Northwest Division Recap

Standings
Vancouver (54-19-9-117)
Calgary (41-29-12-94)
Minnesota (39-35-8-86)
Colorado (30-44-8-68)
Edmonton (25-45-12-62)

Statistical Leaders
Goals- Jerome Iginla, CAL (43)
Assists- Henrik Sedin, VAN (75)
Points- Daniel Sedin, VAN (104)
plus/minus- Kevin Bieksa, VAN (+32)
Save PCT- Roberto Luongo, VAN (.928)

All-Northwest First Team
LW- Daniel Sedin (VAN)
C- Henrik Sedin (VAN)
RW- Jerome Iginla (CAL)
D- Kevin Bieksa (VAN)
D- Christian Ehrhoff (VAN)
G- Roberto Luongo (VAN)

All-Northwest Rookie Team
LW- Taylor Hall (EDM)
C- Mikael Backlund (CAL)
RW- Jordan Eberle (EDM)
D- Clayton Stoner (MIN)
D- Jeff Petry (EDM)
G- Corey Schneider (VAN)

Division Awards
Hart Trophy- Daniel Sedin (VAN)..A year after a Hart Trophy campaign by his twin brother, he followed it up with a bid of his own, putting up 41-63--104, with a +30.  He was nominated for the award, but was edged out by Anaheim's Corey Perry.

Vezina Trophy- Roberto Luongo (VAN)..Has a league-leading 38-wins, with a Western Conference-leading 2.11 GAA and a .928 save PCT.  A Stanley Cup run begins between the pipes, and there was nobody in the Western Conference more solid than this guy in the net over the course of the season.

Norris Trophy- Christian Ehrhoff (VAN)..Posted a career-high 50 points and had a +19 rating in roughly 24:00 of ice time per game.

Calder Trophy- Taylor Hall (EDM)..Began his career with a respectable rookie campaign, netting 22-20--42 in 65 games.

Lady Byng- Alex Tanguay (CAL)..Has been one of the NHL's most underrated players over the years, but has handled the lack of attention in the most professional way possible; just going out there and doing his job.  He also had just 24 PIMs in 2010-2011.

Selke Trophy- Ryan Kesler (VAN)..Played in all 82 games, posting 73 points and winning 57% of faceoffs and averaging over 20 minutes of ice time.  He also won the NHL's Selke Trophy.

Jack Adams- Alain Vigneault (VAN)..Led the Canucks to their first Presidents Trophy and to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in team history.  Also nominated for NHL's Jack Adams Award.

Masterton Trophy- Manny Maholtra (VAN)..Came back from a devastating eye injury that threatened his career in March to play in the Cup finals.  Would be surprised if he was not a 2011-2012 NHL Masterton bid.

Players in the Penthouse
Jerome Iginla (CAL)
Alex Tanguay (CAL)
Brendan Morrison (CAL)
Matt Duchene (COL)
John-Michael Liles (COL)
David Jones (COL)
Ales Hemsky (EDM)
Mikko Koivu (MIN)
Niklas Backstrom (MIN)
Daniel Sedin (VAN)
Henrik Sedin (VAN)
Ryan Kesler (VAN)
Christian Ehrhoff (VAN)
Kevin Bieksa (VAN)
Roberto Luongo (VAN)


Players in the Elevator
Curtis Glencross (CAL)
Anton Babchuk (CAL)
Mikael Backlund (CAL)
Paul Statsny (COL)
Taylor Hall (EDM)
Jordan Eberle (EDM)
Sam Gagner (EDM)
Brent Burns (MIN)
Matt Cullen (MIN)
Corey Schneider (VAN)

Players in the Doghouse
Olli Jokinen (CAL)
Rene Bourque (CAL)
Mikka Kiprusoff (CAL)
Milan Hedjuk (COL)
Brandon Yip (COL)
Peter Budaj (COL)
Linus Omark (EDM)
Nikolai Knabibulin (EDM)
Eric Nystrom (MIN)

Thoughts on the 5 Teams

Calgary Flames
- Great job resigning Tanguay, but this team needs to look to the future a little bit, with him and Iginla not getting any younger.  A two year playoff hiatus is very indicative of that.

Colorado Avalanche
- A franchise that needs a total overhaul.  The days of the Avs battling it out with the Red Wings for the Western Conference crown and players like Joe Sakic, Petr Forsberg, Adam Foote, and Patrick Roy that brought the Stanley Cup to the Rockies in 1996 and 2001.

Edmonton Oilers
- A great group of young guys that have come from the past two drafts, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle most notably.  Certainly the talent capable of bringing the Oilers back to their glory days of the 1980s.

Minnesota Wild
- Another team from the Northwest division that has fallen from grace over the past few years.

Vancouver Canucks
- This team had more talent than the Bruins, but severely lacked toughness, which was a big reason why they lost.