Abel to Yzerman

Oh…I know. It’s only November and, traditionally, the NHL doesn’t award its trophies until a few weeks after Gary Bettman’s put away his Christmas elf costume. I’m assuming, of course, that the voting starts then and that winning means absolutely nothing. When I say “winning”, I mean team success. Not making 8 million, avoiding the PK, and avoiding the Cup itself. Up to this year, the Hart has largely been all about personal glory and individual success.

It’s been seven years since a Hart winner’s led his team to what most players claim is important to them, the Stanley Cup.

Ovechkin’s won it a couple times and hasn’t sniffed the Cup. Thornton? Hart…check. Cup? Bitch, please. Rosby won it in ‘07, but not his one-trick year of ‘09. Sedin, Forsberg, Theodore, Pronger…all won it in years that their teams didn’t match the alleged level of the Hart winner.

If the Hart is the MVP, then the MVP should go to a guy who leads his team to success. Unparalleled success.

Through November 19 the Wings are the best team in hockey. Second in overall points, but first in winning percentage and you know the consensus from the smart kids would be that the Wings are hockey’s best. In fact, have been since last year’s break. And they’ve been led by the best team’s most valuable player.

You want a campaign to get behind? Forget Gary’s gimmick-laden barnyard reach around fest in Car’lina. Here’s one that matters and one that (allegedly) rewards excellence, not ass kissing.

Think about it. Shouldn’t the best player on league’s best team, who’s also the best leader in the league be the league’s most valuable player? If he and the Wings continue this pace, I think the answer is obvious. No longer will we let Nick be overlooked simply because he’s a defenseman on a great team. So let’s start it early. Not just Norris Nick this year: Lidstrom for Hart, 2011.

That’s Chris from NOHS and he’s joining The Brendan Smithsonian Institution as the early grassroots leaders of this worthy cause.

The MSM, actually, has already started it. Two guys with ties to Hockeytown haven’t mentioned the word “Hart”, but they’re both smart enough to know where stuff like this leads…

Nick Cotsonika, Yahoo

“They’ve been tired of writing his name on the ballot for the Norris,” Wings general manager Ken Holland said. “But he continues to set the standard.” No wonder the Wings, labeled as too old for so long, are 11-3-1 and still a leading Stanley Cup contender. Despite the age of Lidstrom, this remains the Age of Lidstrom.



Niyo, DetNews

If you watch him every night, you’ll see he still plays the game in his head better than any player in the league. He still plays with an uncanny patience, making the right play and the right pass with pinpoint accuracy. He still avoids taking hits while avoiding the need to deliver them with his positioning. And he still knocks pucks out of the air the way Mr. Miyagi catches flies.

You’ll be seeing more of that. And, as former Deep Digger Cotsonika points out? When the power play heats up (and it will), the points will be flooding in even more regularly for TPH…and the out of towners will be perking up. The wins will pile up along with the points and the MSM mentions and next thing you know you’ve got yourself a campaign. Nick for Hart.

And the chances of that happening are pathetically low. Gary let a Swede win it last year and still has to deal with the backlash from his daughter Sidney. Oversight like that can’t, and won’t by god, happen again. Rosby will lead his team to a 4th or 5th place conference finish (despite my predictions of a President’s Trophy…no goaltending), a second round loss and a Hart…while Lidstrom skates the Cup again, for the fifth time, takes home the Conn Smythe, announces his retirement, then takes his 7th Norris back to Sweden where he’ll stay until the jersey retirement the following October.

That’s reality and we all know it. It’s the NHL, where excellence is punished, showmanship is rewarded and a midget commissioner lets the follies continue.

But that shouldn’t stop us from shoving this shit right down Gary’s throat every chance we get, and it shouldn’t stop us from reminding the rest of the league’s fans (who visit but won’t admit it…case in point today at Pens Blog, “I usually dont read the chiefs site but…”) that the league’s most valuable player is in Hockeytown, playing for the league’s best team. Hell, today? Your Hart ballot should probably read like this anyway:

(a) Lidstrom

(b) Datsyuk

(c) Zetterberg

Use a wet one to clean up the vomit, Gary. I know that one hurt.

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