In for two in a row.

I don’t think its his. The hot stick incident will piss off too many old time hockey folks.

BUT

I’d rather him win the Conn Smythe then the Hart.

Three Russians. Don Cherry must be having a stroke.

I don’t think the “hot stick” will be the reason he might not get the Hart Trophy. It might be the fact that the Pens looked dead a month and a half before the playoffs after going to the finals last year. Then Gonchar comes back and a new coach make “Geno” look better.

OV almost beat Malkin with points and was way ahead in goals but for some reason I don’t OV will get it. Datsyuk is just a filler.

…who the writers thought was more valuable to their team this year. How would the Caps have done without Ovie? I don’t want to find out, but I think they still were a playoff team (Backstrom, Green and Semin aren’t chopped liver ya know…)

The Pens, on the other hand, go with Malkin. If he’s not there, I doubt they make the playoffs this year. Then again, they almost didn’t until Blysma got there and righted the ship. Blysma’s system may be the ideal system for Malkin (although I’d love to see him playing in Boudreau’s system…yikes!)

I think this year, Malkin wins it. Sacriledge, I know, but he is more valuable to the Pens than Ovie is to the Caps.

Have they nominated the Adams candidates, yet?

FYI, here are the players who have won the Hart Trophy more than once in NHL history. All but one is in the HOF and the one who isn’t will be: Dominik Hasek.
 
Nels Stewart, Howie Morenz, Eddie Shore, Bill Cowley, Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau, Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Bobby Clarke, Guy Lafleur, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Mario Lemieux, and Hasek.

Nice list.

While there is much talk about numbers, no one is addressing the the most valuable PLAYER aspect. In reading article after article about Ovie you hear the same thing: he is dynamic on the ice and lifts his team with his enthusiasm. This is almost as valuable as scoring, but Ovie does that as well. He was less than five points behind Malkin, and he brings so much more to his team (including money, it’s not just winning that has brought people to the phone booth), and a number of hockey journalists have noted this. Malkin is a great player, but his impression on the media is not one of over-whelming necessity to his team, particularly given the idea that Crosby is the “star” and leader.

Mirtle picks AO by a healthy margin. He’s got his finger on the pulse of the media more than any of us do. I trust his judgment until he is proven wrong.