Adjudging who gets an invitation to Las Vegas and who doesn’t is hardly fair. The NHL has known for months who would win each of the awards that were presented tonight. Yet only the top three were announced as finalists and invited to enjoy the ceremony in person (and, you know, the rest of Las Vegas). Why not the top four? Top five, maybe?
The league would really have needed to stretch it out to get Ryan Getzlaf in the building tonight. He finished 15th in the final Hart Trophy (MVP) voting by collecting one third-place vote and two fourths. Alexander Ovechkin won the award, gaining 115 of a possible 133 first-place votes. Evgeni Malkin was second and Pavel Datsyuk was third.
Niedermayer led all Ducks defensemen with 59 points (14 goals, 45 assists), which tied Lidstrom for third in the league. Only Green (74 points) and Markov (63) had more.
The only current Ducks player (besides Bobby Ryan) roaming the building today? Chris Pronger.