Thursday, April 29, 2010

Contest Update! and a bit of a rant...

Alright! So we have updated to the second standings after the first round in the Great Waxaholic Playoff Hockey Contest II.

1. DogFacedGremlin 75/120
2. CynicalBuddha 72/120
2. Jeremy 72/120
4. Play at the Plate 70/120
5. Sal 67/120
6. madding 65/120
7. Roy 57/120
8. Dan 55/120
8. Dr. Steven Ibbotson 55/120
8. shanediaz 55/120
8. roofgod 55/120
12. 1st and Goal 52/120
13. Dayf 50/120
14. Night Owl 49/120
14. GCRL 49/120
14. Justin G. 49/120
14. DFWBuck2 49/120
18. BA Benny 42/120
19. Wax Wombat 40/120

*results are unofficial (because I did this REALLY late at night)

Please DO NOT forget to make your guesses for Round 2 (scroll down a post) Also, I have no way to contact a couple of you as you are not following this blog, nor have you sent me an email... please do one or the other. Or both.

Now......
I was going to go off on the NHL schedule makers for their horrible kob at scheduling the playoff games, particularly Round 2. Why do the teams that went a full 7 games start the second round, while the teams that haven't played for a week continue to get rest???
But we all know that the executives at the American Television studios make the schedule, not the NHL, so I'll let it go for now.

What I really want to chat about is the Hart Trophy. The Hart Trophy, for those of you who don't know, is the award given to the Most Valuble Player.
The finalists were announced today, and amazingly enough, the NHL screwed the pooch on this one too.
The finalists are as follows.
Henrik Sedin - Vancouver Canucks
Alexander Ovechkin - Washington Capitals
Sidney Crosby - Pittsburgh Penguins

Really? REALLY? Do they not actually watch the games? Were these names pulled out of a hat? Okay, first, Henrik Sedin, a very good choice. Top scorer in the league, vital to Vancouver's success. Bravo. But here's where we delve away from reality.
Sidney Crosby? Mr I Live for games that mean nothing so I can pad my stats Crosby? He's no more worthy of this award than I am. Pittsburgh is still the fourth seed in the playoffs without him. Next.
Alexander Ovechkin. Huh? Did you not see how Washington did without him during his suspensions? The Capitals still win the Presidents Trophy without him. They are that good. (In the regular season, anyways...heh...)

I can see people putting Ovechkin in because of the leadership he provides. After he was named Captain, the Caps just took off. But seriously.... he's not worthy of the Most Valuble Player.

This is a problem I have had in baseball as well. Too often the MVP award is given to the BPL. (Best Player in the League) See: Albert Pujols. Was he the Most Valuble Player? No. Not even close. The Cards are a very good team, with or without him. But he is the best player. So let's give him an award.

The Hart Trophy Finalists SHOULD be:

Henrik Sedin - Vancouver Canucks
Ryan Miller - Buffalo Sabres (Buffalo doesn't even sniff the playoffs without him, let alone win the 3 seed.)
Ilya Bryzgalov - Phoenix Coyotes (Phoenix may have made the playoffs without him, but not with any other goalie they have on their roster right now, so..... see above)

Most Valuble Player in simple terms means the player that's the most valuble to his team. Is that too hard to understand?

Apparently, the NHL thinks so......

7 comments:

Roy said...

Well said. I would be very happy to see Ryan Miller win. Buffalo is not a playoff team without him.

Roy said...

Also...

Sharks defeat Red Wings, Six Games
Blackhawks defeat Canucks, Six Games

Flyers defeat Stupid Bruins, Four Games
Penguins defeat Canadiens, Sadly, in Six Games

(...Joe) said...

I'm not going to pretend I know anything about hockey, but I've been thinking about this (for baseball) for a while now. There should be 2 awards.
1- MVP, given to the (obviously) most valuable player but only for teams making the playoffs.

2- Player of the Year award, given to (obviously) the years best player. Playoffs or not.

Motherscratcher said...

I know nothing about Hockey but I'll agree with your take on Sid because...well...Pittsburgh sucks.

On the other hand, dude, Pujols. Nobody else was even close. Penalizing someone because they play on a good team makes no sense.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, without Ryan Miller (with props to Tyler Myers as well), Buffalo is nothing. I reeeeeeally hope they do something in the off season to give Ryan some help.

Motherscratcher said...

What the hell is that (comment above)? I didn't know you were so big in the orient.

Justin G. said...

No love for Stamkos? How bad are the Lightning without his 51 goals? Typical shunning of the sunbelt :)

I know it's passe to like Crosby, but what else does he have to do? Save babies in he 3rd world - oh wait that's Teabow's job.

But yeah Ryan Miller needed some love.