With the 2010 NHL Awards just days away, I took sometime to review all the finalists as I had paid little attention to the nominations at the time they were announced (the Stanley Cup Playoffs being a slightly more occupying event).
Looking at the nominees for the Selke Trophy, two of the three selections were a bit puzzling to me.
Now, yes, I am a Red Wings fan, so you can go ahead and take the following with a grain of salt, but, Pavel Datsyuk's nomination (and, in my estimation, impending win) was hardly a surprise.
As winner of the last two Selke awards, even a nostalgia vote was certain.
However, as he once again led the league in takeaways (132) and turned in a respectable 70 point season and plus-17 rating, Datsyuk has more than nostalgia to thank for this selection.
However, after Datsyuk, the picks got a bit puzzling.
Ryan Kesler had an outstanding offensive season, recording a career high 75 points and was second only to Pavel Datsyuk in takeaways with 83.
But, were he to win, he'd be the first player to have a plus-1 rating and still considered to be "the best" defensive forward.
Then we come to Jordan Staal, an outstanding forward to be sure and his plus/minus r ...
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Article written by Matt Hutter
NHL Awards: Five Players That Should’ve Been Up for Selke Trophy
June 18th, 2010 by Matt Hutter Leave a reply »
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