The NHL Awards: See, hockey does exist!

And so comes to close another long, wonderful hockey season that only I cared about. Sadly, it ended with the only NHL team I have any problem with winning it all, which is always a bit of a downer on anybody's day. Now I'll admit, I really only dislike the Blackhawks because they're too cocky and I know one guy who knows nothing about hockey but insists he loves the Blackhawks (bandwagon, thy name is Evan).

As such, I'd like to congratulate the Blackhawks and take this opportunity to overlook their acheivement and instead look to the future. The NHL awards are soon to be announced and I'd like to take this time to give my picks for them. Feel free to give your own picks below, or simply yell at me for writing about a sport you don't care about.

Hart Trophy- The MVP of the league, this one has come down to Henrik Sedin's amazing statistical outburst versus Sidney Crosby's normally overrated game and Alexander Ovechkin's ridiculousness. Personally, I've got to give it to Sedin, who outscored both and looked really impressive doing in (and, I might add, lasted a legitimate amount of time in the playoffs).

Vezina Trophy- Best goaltender technically has 3 finalists but come on now, Martin Brodeur? That man may stop the puck only because he thinks it's a ho-ho. Ryan Miller was very impressive, but unfortunately the Olympics don't count into this award, so give it to Ilya Bryzgalov for succeeding in a system designed specifically for him to succeed.

Norris Trophy- Best defensemen. As I've said before to nobody, Duncan Keith may very well be the best at defense, but strangely that's not all that's needed. Drew Doughty was the rock of the Los Angeles Kings, made all the more impressive by him being the same age as me. Finally, Mike Green scores goals and deserved it last year, so courtesy nod as a finalist, but give it to Doughty.

Calder Trophy- Jimmy Howard put in a year in net for Detroit that I had long predicted after he stoned me in NHL 08 over and over again. Matt Duchene led the offense of the surprising Colorado Avalanche. But honestly, Tyler Myers was one of the better D-men in the league as a rookie and was far and above the others.

Selke Trophy- Best defensive forward, and it's tough to argue against Pavel Datsyuk, who plays in ever situation and is just ridiculous. As amazing as Ryan Kesler was at shutting down everybody, Datsyuk is just unstoppable defensively. Oh ya, Jordan Staal is in there too, but who cares, give it to Datsyuk.

Lady Byng Trophy- Or The "I don't take any penalties ever" Award. Datsyuk's here again, but he's a lot rougher around the edges than the others. Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis kind of define sportsmanship and class on the ice. Honestly though, St. Louis may be the nicest person ever; I'm pretty sure he gives out lollipops to goalies after he scores on them.

So there you have it, the NHL awards as presented by a man who watches hockey on tv, has never played it, and rarely gets to see any Eastern Conference team. Comment away, my reader(s).