NHL Awards

[Way out West]

Going to be placing a wager on Danny Heatley for rookie of the year. I looked at Olympic and the odds are (-500). Will look for a better price.

The three candidates are:

Danny Heatley (Atlanta)
Iyla Kovalchuk (Atlanta)
Kristian Huselius (Florida)

Heatley should win this award no problem. If Kovalchuk hadn't of been injured for about a quarter of a year, there might be a race.

Heatley played 82 games with 26 goals and 41 assists for 67 points or .81 ppg. He had 4 game winning goals and 56 PIM with a -19 rating.

Kovalchuk played 65 games with 29 goals and 22 assists for 51 points or .78 ppg. He had 4 game winning goals and 28 PIM with a -19 rating.

Huselius played in 79 games with 23 goals and 22 assists for 45 points or .56 ppg. He had 3 game winning goals and with a -4 rating.

Atlanta is a larger hockey market with more media focus than Florida plus Heatley stats are better. Heatley had more media attention than both players and was mentioned for the Calder Trophy leading candidate once Kovalchuk got injured. Kovalchuk also got injured late in the season and missed the end of the season. If Kovalchuk had been injured at the beginning of the season, and put up the numbers that he did at the end of the season, the race would be closer. The award is for rookie of the year, not rookie for 3/4 of the year. Based on this information, I will be placing a wager on Heatley.

If anyone knows of cheaper price, please post to let me know.
Any feedback or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Myron]

I was reading that they may present a split award with Kovalchuk and Heatley as co-winners. If that's the case then I suppose the odds become 1-10 on Heatley. Ouch.

Some of the trophies seem like sure things - Pecca for the Selke and Roy for the Vezina seem like guarantees to me. Theodore played well at the end of the year but Roy was clearly the best goalie in the league.

MVP will be close between Iginla and Roy. My guess it will go to Iginla as the only non goalie listed.