Selections for team awards
Thanks to everyone for the input last week on the team awards. It was very interesting and, in a lot of ways, validated some of the thoughts I already had. In some cases, your votes and comments made me re-think some things. I thought it was only fair to share my votes, plus my thought process for each selection. Feel free to disagree!
TOP DEFENSIVE PLAYER:
MICHAL HANDZUS
This was a pretty easy one. Last year, the Kings couldn't do anything with Handzus. He turned into a fourth-line center at times, and even that was a stretch. This season, he completely remade himself, and I think I could make a pretty strong Handzus-for-MVP argument. He can defend against the opponent's top line. He can win faceoffs. He volunteered to play wing. He was a great mentor to Wayne Simmonds. He scored points (fifth on the team). But of all those things, the defense probably stood out most this season. It seems as though it's been forever since the Kings had a strong defensive third line, and with Handzus and Simmonds, they're two-thirds of the way there.
Honorable mention: 1) Drew Doughty, because he's on all of these lists. 2) Anze Kopitar. The defensive side came a long way, and the points didn't fall off that much. 2) Alexander Frolov. He almost put it all together, but couldn't quite.
TOP DEFENSEMAN:
DREW DOUGHTY
When the Kings drafted Doughty, that felt pretty good about his ability to make the team this season. When they saw him in training camp, and early in the season, it was clear that their expectations were low. Not only was Doughty, at age 18, an NHL defenseman, he was a guy they could roll out there for more than 20 minutes per night, in all situations, in a No. 1 pairing. That's pretty fantastic stuff. And other than a couple minor dips, Doughty's play has been consistently strong. The only question now is, how high is his ceiling?
Honorable mention: 1) Sean O'Donnell. I'll admit, this isn't based on skill alone. If you want to know why Doughty had such a successful rookie year, both on and off the ice, look to O'Donnell. 2) Kyle Quincey. Detroit knew what it had when it let Quincey go. How good will he be when he's not dealing with back pain almost every night? 3) Matt Greene. Any guy who blocks a puck with his face deserves the word ``honorable'' attached to his name.
TOP NEWCOMER:
JONATHAN QUICK
Should this award go to Drew Doughty? Probably, but I think Quick deserves some recognition for the job he did. He came up from the AHL at age 22, with only two previous NHL starts, with no veteran goalie on the Kings' roster and with the Kings still very much in the playoff hunt. He provided, arguably, the best stretch of goaltending since Felix Potvin's huge end-of-season run a few years back. Be careful though. This time last season, a lot of people were ready to anoint Erik Ersberg as The One. Quick still has some bumps to smooth out. Consistency is an issue. When he's good, he's very good (1.76 GAA, .937 save percentage in 17 wins) but when he's bad, he's pretty bad (3.02 GAA, .888 save percentage in 19 losses).
Honorable mention: 1) Drew Doughty. Pretty obvious. 2) Wayne Simmonds. Don't underestimate what this kid did. He wasn't even supposed to be in the NHL this season, and he ended up playing roughly 14 minutes a game in an important role. How many times did you say, ``Simmonds made an awful play there''? Not very often. 3) Kyle Quincey. See above.
MVP:
DREW DOUGHTY
First, I want to talk about who I didn't pick. Jonathan Quick won the ``popular vote'' here, and a couple people made a good argument, which was that the Kings would have been a playoff team if Quick was on the roster for the entire season. That could very well be true, but where would they have been without Doughty on the roster? I came very close to picking Anze Kopitar, not only because he leads the team in scoring but because he went through a lot this season to make himself a better all-around player. Dustin Brown has taken a lot of heat this season, but he leads the team in shots on goal and hits, and I'd have to check the stats to see how many players lead their teams in both categories. Handzus, for the reasons above, deserves a nod, as does Alexander Frolov, who reached the 30-goal plateau and played an important defensive role for a big part of the season. Ultimately though, it comes back to Doughty. The way I define MVP is to ask, if you took one player off the team, which player's loss would hurt the most? After giving it a lot of thought, ultimately I can't make a better argument for anyone else.
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J.P. Hoornstra writes about NHL and IHL hockey for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. He welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
E-mail J.P. at jp.hoornstra@inlandnewspapers.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews
.com.
Vincent Bonsignore is a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. E-mail Vinny at vincent.bonsignore
@dailynews.com.
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"The way I define MVP is to ask, if you took one player off the team, which player's loss would hurt the most?"
Jon Quick
If you let Ersberg run it, we would not be where we are now. If you took Doughty off the team, would we really have lost that many more games? I'd say probably not. He's great, he's participated, but I think Quick has made the most difference. Look where we were before he was starting games...
I think you got it right here Rich. The only one I voted different on was top newcomer, but Quick wouls have been my second pick. Had we actually made the playoffs, I might have gone with Quick. Had he been a bit more consistent, I might have gone with Quick. I'm not knocking him at all, he was stellar for us. Doughty was a model of consistency and at a very high level of play.
I am not ready to annoint Quick as "the one" by any means. Let him take the reigns all next season and see how he does. If he can carry us into the playoffs, I'll annoint him then.
Doughty, on the other hand, is "the one" as far as defensmen go. He may not win rookie of the year(though he probably should), but as long as he stays healthy, you can pretty much guarantee that he will win a few Norris Trophies...maybe even a Hart. Yes, I believe in him that much.
That's why I think Doughty takes team MVP.
If Labs started all year, how many wins would we have?
If Doughty doesn't play all season, how many less wins would we have?
That's why I chose Quick. There's no arguing Doughty's game. He's awesome, but he has a ways to go still. He's made some glaring errors this season, but he's young.
The team has let Quick down more than Quick has let the team down, which is another factor you should consider.
I do not agree with all of your picks, but your logic is sound in all cases. One note I would like to add is with Simmonds. I tink a better question might be, "Does anyone remember him taking a shift off?". This work ethic can be contagious and his value can not be overstated.
Overall a very good slate of candidates there. Here are my thoughts:
defensive player: Handzus was my first choice as well. Stoll deserved some consideration as well but I think he took a few too many dumb penalties to earn the nod.
defenseman: Doughty was a pretty easy choice, more so than jack johnson was last year. you asked "how high is his ceiling". I think it is pretty darn high. If Johnson is still on the team at the start of training camp I imagine he'll be paired with Doughty. If given a partner who can complement his style and draw some attention he could be absolutely dominant.
newcomer: I like Quick in this spot as well, although I think Quincey deserved some consideration since he didn't play here from day 1. I can't remember how I voted but I suspect that I voted for Quincey because I had Quick as MVP.
MVP: Quick. While your point about his gaa in losses is relevant it is also important to consider that his team was pretty bad in front of him in those losses. I can't think of many games where Quick didn't give the team a chance to win. What was the goals for in his losses? I can't remember many goals where I thought Quick should have had the save.
rich...
all the explanations of yr picks are well-thought out and are reasonable...the handzus one was the most obvious pick...
not going to repeat anything already said...always appreciate yr perspectives and views...
maybe you can have an op.ed column once a week/biweekly/monthly?
i agree with the Handzus pick 100%. in addition to his defensive play he was great on the offensive too. how many times did he help score a PP goal by screening the opposition's goalie? it's too bad players aren't given assists for screened shots since their contribution is sometimes as important as the guys who helped set up the shooter.
and i agree with Simmond's honorable mention, this guy is going to be a great player! not sure if he'll turn into a 1st or 2nd line guy (hope he does), but even if he doesn't he brings every single shift.
i also agree about quick's play. he looks awesome in some flashes and then so-so in others. he really needs to work on his puck-handling skills. how many times would you cringe when you saw him go behind the net for the puck? his technique and athleticism are pretty ridiculous though. it will be inetrested to see how he improves next season. looking like he's going to be a bonafide #1 (hope i don't kinx it).
sorry to get a little off topic, but for all those people that have been complaining about DL and TM on some of the recent threads i think you really need to take a step back and look at how productive this year was. DL is setting this team up for some serious success. remember before the season started we we're supposed to be one of the worst defensive teams in the league... thanks to TM's system (and a little luck with doughty and quincey) the team's 'd' thrived. i could go into thoughts on all the trades but... long story short, i think we're in good hands.
We had the same picks besides MVP. I think Doughty might be the MVP in a couple of years because he's an incredible player but using your own logic if we had Labarbera instead of Quick, where would we be?
Even Ersberg has shown he's not great in long stretches.
That being said it's not like I can be too picky either. Doughty deserves recognition for a great season.
Rich, I have to take exception to one of your comments about Handzus. He didn't remake himself, not at all! He just became the player he used to be before his knee injury, which was one of the best fefensive forwards in the NHL. I was thrilled when the Kings signed him, but of course wondered if they have made a big mistake after seeing him play last season. With a another summer off, he came back and became his old self again.
I'd like to see Quick become a little more consistent. When he's good he's really good, but some of the plays he makes (or doesn't make) just make me want to bang my head against the wall. Anyone see that goal he gave up on Saturday night?
I don't think that was how I necessarily voted but all of your points I agree with. The only one I would argue is that I think Simmonds was the best newcomer and therefore Quick would be my MVP. Simmonds has been the only consistent positive throughout the entire season. Sure he has made mistakes but have any been costly mistakes? I don't think so. Thanks for sharing your opinion.