Spector: NHL awards wrap-up

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The player of course is Washington Capitals forward AlexanderOvechkin and the team is the 2008 Stanley Cup champion Detroit RedWings, and both were big winners at this year's NHL Awards.
Ovechkin took home the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuableplayer (voted on by the professional hockey writers) and alsoearned the recognition of his peers by winning the Pearson award.
In addition, he won the Art Ross trophy for leading the league inpoints with 112 and the Richard trophy as the league's topgoal-scorer with 65, the first player in over a decade to eclipsethe 60-goal mark in a season.
Ovechkin was the powerhouse behind the Capitals' second-half rallythis season that clinched the team's first Southeast Division titlein seven years as well as their first playoff berth in five years.
The Red Wings, meanwhile, had an impressive haul of individualawards.
Goaltenders Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood won the Jennings trophyfor having the fewest goals scored against them. Team captainNicklas Lidstrom won his sixth Norris trophy as the league's topdefenseman, forward Pavel Datsyuk won both the Lady Byng and Selketrophies as the league's most gentlemanly player and top defensiveforward, and Red Wings legend Gordie Howe was the recipient of thefirst-ever NHL Lifetime Achievement award.
Datsyuk's Selke win came as a bit of a surprise. Certainly his hisleague-leading plus-minus of plus-41 was deserving of the award butlinemate Henrik Zetterberg was considered the favorite.
Don't expect Zetterberg to be bothered, particularly since he wasrecently awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as the 2008 postseason'smost valuable player.
The strong showing by Ovechkin and Datsyuk, along with thenominations of countrymen Evgeni Malkin and Evgeny Nabokov forother awards provides an inspirational boost for Russia's hockeyprogram, which has struggled since the early 1990s to regain theinternational dominance it enjoyed under the flag of the SovietUnion.
Lidstrom joined legends Bobby Orr and Doug Harvey as the onlydefensemen in NHL history to win the Norris six times
Harvey won it seven times in his career and Orr eight. And givenhow well the 37-year-old Lidstrom has played, surpassing those twogreats is not out of the question. Lidstrom unquestionably rankswith Orr and Harvey as the top defensemen in NHL history. New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur won the Vezina trophyas the NHL's top netminder for the fourth time in his illustriouscareer.
His latest honor, however, might be challenged by fans of San JoseSharks goalie Evgeny Nabokov, who led the league in victories with46 (two more than Brodeur), had a better goals-against average(2.14 to Brodeur's 2.17) and had two more shutouts (six) than theDevils goalie.
Brodeur however faced considerably more shots (2,089) than Nabokov(1,802), made more saves and had a far better save percentage(.920) than Nabokov's .910, which undoubtedly served as thedetermining factor in the voting.
In his acceptance speech, the 36-year-old Brodeur suggested thatthis could be his last time winning the award. With Nabokov at 31and still in his prime and 26-year-old Henrik Lundqvist of the NewYork Rangers just entering his, it's probably a good bet those twowill have more chances to win their first Vezina than Brodeur hasto win his fifth. NHL players are often cited as being inspirations to aspiring younghockey players, like Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jason Blake, whosecourageous battle with a rare form of leukemia this past seasonearned him the Masterton Trophy for perseverance.
Washington Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau's winning the Adamstrophy as the league's 2008 coach of the year should be inspiringto young hockey coaches who dream of making it to the big league.
Boudreau, an NHL player in the late 1970s and early 1980s, spentnearly 16 seasons coaching in the minor leagues until finallyearning his big break with the Washington Capitals early in the2007-08 season.
He took over a floundering young Capitals team that won only six ofits first 21 games and guided them to a remarkable second-halfturnaround (thanks in no small part to Ovechkin), resulting in asurprise playoff berth. The Calder Trophy for rookie of the year was awarded to Chicago'sPatrick Kane, who beat out teammate Jonathan Toews for the honor.
Kane not only led all rookies in points with 72 but also theBlackhawks in team scoring. He and Toews are two reasons why thatteam is showing significant promise as well as attracting backonce-disillusioned Blackhawks fans. NHL players are also arguably the most charitable of professionalathletes in North America, and Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier washonored with the King Clancy Memorial award, which recognizesleadership on and off the ice as well as making significantcontributions to their local community.
It was a well-deserved award for Lecavalier, whose remarkable $3million charitable donation to the All-Children's Hospital in St.Petersburg made possible the opening of a pediatric cancer andblood disorder center named in his honor.