Crosby loses out on Hart Trophy, Lindsay Award
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Mark Messier and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins pose with the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award Wednesday at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Crosby won the award.
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LAS VEGAS -- No one wanted to predict who would win the major trophies before the NHL Awards gala, and it turns out there was good reason.
Things got spread around at the NHL awards show Wednesday at the Palms Casino Resort, and not only between the league's poster boys -- Penguins center Sidney Crosby and Washington left winger Alex Ovechkin. This time, Vancouver center Henrik Sedin joined the party.
Sedin won his first Hart Trophy as MVP of the NHL as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and Ovechkin won the Ted Lindsay Award for outstanding player as voted by the league players.
Crosby was not shut out. He won the Mark Messier Leadership Award overseen by the Hall of Famer, was recognized for sharing the Maurice Richard Trophy with Steven Stamkos as the top goal-scorers with 51 each and was named the second-team center behind Sedin on the postseason All-Star teams.
Penguins center Jordan Staal finished third as a first-time finalist for the Selke Trophy, which goes to the best defensive forward.
Sedin broke a stranglehold that saw Ovechkin or Crosby win the Hart and Lindsay (formerly called the Lester B. Pearson Award) the past three years.
"That says a lot," Crosby said of injecting a little diversity into the results. "Alex year after year is right there for individual awards. Henrik had a great season. I think everyone kind of saw that coming with the great seasons he's had year after year.
"I don't think there were any surprises. Those guys had terrific seasons."
Sedin, 31, has been a quiet star for the Canucks before winning the scoring title with 112 points this past season. In the Hart voting, he garnered 894 points, including 46 first-place votes.
Ovechkin -- who tied Crosby for second in scoring with 109 points but played nine fewer games -- was second in the voting with 834 points, including 40 first-place votes. He won the Hart and Pearson awards the past two seasons, beating out Penguins center Evgeni Malkin both times.
Crosby was third with 729 Hart points, 20 first-place votes. He won the Hart and Pearson in 2007
"When I won the second year [of my career], I was fortunate to that point to do really well at award shows, win things," Crosby said. "I think part of me probably didn't appreciate it quite as much. I think now I do. I realize how tough it is. I was just happy to be here.
First Published June 24, 2010 12:00 am
