It was the NHL Awards last night and a couple Tampa Bay Lightning who were up for awards left empty-handed. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished second in a close Vezina Trophy race, losing to Marc-Andre Fleury by only a few first place votes. Victor Hedman was a somewhat distant third place winner in Norris voting, as Adam Fox won the award and Cale Makar finished second.
Vasilevskiy did earn First All-Star Team honors, and Hedman was on the Second All-Star Team.
Presenting the 2020-21 @NHL Second All-Star Team, with career All-Star Team selections in parentheses:
Marc-Andre Fleury (1)
Victor Hedman (5)
Dougie Hamilton (1)
Auston Matthews (1)
Mikko Rantanen (1)
Jonathan Huberdeau (1)#NHLAwards #NHLStats: https://t.co/ZGRminqH61 pic.twitter.com/PJeqQ1r6iG— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 30, 2021
Here are the major award winners from the night:
- Hart (MVP): Connor McDavid
- Ted Lindsay (Best Player): Connor McDavid
- Norris (Best Defenseman): Adam Fox
- Vezina (Best Goalie): Marc-Andre Fleury
- Calder (Best Rookie): Kirill Kaprizov/
McDavid was the first player since Wayne Gretzky in 1982 to sweep the Hart by receiving all 100 first place votes. Here is the final ballot for that award, as well as the Norris and Vezina. Tom Gulitti has the lists of other awards posted on his Twitter if you’re interested.
Connor McDavid is just the second unanimous winner of the Hart Trophy, joining Wayne Gretzky in 1981-82.
(Voting by Professional Hockey Writers’ Association) pic.twitter.com/wfrCIxIMC5
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) June 29, 2021
Complete Norris Trophy voting (Professional Hockey Writers’ Association) pic.twitter.com/l6KF1ggPfU
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) June 29, 2021
Close GMs vote for the Vezina Trophy with Fleury edging Vasilevskiy. pic.twitter.com/vkA5tvzZib
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) June 29, 2021
Lightning Links
Alex Killorn is day-to-day after blocking a shot in Game 1.
Jon Cooper said it’s hard to say whether Alex Killorn will be available for Game 2. Puts in “day to day category.” #TBLightning
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) June 29, 2021
The NHL fined Shea Weber $5k for his dirty slash on Nikita Kucherov. I’m sure that’ll show them, no more dirty hits for the rest of the finals, eh folks?
Montreal’s Shea Weber has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for Slashing Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) June 29, 2021
The Buffalo Sabres have extended Don Granato be their proper head coach. He was well-liked, especially by Sam Reinhart who got to play 1C under him in the last half of last season. The Sabres still sucked for that time, but they were more fun, and that’s pretty much all Sabres fans can expect from the team anymore.
Source confirmed, Don Granato is the next Buffalo Sabres head coach. Three year deal.
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) June 29, 2021
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is staying with the Edmonton Oilers for another eight years. He will have an AAV of $5.1 million and a no-move clause, culminating in a very weird contract in my eyes. Excited for the buyout in 2027.
There most likely would have been a higher dollar figure on the open market, but remaining an Oilers was an absolute priority for RNH who can now complete 18 years with the club by the end of this deal.
— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) June 29, 2021
This article on Kevin Cheveldayoff and calling out his time with Chicago was very good, and explained why this scandal, like most, has tendrils that stretch across the league and why it’s necessary to acknowledge and deal with them.
The Winnipeg Jets silence in regards to Kevin Cheveldayoff’s involvement with the Chicago Blackhawks as well as Craig Heisinger’s time working with Graham James speaks volumes about the #NHLJets https://t.co/97e1mpeQ60
— Arctic Ice Hockey (@arcticicehockey) June 29, 2021
This is the new broadcast team for ESPN. He Who Must Not Be Named is finally out of your ears. Rejoice!
Your ESPN hockey fam. Let’s gooooooooo! 🏒🥳 pic.twitter.com/943qbIMIYq
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) June 29, 2021
The ECHL Maine Mariners have moved on from the New York Rangers as their NHL affiliate and have instead signed on with the Boston Bruins.
The team’s expected to announce it tomorrow, but we’ve got the EXCLUSIVE here on the Maine Mariners becoming an affiliate of the Boston Bruins. https://t.co/Ei3WhpXMac
— Portland Press Herald (@PressHerald) June 29, 2021
