Two More NHL Award's Finalists Annoucned

This week the NHL announced the finalists for two more of its prestigious awards, the Jack Adams Trophy for the best coach in the league, and the Hart Trophy for the league MVP.


Jack Adams Trophy (Best Coach)

Dan Bylsma, Pittsburgh Penguins
Alain Vigneault, Vancouver Canucks
Barry Trotz, Nashville Predators

Ducks2Nucks take: Coaching awards are always hard to call because you can go any way you want with the analysis. Bylsma managed to keep a winning team through an injury plagued season. Vigneault led a powerhouse squad to the President's Trophy for best record in the regular season. Barry Trotz... Barry Trotz has to coach the Predators and that's pretty hard I'd imagine. Evan and I had a hard time picking for this one, but Evan picked Bylsma because of his adaptability, and I'm going with Trotz because the guy doesn't get the recognition he deserves I feel. Vigneault will probably win just because we didn't pick him. Whatever.


Hart Trophy (MVP)

Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Martin St.Loius, Tampa Bay Lightning
Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks

Ducks2Nucks take: This is a close race. All three players had fantastic seasons, but the real question is which player had the most impact to his team's success. St.Loius pumped out really impressive numbers at an age where he should be wrapping up his career, but Tampa also had Stamkos putting up a lot of points and Lecavalier producing another solid season. Sedin scored a lot of goals and was a huge offensive force alone this season, but he also had his brother Henrik and players like Ryan Kesler on the Canucks roster to help lead their season. Corey Perry really stands out to us from these nominees. Perry had a phenomenal season, leading the Ducks in points and goals with 50 goals and 48 assists for a total of 98 points. Perry's play really stood out this season as a stable superstar talent.

The Beauty of Twitter in the NHL, Pt.5

Today's tweet is actually a classic that I had to look back for. All the way back from August 21st, Ducks forward Bobby Ryan tweeted this priceless quote.


Borderline animal abuse. Hilarious.

Playoff Goal of the Year?

In last night's playoff matchup between the Anaheim Ducks and Nashville Predators, Ducks forward Bobby Ryan would make a nice defensive play which would lead to a spectacular goal.

Here's the move:

Ryan dekes around David Legwand twice and absolutely burns Pekka Rinne to score the go-ahead goal.  Unfortunately for the Ducks, they would lose in overtime.

Opening Night of the NHL Playoffs: Goalies Stand Tall

Day one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are in the books.  5 of the 8 series have begun and things are already shaping up to be interesting.  Two goalies, Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury and Vancouver's Roberto Luongo, recorded shutouts for their teams. One game ended in with a thrilling overtime finish, and one lower seed defeated the higher seed.

The Playoff Picture Part II: THE WEST

Will you be seeing your team in the playoffs in just under a month when the NHL concludes its regular season April 10th?

This concludes our two part series looking at the playoff picture.  Part I featured the Eastern Conference and Part II will look at the Western Conference. 

View the Eastern Conference playoff race here.

At a glance, spots 4-11 are likely to switch, but the real battles are going to be between the 7-11 seeds. 

Pens Add Scoring Depth Among Other Trades Today

Just after recently acquiring James Neal and Matt Niskanen, Penguins GM Ray Shero made another move today trading for former Penguin All-Star Alex Kovalev.

Pittsburgh will trade a conditional 7th round pick in exchange for the talented winger.  Kovalev, who is celebrating his 38th birthday today, also had to waive his no-trade clause to re-join the injury ridden Pens.

Habs Acquire Mara

Yesterday, the Montreal Canadiens traded their 5th round pick to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Paul Mara.

Mara hasn't played for the Ducks since January 18th and he became even more expendable since Anaheim traded for Francois Beauchemin.

All in all this trade doesn't mean too much.  You can check all the other trades to go down here.  

First Trade of the Month!

Today the Toronto Maple Leafs and Anaheim Ducks broke the trade season ice with a solid deal for both clubs.

The Maple Leafs received right wing Joffrey Lupul, defensive prospect Jake Gardiner and a conditional 2013 draft pick, while the Ducks ended up with solid vet blueliner Francois Beauchemin.

Additional info on the jump...