The defining moment in every NHL players career is the moment where they win the Stanley Cup, I think that is safe to say. No one will question your NHL career with a big Stanley Cup ring on your finger. Although, I think there is another award that can arguably be the second most important in a hockey players career and that is the Hart Memorial Trophy.

“The Hart Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team. The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association in all NHL cities at the end of the regular season.

The current Hart Memorial Trophy was presented by the National Hockey League in 1960 after the original Hart Trophy was retired to the Hockey Hall of Fame. The original Hart Trophy was donated to the NHL in 1923 by Dr. David A. Hart, father of Cecil Hart, former manager-coach of the Montreal Canadiens.”

The past winners are nothing but the best players in the league and while the last seven years we have seen the same great players winning it over and over. While some may not agree with winners every year, I think that for the most part you can’t argue that these players deserve it.

PAST RECIPIENTS YEAR PLAYER TEAM 2013 ALEX OVECHKIN WASHINGTON CAPITALS 2012 EVGENI MALKIN PITTSBURGH PENGUINS 2011 COREY PERRY ANAHEIM DUCKS 2010 HENRIK SEDIN VANCOUVER CANUCKS 2009 ALEX OVECHKIN WASHINGTON CAPITALS 2008 ALEX OVECHKIN WASHINGTON CAPITALS 2007 SIDNEY CROSBY PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

This year is no different as two of my MVP candidates are past winners.

Corey Perry

GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GWG S Hits BkS GvA TkA TOI/g Faceoff 2013-2014 REGULAR SEASON 80 43 39 82 +32 65 8 0 9 278 80 28 56 31 19:28 9/16 36.0%

The first name on this list is Corey Perry and while his partner in crime, Ryan Getzlaf, at the pond has been equally good this year, I still have to nominate Corey Perry. He has 43 goals and counting along with nine game winning goals which is seconnd in the league. While scoring goals is sometimes not the best way to measure the MVP of the league, all of the stats generated by Perry really can’t be questioned. The fact that his longest goalless streak is six games and with 82 points in 80 games he is amongst the most consistent players in the league.

Team success is also important to the Hart Trophy nominations, and Corey Perry’s Ducks certainly have that as they have clinched the Pacific Division title, and are the frontrunners in the Western Conference.

Claude Giroux

GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GWG S Hits BkS GvA TkA TOI/g Faceoff 2013-2014 REGULAR SEASON 79 27 54 81 +6 46 7 0 7 209 89 44 33 42 20:29 895/802 52.7%

Anyone remember when the Flyers fans were tearing their hair out and getting ready to set a lot of things on fire? Remember that their coach got axed and there were people saying that Claude Giroux was overrated and not an elite center? Oh yeah, how October does not write the season, but 16 games went by before Giroux found the back of the net and since I live near Philadelphia, I did feel the collective sigh. Despite the slow start, the Flyers are currently in the playoffs and Claude Giroux is a point per game player. Giroux has been key in that turnaround, making a number of huge plays for the Flyers this season. I think that most people do not realize how consistent he has been in delivering points in timely situations and playing in every situation for a team that really struggled under the pressure of expectations early in the season, but has comeback to make a statement this year. The main reason Flyers are in the playoffs is because of his play and that is not an understatement.

Sidney Crosby

GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GWG S Hits BkS GvA TkA TOI/g Faceoff 2013-2014 REGULAR SEASON 79 36 67 103 +16 46 11 0 5 254 45 28 54 41 21:55 977/887 52.4%

Hey, who is the best player in NHL right now? No, it is not Pavel Datsyuk you crazy guys… well, maybe it is Pavel, he is magical. Wait, no, it is definitely not him. It is Sidney Crosby, End of discussion. Who else can win this award? I mean seriously. The only player to break 100 points this year and who led the Penguins to 2nd place in the new Eastern Conference. I doubt I can say anything new about Crosby and he has been expected to be in the Hart discussion every year of his career. While injuries have caused him to miss sweeping this award every year and Ovechkin stole some awards away from him, this year it truly is his to lose. Crosby deserves it and while some can argue for other players, this will not change who will win this award. It is really not even close this year, sadly.

So, hockey is a team sport but we do have exceptional players and this year the most exceptional player this season has been Crosby.

Honourable Mentions:

Other players such as Ryan Getzlaf, Tyler Seguin, and Alex Ovechkin deserve a mention here as well. Alex Ovechkin is the only player to score 50 goals this year and would probably be one of the favorites if his team made the playoffs, and his plus/minus was not amongst the league’s worst. Ryan Getzlaf is second in the league in points with 87 trailing only Sidney Crosby and while his play has been dominant, I still feel like Corey Perry is the better of the two and deserved the top three nomination. Tyler Seguin has been just an amazing story. He has been magic with Jamie Benn this year and led the Stars back to the playoffs for the first time in five years. I know Dallas fans will hammer for him to be mentioned up there and rightfuly so. The thing is that he is a new kid on the block and while the fantastic season is fantastic, it was not exceptional enough to make the top three nominees above those I have choosen.

Who would you pick? Vote in the poll, and leave your comments below.

[poll id=”112″]

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