The PHWA have released the 2018-19 Midseason Award Winners and Calgary Flames members are finally getting some well-deserved recognition.
We’re slightly past the midway mark of the season meaning the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) have released the 2018-19 Midseason Award Winners. Among this list, there were five members of the Calgary Flames.
FIVE.
In just ten categories.
I don’t think there has been more than three for the Flames in years. Here is a rundown of the Flames mentioned and their ranking:
- Hart: Johnny Gaudreau, 2nd
- Norris: Mark Giordano, 1st
- Lady Byng: Sean Monahan, 3rd
- Jack Adams: Bill Peters, 2nd
- GM of the Year: Brad Treliving, 1st
- Rod Langway: Mark Giordano, 2nd
Captain Mark Giordano was mentioned twice in two different defender categories. It may also be worth noting that some have found that Elias Lindholm would be a good nominee for the Selke trophy and by the way David Rittich‘s season has been going, he could very well be a nominee by the end of the season for the Vezina trophy.
It’s also worth noting that John Hoven, a longtime writer and member of the PHWA, mentioned on Twitter that while there are no plans to release the actual numbers for how the voting went down, Gaudreau was very close to Nikita Kucherov for first place for the Hart trophy. Meaning that, at the end of the season, depending on how it goes, he could win. And that Gio’s first place Norris ranking is first by a landslide. Second-place Morgan Rielly wasn’t even close to him.
Realistically, I’d say that the Norris trophy and the GM of the Year are both very plausible wins. The Hart trophy will most likely come down to how the playoffs go for either team, but it still seems like for Gaudreau to win. It also seems realistic for Gio to win the Rod Langway award, especially if he’s in first place for the Norris by a landslide.
While I’d also love for Bill Peters to also win the Jack Adams, you can’t discredit what Barry Trotz has done with the New York Islanders. Especially comparing the two rosters, Peters definitely has more to work with with the Calgary Flames. So for that one, I’d say he most likely won’t win. And with Monahan at third for Lady Byng, that also seems unlikely.