he wasn't close at all.
I voted Ovechkin but just had to put out there that Price stole the Hart and Lindsay from the forwards, winning 4 major awards in the process featuring a team where Dale Weirse was the 5th higest scoring forward.
Just take a look at the difference between Price and Tokarski's stats lol
Ovechkin was still considered the best in the world that season though!
In regards to ?
That was an anomaly year for forwards. Been won the scoring title with 87 points, but the year before Sid won it with 114 and the year after Kane won it with 106. The winner's numbers have gone up pretty much every year since then and no Art Ross winner has scored less than 100 points.
Price didn't really "steal" anything, it was a down year across the board for most of the leagues forwards.
Have you ever thought why it was a down year for forwards? Because Price stopped them.
I'm joking of course, but he still deserved those awards. Which player in the league was more important to his team than Price that year?
Anyway, I was just giving a nod to my favorite Habs because Ovechkin is wrecking this poll
Great point. Hard to argue thereIt's very difficult to compare players and goalies! I find Price's Hart and Lindsay even more impressive to get than a usual forward because goalies are often forgotten in those awards, unless they perform a miracle.
That said, Ovechkin's 2007-2008 season was just as good, and I need to give him the edge because he was that good.
Glad the consensus is 08 Ovie and 01 Sakic.
No, the consensus is 08 Ovechkin. Nobody cares about 01 Sakic here.
I still remember Sacic from 2001 fondly despite not being an Avs fan.
Sakic in 2001 for me for sure. The other Hart finalists were on the same line in Lemieux and Jagr. Sakic and Jagr were waaaaaaaaay ahead of the pack in scoring in a dead puck era season, and Sakic was unbelievably close to winning the Selke that year, finishing extremely close to Madden and finishing 2nd despite getting more 1st place votes.
Sakic was 3 pts behind Jagr for the AR, 5 goals behind Bure for the Richard (keep in mind Bure was basically parking himself at the other blueline and waiting for a pass at this point) and like you said a few votes way from the Selke.
He nearly did the unprecedented Hart/Pearson/Art Ross/Richard/Selke sweep and throw in a Stanley Cup as a cherry on top. It would be one of the top 5 seasons ever.
It's between Ovechkin in 2008 and Sakic in 2001.
Arguments for Ovechkin
Arguments for Sakic
- 65 goals (11 more than Sakic)
- Ovechkin won the Hart more decisively (approximately a 98% vote share compared to a 94% vote share)
- Far less help offensively - the Capitals had one player >60 points (rookie Backstrom), while the Avalanche had four (Forsberg, Hejduk, Tanguay and Drury)
- Hitting machine
Even factors
- 17 more assists and 6 more points overall
- Sakic was a much better defensive player - his ES GAA was approximately 2.17 and Ovechkin's was 2.82. But Sakic played in front of a much better goalie and blueline. Doing some ballpark calculations, Sakic was still much better defensively accounting for team strength (though not as much as it appears at a first glance).
- Sakic was a regular on a very strong penalty killing unit, Ovechkin received hardly any shorthanded ice time
- Sakic was 2nd for the Selke trophy
I voted Ovechkin. What he did with such a weak supporting case is impressive. I value Sakic's strong two-way play, and I think he's an easy #2 on the list, but his year wasn't quite as strong as Ovechkin's.
- Ovechkin won the Art Ross and Sakic didn't. But I don't find this too persuasive. It's due to competition - Sakic had to compete with peak Jagr, who was helped by Lemieux's comeback.
- The scoring environments are essentially even (2.76 GPG in 2001 compared to 2.78 GPG in 2008)
Ovechkin 2008, than it is between Malkin 2012 and Sakic 2001.
Ovechkin's 2008, then Sakic's 2001, then a variety of contenders.