The Lindsay is given out by the NHLPA, and awarded to the most outstanding player as decided by the players. Since we couldn’t do the whole player votes part (what sets it apart from the Hart) we went in a slightly different direction. The tUB Lindsay is going out to the BEST player, irregardless of value to the team. So with that said, the shocking winner of the Lindsay is…..
The following articles were authored by The Coach
I tweaked the award a little here from GM of the Year to Executive of the Year. Essentially, this one came down to ranking the work of three men: current GM Jarmo Kekelainen, President of Hockey Operations John Davidson, and former GM Scott Howson. When I put this one out to the tUB team I was VERY interested to see how it panned out. And boy was I right. Some background on the process: each tUB member sends me their rankings with each nominee ranked from 1 to 3. The votes each get points: 3 points for a 1st place vote, 2 points for a 2nd, 1 point for a 3rd. Pretty straightforward. So for this award, we actually had a tie in points. An executive decision was made to use 1st place votes as the tiebreaker. So without further ado, your Columbus Blue Jackets Executive of the Year is…… Continue reading 2013 tUB Awards: Executive of the Year
Here it is folks, the day you’ve all been waiting for. I bet every single one of you has been waiting on pins and needles to find out who wins the Clancy. It is awarded to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community. Generally, this one goes to players who do extremely awesome philanthropy. As we aren’t exactly privy to that information it took on a little different flavor. And your winner is….. Continue reading 2013 tUB Awards: King Clancy Memorial Trophy
The tUB team was all over the place with the Masterton. We had eight players receiving a vote and only two players receiving multiple votes. This speaks to a few things, chief of which is no obvious Josh Harding-like candidate (the Wild netminder battling MS). But to me, it also shows that this is a team built around guys who are very dedicated to the game of hockey, with a number of players persevering through age, injury, doubt, or just losing. This is a resilient bunch, and there were a number of very worthy candidates who didn’t even get a vote (Jack Johnson, Adrian Aucoin, and Cam Atkinson come to mind). However, we did manage to choose a victor…. Continue reading 2013 tUB Awards: The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
I swear we didn’t plan this. The order for the release of the tUB Award winners was set before we even started, before we had any idea of when the Vezina nominees would be announced. But here we are, as today this happened:
So now the Jackets have a Vezina nominee, and probably even a Vezina frontrunner. As any Blue Jacket fan is probably aware, the Vezina is handed out to the NHL’s top goaltender. I’m sure you are all sitting on pins and needles waiting to find out who the CBJ’s top goalie is. Well wait no more, as the tUB Vezina Trophy goes to……
Continue reading 2013 tUB Awards: The Vezina Trophy
The James Norris Memorial Trophy, given to the best defenseman, is one of the awards that I was really looking forward to. I thought there was a clear winner and a clear top three, but I had assumed it wouldn’t be as clear once the rest of the tUB team weighed in. Fortunately (or unfortunately if you like in-fighting and drama), we had a consensus winner, with only three other players recieving votes. I think this really highlights the strength of the Jackets now, as they have three players who could play on most teams top pairs, a couple solid rookies, and stud prospect Ryan Murray on the way. Should be very exciting moving foward. Without further ado, the winner of the Norris is….. Continue reading 2013 tUB Awards: The James Norris Memorial Trophy
Ah the Lady Byng. Every NHLer’s least favorite award. The official description reads as such: ”Outstanding sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.” In general, this award tends to go to the good player with the least number of penalty minutes. Or, as many think of it, the good player who is also the biggest pansy. I object to that description, as there are a number of Jacket players who fit the bill this year, while also playing very hard shift in, and shift out, taking abuse, going to the corners, and playing a tough game in general. However, what sets those players apart from the Matt Calverts and Brandon Dubinskys is their ability to do so without putting the Jackets shorthanded very often, constantly being good sports, and playing like gentlemen. And the award goes to…… Continue reading 2013 tUB Awards: The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
With the conclusion of the surprisingly positive 2013 Columbus Blue Jackets season, the Union Blue team saw no choice but to honor as many deserving Blue Jackets players as possible. So over the next few weeks we will be slowly unveiling our rankings for every single award given out by the NHL (minus the Art Ross, Rocket Richard, William Jennings, and saldly, the Conn Smythe). Each tUB contributor (AlisonL, Canadan, CBJProspects, DerDrache, and myself), will rank three players per award (with one obvious exception), and provide an explanation for each of our rankings. These ranks will then be combined to determine who the tUB team feels deserves each award. Up first, we have the Calder Memorial Trophy, given to the top rookie performer. The potential Calder winners were: Dalton Prout, Tim Erixon, Cody Goloubef, Nick Drazenovic, Sean Collins, Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, and Nick Holden. Drumroll please………. Continue reading 2013 tUB Awards: The Calder Memorial Trophy
A huge hard fought win for the Blue Jackets finally brings them into sole possession of a playoff birth. A great road game from the Jackets paid off huge, even though it looked like it might slip away from them in the 3rd period. Sergei Bobrovsky was his usual stellar self, only really getting beat on one goal. I’m not going to break down that ridiculous Dave Steckel goal (which even Puck Daddy thought was very strange), other than to say that it could have broken the team. Goals like that are the ultimate deflators. It could have ended the Jackets in this game, which probably would have ended their season. Instead, they didn’t miss a beat, tied it up a few minutes later, and pulled it off in overtime (again). You can’t praise the heart of this team enough. Let’s take a closer look at the goals: Continue reading Goal Breakdowns @ Anaheim 4/17
Another shutout win for Sergei Bobrovsky last night, but one much different than one would have expected based on the season so far. Instead of Bob stealing the show and helping the Blue Jackets grab two points they had no business taking, he made 30 relatively easy saves. The Jackets looked like the much more dangerous team last night, and while Bob still had to make a couple of gem saves (and get bailed out by a shaky no-goal call), the majority of the play was controlled by Bob’s teammates. All four lines were firing, as eleven different Jackets picked up points, including at least one forward on each line. After a such a lackluster effort against Minnesota, it was fantastic to see the fire we all know is there come out in force. Continue reading Goal Breakdowns vs. San Jose 4/9