Like most years, this season’s Ted Lindsay Award finalists have a familiar ring to them.
The three players nominated for the Hart Trophy -- given annually to the league MVP -- are up for this year’s Lindsay, given to the most outstanding player as voted by the NHLPA: Sidney Crosby, Claude Giroux and Ryan Getzlaf.
Previously known as the Lester B. Pearson, the Lindsay -- re-named in 2010 -- is currently held by Crosby, who captured the trophy in ’13 despite missing significant time with a broken jaw while losing the Hart to Alex Ovechkin. It was Crosby’s second Pearson/Lindsay win; neither Giroux nor Getzlaf have ever captured the award.
As for the finalists’ accolades, here’s the original Hart Trophy release from NHL.com:
Crosby posted 36 goals as well as a League-leading 68 assists and 104 points to capture his second career Art Ross Trophy and lead the Penguins to their second consecutive division title. He registered points in 60 of the 80 games he played in (75.0%), including 30 multi-point performances, and never went more than two consecutive games without registering a point.
Getzlaf scored a career-high 31 goals and ranked second in the League with 87 points to power the Ducks to the top record in the Western Conference for the first time in franchise history. He posted a 14-game point streak Nov. 15-Dec. 15 (6-11—17), the longest in the NHL since the 2011-12 season.
Giroux matched a career high with 28 goals and finished third in the NHL scoring race with 86 points to help the Flyers bounce back from a 3-9-0 start to the season to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth time in the past seven years. After being held pointless in his first five games and not scoring a goal until his 16th contest, Giroux totaled 28-51—79 in his final 67 outings of the season, an average of 1.18 points per game.
It’ll be interesting to see if the NHLPA decision mirrors that of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, who voted on the Hart. Crosby is widely expected to take home MVP honors, but the Hart and Lindsay don’t always synch up. In 2011, Daniel Sedin won the Lindsay while Corey Perry took home the Hart; in 2010, Ovechkin took home the Lindsay while Henrik Sedin won the Hart.
The last dual winner was Evgeni Malkin, who captured both tropies in 2012.
