Shutdown Pair

Tag: awards

  • Congratulations to Ryan Miller and Tyler Myers!

    The title says it all, congratulations to Ryan Miller for winning his first Vezina trophy, along with the NHL Foundation award for his charity work.  Both well-deserved honors, and I’m very happy for him.  I’m also happy that some of the out-of-town media got to hear him give a speech, as he got a lot of praise for being thoughtful and articulate.  It’s cool that we get to hear him all the time.

    Tyler Myers took home some hardware of his own, taking the Calder trophy in a landslide.  He had 94 first place votes, and the next closest was Jimmy Howard with 24.  I’ve been banging the Tyler Myers for Calder drum since he made the team, so it’s pretty satisfying to see him up there towering over everyone with the trophy.  Sweet.

    One thing that’s always interesting is to check the voting numbers for the various awards, which you can see here.  Of note:

    • Miller was 4th for the Hart, with 13 1st place votes.
    • Tyler Myers got 6 5th place votes for the Norris trophy.
    • Jochen Hecht had a 3rd place vote and 4 5th place votes for the Selke.  Grier, Connolly and Gaustad also got votes.
    • Lindy Ruff had 2 2nd place and 7 3rd place votes for the Jack Adams.

    All in all, an impressive showing for our boys, and you can’t help but feel the future is bright for this team.  Here’s hoping for more Calder candidates, and oh yeah, a Stanley Cup in there somewhere would work.

  • NHL Awards Ceremony Pregame

    The NHL gives away it’s major awards tonight in Las Vegas, and I thought I’d toss up some notes in case you are the sort that ignores the off-season until training camp.

    The first name you need to listen for is Ryan Miller.  He is a Vezina finalist, against Brodeur and Bryzgalov.  He has a great look at winning this, especially with the crest of popularity he has from the Olympics here in the US.  Miller is also a top contender for the Messier Leadership award, where he’s up against Sidney Crosby and Shane Doan.

    Miller is also up for the NHL Foundation Award, which, well:

    is awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) player “who applies the core values of (ice) hockey—commitment, perseverance and teamwork—to enrich the lives of people in his community”.

    That’s definitely our man, what with his creation of the Steadfast Foundation and work with other charities.  Mike Green and Dustin Brown are also candidates.

    Perhaps the most interesting award for Sabres fans this year is the Calder trophy, with Tyler Myers up against Matt Duchene of the Avs and Jimmy Howard of the Red Wings.  There are good arguments for all of them, and I’m not honestly sure I could be unbiased about this one.  I think Tyler Myers did more for his team this year, as he basically allowed Buffalo to play the game differently, he came up huge offensively, was huge (heh) in his own zone as well, and soaked up a ton of minutes.  Jimmy Howard could steal this, though, with the ‘goalie is a harder position’ argument.

  • Well-deserved Honors for Miller

    First off, USA Hockey is going to give Ryan Miller their Bob Johnson Award for excellence in international competition.  Here’s the scoop from the Buffalo News:

    Miller was named the top goaltender and most valuable player of February’s Games in Vancouver. He posted a tournament-best .946 save percentage in six games, and his 1.35 goals-against average was the lowest in U.S. Olympic history.

    The award, named after the legendary coach, will be presented during USA Hockey’s annual congress to be held Thursday through June 13 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

    Miller is also a finalist for the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award, up against Sidney Crosby and Shane Doan.  When you throw in his Silver Medal, and Vezina trophy candidacy (should’ve had Hart nom too), Ryan might just need to expand the trophy case.