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Lester B. Pearson Finalists
by Paul on 05/06/09 at 02:06 PM ET
Comments (5)
TORONTO (May 6, 2009) – The National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) announced today that Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings, Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals have been selected as finalists for the 2008-09 Lester B. Pearson Award. The Lester B. Pearson Award is presented annually to the “most outstanding player” in the NHL as voted by fellow members of the NHLPA.
For the first time in the history of the Lester B. Pearson Award, all three finalists hail from Russia. This year will mark just the third time that a Russian player will accept the honour, following Sergei Fedorov (1993-94) and Ovechkin (2007-08). Ovechkin is looking to win the Pearson Award for the second consecutive season, and is now a three-time finalist for the award (including 2005-06). Malkin is also a finalist for the Pearson Award for the second consecutive season. Datsyuk is a Pearson Award finalist for the first time in his NHL career.
Datsyuk had an outstanding all-around season for the defending Stanley Cup champion, Detroit Red Wings, tying his personal best in points (97) and is a finalist for three other major individual honors in 2008-09: the Hart Memorial Trophy, the Frank J. Selke Trophy, and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. Malkin was instrumental in helping lead the Penguins back to the postseason, while topping all NHL scorers with 113 points this season, and will receive the Art Ross Trophy for this achievement. Ovechkin had another phenomenal season in Washington, finishing second in the league in points (110) and leading the NHL in goals (56) to capture the Maurice Richard Trophy.
Named after the 14th Prime Minister of Canada, the Lester B. Pearson Award has been voted on by the players since the 1970-71 season, when Phil Esposito was the inaugural recipient. Many of the legends of hockey have been recipients of the Lester B. Pearson Award, including Bobby Orr, Guy Lafleur, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman. The Lester B. Pearson Award will be presented during the 2009 NHL Awards in Las Vegas on Thursday, June 18.
The finalists will allocate a total of $20,000 to the grassroots hockey programs of their choice through the NHLPA’s Goals & Dreams fund. The recipient of the Pearson Award will assign $10,000 to his selected program, while the two finalists will each allocate $5,000. Launched in November 1999, the Goals & Dreams fund was created by NHLPA members as a way for the players to give something back to the game they love, and has distributed more than $17-million worldwide to a variety of hockey initiatives.
Pavel Datsyuk, of Ekaterinburg, Russia appeared in 81 games for the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings in 2008-09, posting a career high 32 goals and assisting on 62 more for 97 points to match his personal best point total for a season. Datsyuk proved once again this season that while he is one of the most dangerous offensive talents in the NHL, he is also one of the most effective defensive forwards in the game as evidenced by his plus/minus rating of +34. In addition to his Lester B. Pearson Award nomination, Datsyuk is a finalist for three other major individual honors in 2008-09: the Hart Memorial Trophy, the Frank J. Selke Trophy, and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. Datsyuk is seeking to become the third Detroit Red Wings player to win the Lester B. Pearson Award, joining former teammates Sergei Fedorov (1993-94) and Steve Yzerman (1988-89).
Evgeni Malkin, of Magnitogorsk, Russia appeared in all 82 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second-straight season in 2008-09, leading all NHL players in regular season scoring with 35 goals and 78 assists for a career-high 113 points to earn the Art Ross Trophy. Malkin continued to dominate in all facets of the game this season, and once again helped lead the Penguins into the playoffs. Malkin’s peers also nominated him as a finalist for the Lester B. Pearson Award in 2007-08. The former Calder Trophy recipient is looking to become the fourth Pittsburgh Penguins player to win the Lester B. Pearson Award, following in the footsteps of Mario Lemieux (1985-86, 1987-88, 1992-93, 1995-96), Jaromir Jagr (1998-99, 1999-00, 2005-06) and Sidney Crosby (2006-07).
Alexander Ovechkin, of Moscow, Russia, appeared in 79 games for the Washington Capitals in 2008-09, finishing second in league points (110) and leading the NHL with 56 goals to win his second Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy. This is the third time in Ovechkin’s four NHL seasons that he has scored more than 50 goals and 100 points. The recipient of the 2007-08 Lester B. Pearson Award and a finalist for the Pearson Award in 2005-06, Ovechkin has quickly gained the admiration of his fellow players and is regarded as one of the most exciting athletes in professional sports today. Ovechkin led the Capitals to their second-consecutive Southeast Division title in 2008-09 and another appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Ovechkin would become the sixth player to win the Lester B. Pearson Award in consecutive seasons, should he be honored by his peers again in 2008-09.
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Comments
It must chafe Cherry’s leather ass to read this. I want to see him at the Palms Theater giving out the Hart Trophy to any of those guys (obviously as a Wings fan I’d want Datsyuk to win it but that’s not important right now). I want that moment in pictures and for posterity.
Posted by SYF from a "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" on 05/06/09 at 03:33 PM ET
@SYF
The Don Cherry you’re talking about is a few years removed from the present. Yeah, he still likes and talks about ‘the Canadian game,’ but he’s relaxed on that aspect of his schtik.
Posted by nrbreitkreuz on 05/06/09 at 04:03 PM ET
He’s tried to tone down that part of him only because he’s afraid of the way the public perceives him so he could lose his long-held job. Last night, Cherry was much more upset about Ovechkin faking a high-stick than Kunitz cross-checking Varlamov in the head. He also went off on one of the Sedins (they had to bleep what he said) for what looked like a trip on an icing play. It’s not that he’s completely wrong about this stuff, after all, what Ovechkin and Sedin did were wrong, but he always goes farther when talking about non-North Americans. His prejudice isn’t as obvious as it used to be, but it’s still there.
Posted by Muero from Ohio on 05/06/09 at 04:38 PM ET
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Evgeni Malkin has my vote.
Posted by davomack34 on 05/06/09 at 02:55 PM ET