I do too. I think it's impressive to see a 20 year old Rookie defensemen in 12th for points for defenders, and playing the minutes he plays without much of a problem.

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This is why. You have Tyler Myers, who had no time to hone his pro-level game before stepping in and dominating like he has, versus Jimmy Howard, who has had 4? years in Grand Rapids to work on his pro-level game with call-ups here and there for the Red Wings.

A true rookie in third for points as a defenseman straight out of junior vs a goaltender with three or four call-ups and four years in the AHL...advantage, defenseman. Advantage, Myers.

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mechaphil

I think it comes down to Myers and Duchene in the end voting.

Both came straight from Juniors and Duchene is leading the rookies in scoring when everyone thought Tavares would run away with the Calder.

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in the end, its not even comparable between goaltending and defense. nabokov and belfour both won calders at 25 as well. but when you have a goaltender come in, and not just play well, but have numbers comparable to guys who are being talked about for veznias and hart trophies? i mean, come on.

least we forget howard is blowing out the first 3 seasons of millers NHL career out of the water. stats wise. and we have a pretty damn good goalie.

in the end, goaltending is more important to a teams success then everything else, really. and to have howard literally save the red wings from bottoming out in the west? im sorry, i have to give the nod to howard. not to say myers hasnt done anything spectacular, its just so much more difficult for a goaltender to step in, and become a star like that.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multim ... nt.10.html

apparently, im not the only one who thinks so.

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Well, then we have to agree to disagree.

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mechaphil

You also have to remember the team Detroit has, yes they started out slow and had to deal with a rash of injuries to way too many key players this year, but with them healthy they are very hard to beat.

But they are still a very good team and block alot of shots and keep plenty of shots to the outside.

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youd be right, last year. not this year. thats a team where when adreas lilja came back from injury, it was heralded as the second coming. lilja. the guy that even the panthers didnt want.

and lidstrom has REALLY slown down. i think he may retire at seasons end.

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http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=753405

Great conversation going on over at hfboards.com about Miller and Bryzgalov. Kind of sways me over to Miller for both Vezina and Hart.

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mechaphil

There's still 2 weeks to go, so things can go either way.
Personally, I would have AO for Hart and Myers for Calder at this point. Vezina depends on which conspiracy theory I like better! Either Miller, Olympic MVP, or Bryz, MVP of the bankrupt/NHL-owned Yotes - whichever the NHL thinks is better press.

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This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.
--Emerson

Why do you think Ovechkin deserves the Hart, though? He hasn't been neeearly as valuable to his team as Miller and Bryz have been to theirs. Ovechkin should definitely win the Pearson, but there's no way (based on the definition of the award) that Ovechkin deserves the Hart.

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mechaphil

Yea, Pearson is League MVP, and Hart is most valuable to their team.

Most people think the Hart is the league MVP which it's not.

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pearson is voted by players.

the person most deserving of league of mvp, should probably win team MVP as well. the hart hasnt been held to its original standards in years.

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Forgive my cynicism, I don't disagree. I am answereing who do I think WILL win the Hart, not necessarily who SHOULD win it.
AO has all the points, hits, media, NHL's top team, and he's on Vs./NBC on an extremely regular basis (when nor suspended). He's more known than anyone except Syd and the NHL is riding him like a mule.

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This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.
--Emerson

Which is a crock of shit, anyways. And I think your logic is flawed, Mike, since a very very good player single-handedly dragginig his team to a Cup may not be as fantastically talented as some 120-point forward with the hands of God, but he's more important to his team than the forward on a stacked team.

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mechaphil

Oh, right. In that case, yes you're right, he probably will win it.

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mechaphil

I don't think so. It goes to the player who is judged most valuable to his team so that whole NBC/Vs thing means nothing. I also don't believe that he is most valuable to his team. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the Capitals play equally as good when Ovie is out of the lineup? And doesn't the WHOLE team light it up on a regular basis? I think it's fair to say that if Ovechkin left for the rest of the year, then the Caps would probably do just as good.

The trophy will either go to Miller or Bryzgalov. I want Miller to win, but the Coyotes surprising success might have them leaning towards Bryzz.

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I am, you know I am. I am Canadian.
#1 Hockey Nation.

I think, after really pondering about it, that Dave Tippett might have more to do with the Coyotes' success than Bryzgalov, seeing as the Coyotes play a more defensively-responsible game than the Sabres and their turnaround has been seemingly facilitated by Mr. Tippett.

And yea, Jordano, that's what I've been saying about how Ovechkin doesn't deserve it, but Mike is right - the Hart hasn't been awarded properly in years upon years.

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mechaphil

Well maybe we should be in charge of the awards from now on

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I am, you know I am. I am Canadian.
#1 Hockey Nation.

I'd say Crosby even though Miller should get it, it will be Crosby

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just call me Brad

Twitter @BUrbanowicz13

Yeah, that thread has essentially swayed me, too.

Well, the backup comparisons did, really, because that proves that one set of supporting characters is far and away better than the other, but, you know. I am not sure why there's a debate after reading that.

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Miles to go before I sleep

‎"Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation."
-Khalil Gibran