Saturday Open Thread: Griffins, Awards, Bruins vs. Hawks

Busy day in hockey.

Yesterday, they announced the first set of NHL awards. Here are your winners:

Selke: Jonathan Toews
Not a travesty, but not the guy who should have won

Jack Adams: Paul MacLean
The most-deserving of the three finalists, but I'm mad that Babcock ended up 10th in voting

Mark Messier Leadership Award: Daniel Alfredsson
This is a dumb award and I hope it goes away because Messier starts coaching the Rangers. Still, congrats to Alfredsson

GM of the Year: Ray Shero
The sheen has kind of come off after the Douglas Murray deal, but Shero is as deserving as anybody

Masterton Trophy: Josh Harding
Even if I have a problem with how this award has turned into the "Guy who lived through the worst shit" trophy, I really like Josh Harding and can't think of a way he shouldn't have won it under a different definition for the award.

Lady Byng: Martin St. Louis
Nobody hates this guy. He's a great choice, though I'm kind of disappointed Kane didn't win it because that would have been dumb. Corey Emmerton and Drew Miller both received votes for this award.

King Clancy: Patrice Bergeron
Leadership on and off the ice and noteworthy humanitarian contribution to community. I told you Patrice Bergeron is the only likable player in Boston.

NHL Foundation Award: Henrik Zetterberg
Hank won this for the Zetterberg Foundation, which he and his wife Emma have run since they married. The foundation will get $25,000 to build water stations in Ethiopia

Tonight, they'll reveal the rest of the award winners

Hart Memorial (Most-Valuable Player: I've heard whispers it will be Ovechkin, but it should be Crosby)
Calder Memorial (Rookie of the Year: I don't care who wins)
James Norris Memorial: (Best all-around defenseman: Nick Kypreos said Subban will win it. If not him, it would be Ryan Suter. If Kris Letang wins it, the PHWA should be replaced by monkeys with typewriters)
Vezina: (Best goaltender: Go Bobrovsky)
Ted Lindsay Award (MVP as voted by the NHLPA: Crosby will get this one)

You can tune in to NBCSN or CBC at 7pm tonight and watch the announcement of the winners

OR, you can watch hockey at 7pm tonight as the Griffins look to finish off the Syracuse Crunch after losing Game 4 last night 3-2. Grand Rapids had a 2-1 lead for much of the game, but couldn't hold on as two 2nd period Crunch goals was enough. We thought the Griffins had tied it with 17.4 seconds left, but it went to replay and the puck never went into the net.

Since we apparently can't have a game without controversy, the one from last night (which carries into today) is the five-minute major and subsequent ejection received by Gustav Nyquist for spearing Richard Panik late in the 2nd. Here's a Vine of the replay. It's not very clear, but based on everything I've learned about what kind of player Richard Panik is, I'm going to go with the theory that this is an embarrassing flop carried out by a rat player. For a spear, there certainly doesn't seem to be much (if any) stabbing force apparent in Nyquist's arms.

Nothing has come out from the AHL just yet, but the ejection is supposed to carry an automatic $200 fine and a review from the league president. That can be headed off if the President decides to rescind the major. All I know is that if Nyquist is suspended without a subsequent release of much clearer video evidence which actually shows a spear, I'm not watching the game on AHL Live or any other service.

Hey, if you're into NHL playoff hockey, you're in luck.

After a marathon Game 1 that saw the Bruins lose a two-goal lead and then fall in the third overtime period on a crazy double-deflection goal, the two teams are back at it for Game 2 at 8pm tonight on NBCSN (guess NBC doesn't want to lose viewers of Law & Order: SVU).

This should turn out to be a pretty great series, as it seems both teams are pretty evenly matched. The Bruins are going to have to adjust to playing the best team they've faced so far though. Despite how long it took, Chicago deserved to win Game 1 on the strength of their dominant possession numbers.

It's an all-day open thread. Have fun.