The NHL has reached its All-Star break, which means it’s time for… awards?
Yup, for the first time in 50 years, the Professional Hockey Writers Association — this time with the help of fans — voted on “Half Season” awards. The PHWA announced the winners of 10 awards Friday, and Boston Bruins fans should be happy with the results.
Most of the standard end-of-season NHL awards are here, plus two additions: the Rod Langway Award, for best “defensive defenseman,” and Comeback Player of the Year, which speaks for itself.
Here are the results, via NBC Sports Boston’s Joe Haggerty:
For the first time in 50 years, the @ThePHWA conducted voting for “Half Season” NHL Awards, including a couple of new awards invented specifically for the exercise. Bergeron, McAvoy & Chara all made the finalist cut pic.twitter.com/ZYcqLsB9y4
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) January 26, 2018
So, to recap: Bruins center Patrice Bergeron won the midseason Selke Trophy, rookie defenseman Charlie McAvoy finished third in Calder Trophy voting and 40-year-old D-man Zdeno Chara finished runner-up to Drew Doughty for the inaugural Rod Langway Award.
Now, you certainly could make the case that Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy deserved some love for the Jack Adams Award, and goalie Tukkaa Rask probably should’ve been a Vezina Trophy finalist, given his stellar play of late.
But hey, these are just midseason awards, so some Bruins still could walk away with hardware when it really matters.
