Sidney Crosby was voted the best all-around player in the NHL in The Hockey News The Best of Everything in Hockey edition.
Crosby received 80 per cent of the votes from THN’s panel of hockey experts. Washington’s Alex Ovechkin was No. 2 with 10 per cent, followed by Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk at 5 per cent.
But Jason Kay, the editor-in-chief of The Hockey News, told me that the voting for other categories showed that Datsyuk just might be the best player in the NHL with Crosby on the sidelines.
“Pavel Datsyuk was first or second in a bunch of categories,” Kay said. “I think he’s one guy who hasn’t won a Hart Trophy yet, but he’s got a lot of different elements to his game. Quietly, he may be the best player in the NHL when Sid’s not playing.”
Datsyuk finished first in voting for best defensive forward, tied for first for best shootout move with Edmonton’s Linus Omark, was second for best shootout shooter (behind Los Angeles’s Jarret Stoll), second as best skater (behind the Rangers’ Marian Gaborik), and second for best backhand shot (behind Crosby),
I asked Kay if he was surprised by any of the results from the 57 categories in the magazine.
“(Nashville’s) Barry Trotz was named the best coach, which is interesting since he hasn’t won a Jack Adams Award,” Kay said. “But I guess it’s a body-of-work career-type thing. He’s only won one playoff round, so that’s a bit of a surprise. I think it speaks a lot to his ability to get a lot out of kind of a lesser roster, and I think it also speaks to (general manager) David Poile’s loyalty and his belief in his coach and sticking by him. He’s the only coach that franchise has ever had.
“Henrik Sedin beat out Sidney Crosby as best playmaker,” Kay added. “I don’t think that’s a shock, but it’s interesting, I think.
“Jonathan Toews as the best leader, which again isn’t a shock, but it’s interesting for such a young guy to be given so much respect at that age. You’ve got some other veteran leaders like Jarome Iginla and Nicklas Lidstrom, who have been around a lot longer. But Toews obviously has that something special.”
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