Crosby, Stamkos, Giordano early leaders in Hart Trophy discussion

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by devo22

this one might go down as a "hater comment" (and probably deservedly so because it's true that I dislike the guy), but it always pisses me off when Crosby leads those kind of lists. Fantastic player, easily the best of the last 10 years and a "generational talent" (blech), but at the end of the day, we are talking about the Most Valuable Player. They have another world class center who, when Crosby went down injured, stepped up and scored 50 goals and 109 points just three years ago. And even if we are talking about pure offensive output, it's not like he's outscoring Malkin by a mile. Three points at the moment, same with Hornqvist. Maybe I'm just misinterpreting the award, but to me the Hart Trophy has always meant "which team had success because of that player and would go down the drain or lose a significant step if it wasn't for that guy?". To me, the answer to that question isn't "Pittsburgh and Crosby" so far this year.

\end rant. Glad that Gio is getting all the attention he deserves!

I agree. The value of Giordano to us given the depth of talent we have, is probably greater than Crosby to the Pens.

A case can definitely be made that Crosby is the best player in the NHL, but he isn't so much better than his peers that he is beyond reach when it comes to individual awards.

[AcGold]

Crosby might be the best forward but Giordano is our best forward and the best dman in the league. This year will most likely be Gios peak, he is underrated physically. His acceleration from a dead stop is insane. If we make the playoffs he probably gets the Hart.

[Huntingwhale]

Crosby should be a perennial Ted Lindsay award, as its for the most outstanding player. I interpret that as the best player. The Hart is for the most valuable. But it's not actually the case in reality. If it was, a goalie would win it every single year.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

In a similar vein I've thought the Selke has turned from the "defensive forward" award into the "really good offensive forward who is also OK on defence" award. I used to like the checkers who obviously had skill but sacrificed stats to play guys like Gretzky into the ground.

Yeah, that ticks me off. The guys in the league who weren't offensive superstars had one award they were eligible for. And then the NHL decided they need to promote superstars even more, so defensive specialists are left out in the cold.