There is no rumor about this year’s MVP

It’s quite possible that you don’t care about this. But almost two years ago, I offered a worded argument for Sidney Crosby as the 2005-2006 Rookie of the Year. If you remember, his biggest challenger at that time was eventual winner Alex Ovechkin, Washington’s two-years older, negative-adjectiveless 2004 draft pick. I specify because, as I said then, there were plenty of insane rookies that season that gave pause for consideration. “The league has one of the best groups of rookies in years,” I suggested, including “Dion Phaneuf in Calgary, Henrik Lundqvist in New York, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter in Philly.” Here’s the proof.

I still stand by that position, even its purely theoretical basis. But this year there is no argument to make. Alex Ovechkin is the league MVP. Period. Crosby was cruising before busting his ankle in January and missing 20+ games. But when he went down, Ovechkin went up (not easily). He’s stretching the distance between him and the second-leading goal-scorer—Ilya Kovalchuk scored number 50 tonight—to an uncatchable number. He’s thus far provided somewhere in the area of thirty percent of the Capitals’ offense, and is tops in hits. He works even strength, dominates the powerplay, hustles shorthanded, and has scored more game-winning goals than anyone in the NHL. I could give you exact numbers, but that much copying and pasting will put you down. His easily-reviewed statistics make the decision. Check them out.

A quieter conversation being had across the NHL over the past few weeks is about Evgeni Malkin. When the Pittsburgh captain limped off the pond, the Penguins bench collectively shit its pants. (They’ve got those new weightless techno jerseys; it’s no big deal.) Malkin began to own games, violently abusing the second half of the season. He’s only been held pointless in eight games since January 1st. By now the argument for OV is growing obvious. Malkin has only skated half an MVP season. Well, sort of. Much like OV, he too has played well all season. (It’s worth mentioning that OV has played this way since Bruce Boudreau was still coaching in Hershey.) But attention is obligated to find Crosby. Still, the two Russians differ in that Malkin hasn’t carried his team for three years, and until now he hasn’t had to. The Pens were a good team before the season (and didn’t falter in Sid’s absence, and made a huge move to pick up Marian Hossa for the playoff stretch). OV has not avoided such pressure, but he has laughed at it. The Caps have built their team around OV—thirteen-years for $124 mil does that. The only reason Malkin won’t win this year is because Crosby got drafted before he did.

Let me leave you with one thought. A question gaining its popularity in hockey circles is whether a player should be awarded the Hart Trophy if his or her[1] team doesn’t make the post-season. It’s not a new one, but has lay dormant since Mario won it without making the first-round back in the 1980s.

So, what do you think: should a player fall from contention for the MVP award if his team misses the playoffs? Consider this quickly: don’t teams make the playoffs while individuals win awards? Gnaw on that. I’ve got my answer. What’s yours?

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Footnote

[1]: Manon Rheaume, anyone?