Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
From season to season, Nick Suzuki continues to refine his game and become more and more complete.
Nick Suzuki in a class of his own
In this poll, conducted among people who will be voting next spring for the league’s individual awards, Suzuki received the highest number of votes for the honor awarded by the National Hockey League to the forward who demonstrates the greatest defensive ability.
He finished ahead of Anthony Cirelli and Anze Kopitar.
According to Greg Wyshynski, who collected the votes and wrote the piece, the Canadiens’ No. 14 received 30 percent of the first-place votes.
What stands out with the Habs captain is that the team allows an average of 2.05 goals per 60 minutes when he is on the ice.
In Wyshynski’s article, his effectiveness in puck retrieval and intercepting opposing passes is highlighted, along with his ability to block shots.
The voters are unanimous: he is almost the only true candidate to deserve this honor.
“Nick Suzuki. That’s the list,” one voter declared.
“Big fan of his two-way game this season. Shows growth and likely earned him that Olympic nod,” another voter surmised.
“He has taken a step forward and has probably earned his Olympic selection,” suggested another voter.
– Via ESPN
Patrice Bergeron would be proud to read that.
There is still a lot of hockey left to be played in the regular season, but if he can maintain this pace and improve his faceoff percentage (49.3 percent), he will certainly succeed Aleksander Barkov, who has won the trophy in each of the past two seasons.
A finalist and a snub from the Habs according to ESPN
Beyond Nick Suzuki, two members of the Montreal Canadiens organization are often mentioned among trophy finalists.
They are Ivan Demidov and Martin St-Louis.
Many had already penciled in the CH’s Russian forward as the Calder Trophy winner at the start of the season.
That was, of course, before witnessing the excellent start to the season by New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer.
Schaefer is currently the favorite in ESPN’s poll, just ahead of Ivan Demidov and Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt.
According to one voter, the Canadiens’ No. 93 is doing well and improving day by day, but he is not Schaefer, who plays heavy minutes for his team.
“I know Habs people are going to scream about Demidov, but let’s get real here,” one voter concluded.
“Demidov has improved and is in the nomination conversation, but he’s not playing tough matchups, and his overall value is not close to that of Schaefer who plays much tougher minutes,” another voter explained.
“Demidov is gaining ground,” one voter pointed out.
– Via ESPN
Confirmed: Martin St-Louis is ignored in the poll and it’s ridiculous
As for Martin St-Louis, his omission from the coach of the year discussion is, in my opinion, the biggest injustice of this poll.
When you consider that the Canadiens are having success while dealing with a significant number of injuries, you have to wonder what the voters are thinking.
Especially since St-Louis is not even among the seven names mentioned by the sports website, which has Jon Cooper as the winner, followed by Jared Bednar and Joel Quenneville.
Honorable mentions also go to Glen Gulutzan (Dallas Stars), Dan Muse (Pittsburgh Penguins), Rick Tocchet (Philadelphia Flyers), and Ryan Warsofsky (San Jose Sharks). However, absolutely nothing for Martin St-Louis.
Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics
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