Daniel and Henrik Dangerfield

I saw this headline linked from another site, "Anson Carter: Where would the Sedins be without me?" and I assumed it was an Onion-style satire, but apparently not.

The article says, "The 2005-06 campaign represents the Sedins’ coming-out party; their pronouncement to the hockey world that there was something special about their skills and their chemistry."

and that, "Carter also saw something that season and even if he couldn’t project what the twins would become — largely because no one could..."

In response, let me just link back to one of the few times I've posted on hockey on this blog, back at the start of 05-06 season when I pointed out that the Sedins were doing fine, they just needed more ice time and time on the power play. And they got more ice time and more time on the power play in 05-06 and their point totals went up right in line with that increase.

I also love how the article notes that a) Carter wanted $3 million/year, b) he was out of the league at the end of the season after he didn't get it, and c) the Sedins went on to bigger and netter things with him gone, but still manages to make it seem like it was possibly the wrong decision not to give Carter the $3 million he wanted.

None of this matters, I guess, it would just be nice if people (in the media in particular) paid more attention to reality. And yes, I've been blogging for many years, so I suppose I must be a slow learner since I haven't learned to just live with this sort of nonsense by now.

Hart Trophy Thoughts

Naturally, as a Canucks fan, I'd be happy to see Henrik win the Hart trophy. He led the league in points, dominated the assist category, carried the team while Daniel was injured for a quarter of the season, was in the league leaders in plus/minus and shooting percentage, and did it all with less ice time than any of the other top 20 scorers.

Still, having said all that, it would be hard to argue with the Hart being given to Crosby (1st in goals, 2nd in points, played with weak linemates much of the year, dominated in the faceoff circle and was great in the shootout) or Ryan Miller either (most dominating goaltending performance since the Dominator himself was between the pipes). I can't see why you would nominate Ovechkin when he didn't lead in any scoring categories despite playing on the (by far) highest scoring team in the league in the league's weakest division, took far more shots on net than the other scoring leaders (meaning many more pucks given away on shots that didn't go in) played way more power play time then most other scoring leaders, didn't spend any time killing penalties and also got suspended twice.

But the main reason I felt motivated to write this post was to mock anyone who gives serious consideration to Ilya Bryzgalov. The best stat we have for goalies is save percentage, and on this measure, Bryzgalov came 7th, a long ways behind Miller and also behind Vokoun, Howard, Nabakov, Lundqvist and Kiprusoff.

Even if you look at other (less important) stats, Bryzgalov was 4th in goals against and 3rd in wins. There's no way you can make any kind of case for Bryzgalov to be the best goalie in the league, let alone the overall most valuable player. The only argument people seem to have for Bryzgalov is that Phoenix was really bad last year and they were better this year. But in my mind, only the truly deranged could build a case for Bryzgalov being the most valuable player in the league this year on the fact that he stunk last year! Besides that, anyone who watched Phoenix play last year and this year knows that while, yes, Bryzgalov played better than he did last year, the real difference in Phoenix was in the coaching and in the commitment to team defense.

I don't get to vote on the Hart trophy, but I vote that anyone who does get to vote and votes for Bryzgalov (or to nominate him) should have their voting privileges revoked.