Can it be a Tie?

For a while, this post was going to be entitled, "Why Joe Thornton Should Win the Hart".

For a more or less equal amount of time, this post was going to be entitled, "I Feel Like a Traitor For Writing This, But..."

The race for the Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded each year to the NHL's MVP, is wide-open this season. Candidates have to include Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, Calgary's Jarome Iginla, and even Evgeni Nabokov. But once the votes are counted, it should come down to a two-man race between Washington's Alexander Ovechkin and San Jose's own Joe Thornton.

The case for Big Joe is extremely strong, and of course I have a deeply ingrained teal bias. For the first half of the season (at least) watching the Sharks was an exercise in frustration. (This post from January pretty much captures my feeling at the time). They were an immensely talented but inconsistent bunch unable to get any production from the two guys who were supposed to be their leading goal scorers (Jonathan Cheechoo and Patrick Marleau). Yet somehow the team won games. A big part of this was a generally high level of defensive play, led by Nabokov in goal, and this is why Nabby deserves Hart consideration himself. But most of all, Thornton seemed to bring his best every night, and his best is very very good. There were times when he almost literally carried the San Jose offense on his own and led the Sharks to victory.

The Sharks weathered the rough times at the start of the season, somehow managing to stay within shouting distance of the top of the Western Conference despite the struggles of Cheechoo and Marleau and a seeming inability to win at home. Then, starting that night in Philadelphia, things started to go right. A few days later Brian Campbell joined the team and the puzzle seemed to be complete. No team has been able to beat the Sharks in regulation since, and as of this writing (the Blackhawks lead the Wings 5-2, early in the third) the President's Trophy is still a possibility.

The outstanding performances of Nabokov and Thornton provided the shelter that allowed this year's edition of the San Jose Sharks to struggle, err, learn, and grow, finding their game and their heart and their intensity in time to turn what looked like a potentially deeply disappointing team into the best Sharks squad ever. Nabby should get the Vezina (if he doesn't it's a dreadful injustice) so it seems only right to recognize Thornton's contribution to this extraordinary season with the Hart.


Except there's this guy in Washington...

As much as I love Joe, I cannot deny that the Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin also has a very strong claim to the Hart. First, just look at the numbers...63 goals, 110 points as of this writing. Ovechkin is the first player to top 60 goals since Mario Lemieux in the 1995-96 season. For a league that has struggled--and sometimes failed--in recent years to find even a single fifty-goal scorer, this is of immense importance. Never mind his value to the Capitals, which is of course enormous--he has led a back-from-the-dead charge which may or may not take the Caps to the playoffs, but which nevertheless has enchanted the hockey world and even captured the attention of casual fans. Ovechkin, taking obvious delight in everything that has to do with hockey, is of tremendous value to the league.

I reject the notion that Ovechkin should not be considered for the Hart unless the Caps make the playoffs. If we're going to set some sort of standard of team performance for Hart consideration, it ought to be hoisting the Cup, because nothing else matters. A team that makes the playoffs but loses in the first round is not more successful than a team that barely misses the playoffs in any meaningful way...if you're looking for yardsticks to measure the development of a franchise, enormous improvement of the type the Capitals have shown over the course of this season ought to count. If Washington had continued to be an easily beatable team despite Ovechkin's best efforts, that would be one thing. But win or lose the team has been the central actor in a captivating playoff race, and they are scary hot. (Should the Capitals squeak in to the last playoff position, the top seed in the East suddenly doesn't look like such a good deal).

I suppose only one guy can win it, and I have to admit I'm rooting for Joe--there's probably some bias at work here, but hey, that's sports. I'm a fan, dangit. Hopefully, though, Ovechkin will get the consideration he deserves, regardless of the success or failure of the Capitals' current mad sprint for the finish line.