Award Prediction: Hart Memorial

We here at Frozen Mullet have been debating back and forth between the 4 Senior Writers and 7 Junior Writers about who should win the each award at the 2012 NHL Awards on Wednesday in Las Vegas. After much deliberating, here is the first one (we will be doing these one at a time to avoid too much reading in one post for you all):

Hart Memorial Trophy:
The Hart Memorial Trophy is given annually to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team. This year there are three very worthy nominees. Center Evgeni Malkin led Pittsburgh and the NHL in scoring with a 109 point season, despite playing the majority of his games without the consensus world number one, Sidney Crosby. A little to the North, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist led the young New York Rangers to a first place finish in the NHL;s Eastern Conference. Down in the Sunshine State, Steven Stamkos was enjoying a 60 goal season for the Lighning. Although the Pens and Rangers made the playoffs and the Lightning did not, they would have been nowhere near where they were in terms of standings.

These three were phenomenal all year, and they are all great talents that deserve all of the praise that they get. However, at the end of the day, only one player can claim the trophy. Without further ado, here is our winner...

EVGENI MALKIN