If there was any shred of suspense over who will win the Hart Trophy, it was eliminated today when the finalists were announced. The Pittsburgh Penguins' Evgeni Malkin, Tampa Bay Lightning's Steven Stamkos and New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist are headed to Las Vegas, but there should be little doubt now that Malkin will go home with the hardware.
Stamkos and the Lightning didn't make the playoffs, which considerably hurts his case, and goalies like Lundqvist face an uphill fight to win the Hart. There might not be much suspense when Malkin wins, but the surprise came today when some notable names were left off the list of finalists.
These three are the biggest Hart Trophy snubs:
To read Craig's list of the biggest Hart snubs, you must be an ESPN Insider.
- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
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