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Full of Hart
Joe Thornton wins Hart Trophy
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VANCOUVER -- Joe Thornton was accused of not having any
heart by the Boston Bruins. Tonight, he took home the Hart. While Thornton may have split his time between Boston and San Jose, it didn't stop him from beating out New York's Jaromir Jagr and Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff for the MVP award.
Dealt by the Bruins in December because they weren't happy with his performance -- or leadership as captain Thornton got the last laugh at the NHL Awards. "This is a great honour," said Thornton. "You don't get considered for awards like this if you don't have great teammates. I had great teammates in Boston and San Jose.
"It was tough to get traded at first, but I knew from the minute I walked through the door in San Jose I was welcome there. It was a great change for me and I had a great group. I couldn't have accomplished this without getting the chance to play with top players." Oddly enough, it was Jagr who was selected for the Lester B. Pearson Trophy in voting done by the players. He beat out Washington's Alexander Ovechkin and Thornton.
One of the most anticipated trophies, was the Calder for the NHL's rookie-of-the-year. It was Ovechkin who knocked off Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Calgary defenceman Dion Phaneuf. Not only did Ovechkin contribute 106 points, he also led the Caps by playing a hard-nosed style and he didn't back down. "It was nice to have a great season, but I want to come back next year and I want to help make this team make the playoffs," said Ovechkin, who thanked his family in Russian on stage.
The other winners were:
Detroit defenceman Nik Lidstrom won the Norris Trophy for the fourth time in his career as the NHL's top blueliner. A unrestricted free agent on July 1, he said he'd like to stay in Detroit. "We're going to have discussion with the Wings this weekend. I've been there 15 years and I'd like to stay," said Lidstrom, who beat out Scott Niedermayer of Anaheim and Sergei Zubov of Dallas.
An emotional Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff was named the NHL's coach-of-the-year ahead of Carolina's Peter Laviolette and the Rangers' Tom Renney."We had a lot of players who played for the crest on the front and not the name on the back," said Ruff.
Carolina's Rod Brind'Amour completed a great week after winning the Stanley Cup Monday by taking home the Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive player. Brind'Amour edged out Ottawa's Mike Fisher and Dallas winger Jere Lehtinen in voting.
Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk captured the Lady Byng Trophy as the NHL's most gentlemanly player. He had 87 points and just 22 penalty minutes.
Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff picked up the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie ahead of New York's Henrik Lundqvist and New Jersey's Martin Brodeur.
Anaheim's Teemu Selanne won the Masterton Trophy for dedication to hockey.
