SN Awards As A Predictor Of NHL Hardware

By now you've no doubt seen that Alex Ovechkin was named Sporting News Hockey Player of the Year (as voted by his peers) and that he and Mike Green were named to the publication's All-Star team.

You might have also seen that the Sporting News named Mike Babcock its Coach of the Year and handed Patrick Kane its Rookie of the Year (again, peer-voted). Does this make it any more or less likely that Bruce Boudreau and Nicklas Backstrom will be shutout when the NHL hands out its version of those awards in June? Let's take a look at some recent history:

• 2007 SN Player of the Year: Sidney Crosby; Hart Trophy Winner: Sidney Crosby
  
• 2007 SN Coach of the Year: Barry Trotz; Jack Adams Winner: Alain Vigneault
  
• 2007 SN Rookie of the Year: Evgeni Malkin; Calder Trophy Winner: Malkin
• 2006 SN Player of the Year: Jaromir Jagr; Hart Trophy Winner: Joe Thornton
  
• 2006 SN Coach of the Year: Lindy Ruff; Jack Adams Winner: Ruff
  
• 2006 SN Rookie of the Year: Alexander Ovechkin; Calder Trophy Winner: Ovechkin
• 2004 SN Player of the Year: Martin St. Louis; Hart Trophy Winner: St. Louis
  
• 2004 SN Coach of the Year: John Tortorella; Jack Adams Winner: Tortorella
  
• 2004 SN Rookie of the Year: Michael Ryder; Calder Trophy Winner: Andrew Raycroft
• 2003 SN Player of the Year: Peter Forsberg; Hart Trophy Winner: Forsberg
  
• 2003 SN Coach of the Year: Jacques Lemaire; Jack Adams Winner: Lemaire
  
• 2003 SN Rookie of the Year: Henrik Zetterberg; Calder Trophy Winner: Barret Jackman
  
• 2002 SN Player of the Year: Jarome Iginla; Hart Trophy Winner: Jose Theodore
  
• 2002 SN Coach of the Year: Brian Sutter; Jack Adams Winner: Bob Francis
  
• 2002 SN Rookie of the Year: Dany Heatley; Calder Trophy Winner: Heatley
  
• 2001 SN Player of the Year: Joe Sakic; Hart Trophy Winner: Sakic
  
• 2001 SN Coach of the Year: Scotty Bowman; Jack Adams Winner: Bill Barber
  
• 2001 SN Rookie of the Year: Evgeni Nabokov; Calder Trophy Winner: Nabokov
  

You get the point - there are some hits and some misses. Overall, the Sporting News was 11-for-18 as a predictor in the sample above, including 3-for-6 on Coach of the Year and 4-for-6 on Rookie of the Year. So odds are that they'll be wrong on either Coach or Rookie (they've only nailed 'em both in two of the six years), opening the door for either Boudreau or Backstrom to join Ovechkin as a big winner in Toronto.