Gone Puck Wild
Fansided

Minnesota Wild: The Wild Only NHL Awards Show

By Danny Lambert

Feb 21, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild players salute the fans after the game against the Chicago Blackhawks during a Stadium Series hockey game at TCF Bank Stadium. The Minnesota Wild beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 21, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild players salute the fans after the game against the Chicago Blackhawks during a Stadium Series hockey game at TCF Bank Stadium. The Minnesota Wild beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Minnesota Wild’s season may have been a disaster by some accounts, but there still was some excellent play by the players of the Wild.  What if the Wild had their own NHL Award show?

Tonight the NHL will honor the best of the league in the soon to be home of the newest league franchise Las Vegas.  While there are no Minnesota Wild players up for an award this year, it doesn’t mean that there were not some standout performances (despite the crazy year!).   Some players standout above their peers on the team and should be recognized for their contributions for what was in the end another playoff appearance by the Wild.

So in order to in order to make sure the Wild have some kind of representation today, here’s a list of the NHL awards if they were only open to the Wild.

Art Ross Trophy (Highest Scorer)

Mikko Koivu – A lot of people might not have noticed that Captain Koivu had a great season.  While people were busy criticizing his perceived bad play, he quietly amassed more points than any other Wild player with 56 points (17 goals and 39 assists).  This scoring output was his best result in the last five seasons, and showed that maybe he’s still got a little bit of pop left in his stick.

Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy (Highest Goal Scorer)

Zach Parise – Zach may have missed 12 games but he still was able to make it to the top of the team with 25 tallied goals on the season.  He did it by scoring an astounding three Hat Tricks on the season and many have said he could have approached the 30 goal mark had he not been injured.

Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman)

Ryan Suter – This was another performance that might have been lost in the noise of last season.  Ryan Suter tallied 51 points (8 goals and 43 assists) for his best point total in 11 NHL seasons and finished 3rd on the team in scoring, 1st in assists.  In addition to his increased scoring output, Suter still played monster minutes and solid defense game-in and game-out.

Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year)

Mike Reilly – While Reilly didn’t even spend half the season up with Minnesota he was the Wild’s highest scoring rookie with only seven points (1 goal and 6 assists).  Reilly did show flashes of good play, but this award is mostly due to lack of rookies.  After all it’s kinda hard to give this award to someone who finished a minus 4.

Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward)

Erik Haula – In a season where he needed to show the league and the team what he could do, Haula came into his own as one of the best forwards on the roster.  The Finnesotan really showed what he could do with his 6 foot 195 lbs frame.   He played a solid two-way game that included physical play with 57 hits, 55 blocked shots, and a team leading plus/minus of +21.

Lady Bing Trophy (Most Gentlemanly Play)

Jared Spurgeon – Funny that a defender would win this trophy, but with only 14 penalty minutes its obvious that Spurgeon was a player that could defend and do it in the right way.  He also showed excellent heart, dedication, and is largely known as one of the nicest players on the Wild roster.

Masterton Trophy (Perseverance, Sportsmanship, and Dedication to Hockey)

Jason Pominville – Pommer had a very hard season overall, but the end of it softened the blow a bit.  Down the stretch there was not a more solid Wild player than Pominville.  His start to the season was horribly unexplainable, but he stuck with it to finally find his game and help the Wild get into the playoffs.

Hart Trophy (MVP)

Mikko Koivu – It’s hard to argue that the leading scorer of the team isn’t the MVP.  In the case of Koivu he did all the small things right as well.  He won the most face-offs on the team with 988 and finished a solid plus 6.  Additionally, he blocked 57 shots and averaged close to 20 minutes of ice time a game.  The Wild’s captain was the consistency on an otherwise inconsistent team.

Next: Fletcher Not Looking to Add More Draft Picks

I know we missed a few, but I figure I spare you the obvious ones like the Adams Award or the Vezina Trophy.  Sure it’s easy to say last season was hard to watch, but in the end these players actually did do some great things to make it a little bit better to watch.  They may not turned in performances that are worthy of the league awards, but it just makes for another motivator next season.

Home/Editorials