burns (of course), P.K. Subban, and our very own Flames Captain Mark Giordano.

Perhaps the talk of the awards was how the Edmonton Oilers Connor McDavid was snubbed for the Calder Trophy handed out to the Rookie Of The Year. McDavid had an outstanding season scoring 48 points which put him 4th in rookie scoring, just a few back of 3rd place Max Domi (52 points) and 2nd place Jack Eichel (56 points) and in almost half the number of games.

As for the actual awards, the winners were as follows:

Hart Trophy (most valuable player to his team)
Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)

Vezina Trophy (best goalie)
Braden Holtby (Washington Capitals)

Norris Trophy (best defenseman)
Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings)

Calder Trophy (top rookie)
Artemi Panarin (Chicago Blackhawks)

Lady Byng (gentlemanly player)
Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings)

Selke Trophy (best defensive forward)
Anze Kopitar ( Los Angeles Kings)

Jack Adams Award (best coach)
Barry Trotz (Washington Capitals)

Masterton Trophy (perseverance)
Jaromir Jagr (Florida Panthers)

Ted Lindsay Award (most outstanding player, voted by players)
Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)

Mark Messier Leadership Award
Shea Weber (Nashville Predators)

NHL Foundation Award (community)
Mark Giordano (Calgary Flames)

King Clancy Award (leadership)
Henrik Sedin (Vancouver Canucks)

Art Ross Trophy (NHL points leader)
Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)

Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy (NHL goals leader)
Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)

by BizzleJ