Anze Kopitar 15gp 8goals 12 assists - 20pts -2
Took only 1 minor penalty in 15 games
Plays 20mins a game in all situations
3 1st star selections
2 2nd star selections
Defenseman
Niklas Lidstrom
15gp 3g 7a 10pts +7
Plays an amazing 27mins a night
Has only taken 2PIM in 15 games
Blocked 32 shots
2 1st star selections
1 2nd star
Goalie
Carey Price
9-1-3 2.46gaa .918 save percentage
1 shutout
1st star, 2nd star, and 3rd star selection
Lost his 1st game and has not lost in regulation since. Finished the month on a 8 game winning streak after starting 1-1-3.
Rookie
Jordan Eberle
15gp 3g 3a 6pts +4
Plays in all situations as injuries have moved him around the lineup.
Rookie of the month: Jeff Skinner: 8G, 5A, 13 pts in his rookie campaign. He has been one of the (very) few bright spots on an abysmally-performing Hawks team.
Unsung Hero: I would also like to nominate Jeff Skinner as the unsung for the reasons above. He also had the most blocked shots by a forward on a pretty poor Blackhawks team. He's a 65 OV, but he is punching well above his weight already. A real sparkplug, that one.
Other than that, not much to write home about.
__________________ @crazybaconlegs ***Mod edit: You are not now, nor have you ever been, a hamster. Please stop claiming this.***
Truthfully the Predators have almost no business nominating anyone here. We are a game above .500 and while that is a pleasant surprise to where most figured we would be this season its a far cry from elite. Because we've managed to stay in touch with the playoff pack though we are nominating our best in each position for POM honours:
Forward: Johan Franzen: 16 games, 8 goals and 7 assists. Johan has been our top player by about 4-5 points OV and has really responded to carry the club. His linemates are rated far below him and that has definitely cost him some further scoring.
Defenceman: Kim Johnsson: I picked Kim up off the scrap heap and he has been very good for us. Through 16 games he has played a lot of minutes and has 3 goals and 3 assists. For a defensive guy in a defensive scheme thats not too bad. Given that the supporting cast is pretty thin (he is our second highest rated dman at 65OV) his +5 is also a sign of his effecitiveness.
Unsung: Radek Dvorak: Radek is 65OV and has 12 points in 16 games, good for second place on our chart. He was acquired at the last minute to play right wing ahead of such notables as Mike Brown, Eric Godard and BJ Crombeen. After compiling the rosters it became apparent that we needed somebody there! Radek has stepped in and scored as well as played reasonably defensively(+2) to give us a chance most nights.
Goalie: Our best player this year has been Niklas Backstrom. He has started in every game thus far and has a .917 save percentage, 8 wins with two coming by way of shutout. Overall there is little question that Backstrom is the key to us having a hope of post-season play this year.
Dan Cleary - 16 GP, 9 Goals, 11 Assists for 20 Points . +7. Dan has put up 14 of his points at even strength and has 2 Game winners. In the 11 games since joining the Capitals he has a sparkling 1.64 Points per 20mins played and was instrumental in getting Paul Stastny out of his early season funk (1 pt in the first 5 games).
Defenseman:
Joni Pitkanen - 16 GP , 10 Assists for 10 points. +8. Joni plays 23.5 Minutes per game and has 20 shot blocks. He is stabilizing force on the back end and always plays against the oppositions top players.
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