Thursday, June 22, 2006

And the winners were…….

The NHL handed out its year end awards on Thursday night, in a gala presentation from Vancouver. With tuxedos and black ties, limos and camera flashes the NHL season came to a glamorous conclusion.

From crowd lined red carpets to rock stars performing, the 2006 NHL Awards were broadcast from coast to coast to coast. Ron McLean who was decked out in a suit that had to come from the Don Cherry collection, served as our genial host, the broadcast was one part polished awards presentation and one part hokey small town Little theatre project.

Some things worked, while others didn’t. McLean’s jokes sometimes seemed to miss their target, though to my credit I did get the Jose Theodore reference. But I’m not sure that a lot of the folks in the hall did. He had better luck with other material, though his interrogation of the young Calgary Flames fan seemed to go on just a wee bit too long.

They rewarded excellence and celebrated the roots of hockey all in one broadcast. Besides handing out numerous trophies and provided hockey’s royalty as presenters, the night also awarded Nelson, BC the title of home for CBC’s always popular Hockey Day in Canada location on January 13, 2007. A popular choice considering the broadcast was coming out of Vancouver!

The work was done in the hour provided, both Tom Cochrane and 54-40 got to rock the house and the hardware was delivered in a timely fashion. The festivities bring to a conclusion a very successful 2005-06 NHL Season.

For the record, the winners of the 2006 NHL Awards were:


HART TROPHY—Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks
(MOST VALUABLE PLAYER)

ART ROSS TROPHY—Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks
(LEADING SCORER)

MAURICE RICHARD TROPHY—Jonathon Cheechoo, San Jose Sharks
(MOST GOALS)

LESTER B. PEARSON TROPHY—Jaromir Jagr, New York Rangers
(MVP VOTED BY NHLPA)

CALDER TROPHY—Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
(ROOKIE OF THE YEAR)

NORRIS TROPHY—Niklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
(DEFENCEMAN OF THE YEAR)

SELKE TROPHY—Rod Brind’Amour, Carolina Hurricanes
(TOP DEFENSIVE FORWARD PLAYER)

LADY BYNG TROPHY—Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
(MOST GENTLEMANLY PLAYER)

VEZINA TROPHY—MiIkka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames
(BEST GOALTENDER)

WILLIAM JENNINGS TROPHY-Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames
(FEWEST GOALS SCORED AGAINST)

MASTERTON TROPHY—Teemu Selanne, Anaheim Ducks
(DEDICATION TO HOCKEY)

KING CLANCY TROPHY—Olaf Kolzig, Washington Capitals
(HUMANITARIAN AWARD)

ADAMS TROPHY—Lindy Ruff, Buffalo Sabres
(COACH OF THE YEAR)

CONN SMYTHE TROPHY--Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes
(MOST VALUABLE PLAYER IN THE PLAYOFFS)

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