Montreal Canadiens On Pace To Dominate NHL Awards
Vezina Trophy – Carey Price
Well, we may as well start with the most obvious one. Carey Price dominated the NHL Awards two years ago. Last season he was off to an incredible start before being injured. This season appears it will end with a long night of acceptance speeches for the Canadiens goaltender again.
Price has a record of 13-3-1 in 17 starts this season. He has an incredible 1.71 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage. It will be tough to keep up this pace for the rest of the season, but based on Price’s recent performance, his stats shouldn’t drop off very far.
In the last three seasons, including last year’s 12 game campaign, he has posted seasons of .927, .933 and .934 SV%. So his SV% may dip this season, but he can keep it at or above .930 better than anyone in the league.
Price’s competition don’t have track record that he does
Though his stats are eye-popping in nature, Price does have some competition. His 1.71 GAA is unbelievable but is actually third in the league. Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins (1.64) and Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild (1.67) are first and second.
Price does lead the league in SV%, but Dubnyk is just behind (.945). Rask has a .938 SV% which puts him in the Vezina Trophy conversation as well. However, of the three, Price’s track record would suggest he can maintain his performance longer term than the other pair, especially Dubnyk.
It’s a tight race right now, but with the defensively conscious Wild and Bruins helping their goaltenders far more often than the Canadiens throw Price a life raft, the voters will keep putting Price at the top of their ballot until someone really steps ahead of him.
No one has done that yet, and I wouldn’t expect anyone to be able to do so in the next few months. The award for best goaltender is named after one of the first Canadiens goaltenders, but their current netminder will have his name all over it in a few years.
Jennings Trophy – Carey Price and Al Montoya
The Jennings Trophy is awarded to the goaltenders of the team that allows the least number of goals. The Canadiens aren’t in the lead right now, but have one outlier of a game that is affecting their standing in the goals against category right now.
In 24 games, the Habs have allowed 52 goals. We all remember the 10-0 drubbing at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets. No teams are allowed to throw out their worst performance like a high school student who can drop their worst exam.
However, the Canadiens 10 goals against in one night stands out like a crushed thumb when compared to the rest of their schedule. In their other 23 games, the Habs have allowed just 42 goals. That’s just 1.83 goals against per game. If you include every game (which the NHL will) they allow 2.26 goals per game.
I just point this out to show the team is much closer to a 1.83 goal-against per game than 2.26. The team with the best goals-against per game is the San Jose Sharks at 2.04. Over an 82 game schedule, the 10-0 game will haunt the Habs less and less in this category, and they should be able to keep pucks out of their net better than any other team.
I’m kidding! NEXT!
Norris Trophy – Shea Weber
Shea Weber was under more scrutiny than any player entering this season. Habs fans who saw P.K. Subban was traded were like rabid dogs and wanted a pound of flesh. They were ready to chew that off Weber, but he has been so good this season, fans are not complaining about Subban being in Nashville anymore.
Weber is fourth in points by defencemen this season with 18 points. His eight goals trails only Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks in goals who has ten. He’s second in power play points to Kevin Shattenkirk.
Weber’s offence is great, but his defence will win him the Norris
His offensive exploits have been fantastic, but his two-way game is what will earn him love from the voters. He is a huge, physical beast who plays in all situations. He has the hardest shot in the league which makes his feared on the power play, but he may be the most physical player in the league as well, which makes him among the hardest defenders to play against.
Plus-minus is an outdated stat, but Weber leads the league among defenders with a plus-18. That’s five ahead of any other defenceman. Again, not the greatest stat, but when you lead the league and are separating yourself that much from everyone else, you have to be doing a lot of things right.
Plus, it’s voted on by the writers, and they will look at that stat and be impressed by Weber’s dominance. The Norris has eluded Weber during his stint with the Nashville Predators, but writer’s will watch him far more this season than they ever have which will also give him a decided edge against the competition.
Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award
Carey Price is going to win so many awards I’m running out of things to say about him. I have to sandwich two of the most prestigious awards together here just because his dominance will ensure he wins them both.
The Hart and Lindsay are both similar awards in that they are both for the most valuable player. The difference is in the wording of the awards and the same people won’t vote on each award. The wording of the hart Trophy is that it is given to the “most valuable player to his team.”
This has led to many debates about whether the best player in the league should get it, or the one player who means the most to his team’s performance. Due to this, it is extremely rare that a team misses the postseason and one of their players still wins the award. Even if the best player in the word is on a non-playoff team he won’t get the award.
This could go in Price’s favour this season. His toughest competition for the award is going to come from Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers are currently third in their division, which is a playoff spot, but they will have a hard time holding off the Los Angeles Kings for that spot.
Price likely to lead team to playoffs that won’t come close without him
Then they will be in a battle for the wildcard spot which the Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets also have their eyes on. If McDavid can lead the sadsack Oilers to the playoffs for this first time in more than a decade while leading the league in points, he will get plenty of attention for the Hart. If the Oilers miss the playoffs, the Hart is Price’s for sure.
Last season, the Canadiens went from the best team in the league before Price’s injury to the worst team in the league with him out. If that doesn’t make him the most valuable player to his team, I don’t know what does.
As for the Lindsay Award, it is voted on by the players. Any player who plays against the Montreal Canadiens will probably get 35 shots on goal and be frustrated time and again by Price’s brilliance. This will get him plenty of votes from his peers for the best player in the league.
The Stanley Cup?
Individual accolades are great, but don’t mean a lot in the big picture. If a team wins several trophies at the NHL Awards, but lose in the first round of the playoffs, it wasn’t a very successful season.
The Canadiens have several key pieces in place. They have the best goaltender in the world. They have one of the best defencemen in the league. They have a great first line center in Alex Galchenyuk. They have depth on the blue line and on the wings.
They aren’t the most complete team from top to bottom in the league right now, but they have one piece no one else has. However, in 17 games this season, Price has lost three. It is going to be difficult for a team to beat him four times in two weeks this spring.
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Obviously, this is the most elusive trophy of them all. Price will win at least one, if not four awards that are handed out in Vegas in June. That would be great, and well deserved. However, I know all Habs fans would trade in a Hart Trophy and a Vezina Trophy for a Conn Smythe Trophy if it meant the Montreal Canadiens name was being written on the Stanley Cup for the 25th time.