Crosby, Ovechkin, St. Louis Nominated For Lindsay

Via: cbssports.com

Thursday morning, the finalists for another NHL award were announced, this time the Ted Lindsay trophy. The Lindsay, formerly the Lester B. Pearson trophy, is given annually to the NHL MVP as voted by the players. Many players consider this award to be the most prestigious, as they are chosen by their peers, but it can also be the hardest award to predict for outsiders. Let's take a look at the three finalists.

Sidney Crosby - Pittsburgh Penguins: Crosby is looking to capture his second Lindsay trophy, after previously winning in 2007. He had a remarkable season this year, finishing third in scoring with 56 points, despite missing a quarter of the season with a broken jaw. There's no doubt however, that with a league leading 1.56 point per game average that he would have dominated the scoring race had he been able to stay healthy. It's no surprise with that type of performance after coming back from concussion problems that he earned the respect and admiration of many players around the league.

Alex Ovechkin - Washington Capitals: Ovechkin likewise had a great bounce back season after finishing with a career low 65 points last season. After a rough start under new head coach Adam Oates and a move to the right wing, many were wondering if Ovechkin's days as a superstar were over. But Ovechkin adjusted and became his old self again, winning his third Rocket Richard trophy with 32 goals, almost as much as last season's total of 38 while playing 30 fewer games due to the lockout. He also finished tied with Crosby for third in the scoring race with 56 points. No doubt his return to form and ability to seemingly score at will impressed many of his peers. Should Ovechkin win, it would be his 4th Lindsay award, tying him for the second most wins all time with Mario Lemieux, one behind Wayne Gretzky.

Martin St. Louis - Tampa Bay Lightning: There were so many things working against St. Louis this season. After five straight seasons of scoring 80 or more points, he finally started to show some regression last year. At 38 years old and playing on one of the worst teams in hockey, expectations for the diminutive winger were lowering. However St. Louis showed that he still had it, leading the league in assists, points, finishing second in points per game and setting a couple record in the process. St. Louis became the oldest winner of the Art Ross trophy as the NHL's leading scorer, and also set the record for longest time between scoring titles at nine years. Considering all the obstacles in his way and the way he persevered to once again outscore everyone in the NHL, it's no surprise that St. Louis was nominated.

Prediction: This one might just be too close to call, as all three had excellent seasons this year. However in my opinion, as nice as the stories crafted by Ovechkin and St. Louis were, there's no doubt that Crosby was by far the best player in the league this year, and I suspect his peers noticed.