With the 2013-2014 NHL season in the books, Scott Cullen has his final take on the award races. As I get more interested in hockeys advanced stats, there comes a challenge when handing out awards and it dovetails with a discussion that occurred at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference this year. When discussing a college football ranking, ESPNs Dean Oliver asserted that the "best" and "most deserving" teams arent necessarily the same thing. As it pertains to college football, its entirely possible to see a team that has lost still get favoured against an unbeaten team (think Alabama vs. Notre Dame in the 2013 national championship game) because their relative strength of schedule isnt the same. At the same time, an unbeaten Notre Dame team had every right to be included in that game because of what they had accomplished. It can get complicated trying to weigh the results with the circumstances under which those results were achieved. How does this apply to end-of-season hockey awards? Well, individual hockey players dont all get the same opportunities or play against the same level of competition and that has to be taken into account. At the same time, in many cases, there is an element of good fortune involved to be considered among the elite players in a given category and some of that can pertain to percentages that arent sustainable over the long-term. When it comes to awards, though, Im still of the opinion that a player shouldnt be penalized for scoring on a higher percentage of his shots than normal. It may not be something that he can carry over to future years, but thats not relevant to the discussion of a players contribution in the 2013-2014 NHL season. With that in mind, here are my picks: HART TROPHY Winner: Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Runners-up: Ryan Getzlaf, C, Anaheim; Joe Pavelski, C/LW, San Jose Comment: While there is an argument to be made that Getzlafs production, in the Western Conference, could warrant the honour, Crosbys production against the West (35 points in 27 games) was plenty impressive and he topped 100 points this season despite having a mish-mash collection of right wingers after Pascal Dupuis was hurt. Yes, an injury to Pascal Dupuis raised Crosbys level of difficulty. In any event, Crosby played at least 80 games for only the third time in his career and topped 100 points for the fifth time and is a deserving MVP. Thats not to suggest that Getzlaf didnt have a great season in his own right, scoring a career-high 31 goals and his 87 points in 77 games represented the best points-per-game scoring rate of his career. Pavelski, who has long been a very good player, raised the bar this year, finishing a career-best 18.2% of his shots on his way to scoring a career-high 41 goals and 79 points. Pavelskis strong finish (23 points in the last 21 games) pulled him ahead of Alex Ovechkin, the leagues only 50-goal scorer. Getzlafs right winger, Corey Perry, is right in the discussion as well after finishing with 43 goals, including a league-best 35 at even strength. NORRIS TROPHY Winner: Duncan Keith, Chicago Runners-up: Shea Weber, Nashville; Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Comment: For much of the year, Keith has been at the head of the class, a dominant two-way player on a dominant team, but Webers impressive finish (8 G, 8 A in final 17 GP) closed the gap, enough that when digging deeper, to compare quality of competition, teammates and zone starts, that Webers my choice in a very close race. I wouldnt have any qualms about Erik Karlsson winning either, even with a minus-16 rating. Karlsson has a rare ability to drive play forward which is shown in his strong Relative Corsi, though his plus-minus ended up being undermined by subpar goaltending when he was on the ice. If he played a full slate of games, Calgarys Mark Giordano would have a strong case, because he had an exceptional season, without an ideal supporting cast, and Tampa Bays Victor Hedman was lurking around the race for much of the season, scoring a career-best 55 points with strong possession stats. VEZINA TROPHYWinner: Tuukka Rask, Boston Runners-up: Semyon Varlamov, Colorado; Ben Bishop, Tampa Bay Comment: Theres not a lot to choose between the leagues top goaltenders, but Rask led the league in 5-on-5 save percentage (.942) as well as overall (.930), good enough to take home the hardware. Varlamov, who doesnt have the benefit of a strong defensive unit, gets the first runner-up spot while Ben Bishop and Carey Price are so close for the next that Bishop gets the edge for playing a handful more games. Reigning Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky is close to that group as well, but not quite. CALDER TROPHYWinner: Ondrej Palat, LW, Tampa Bay Runners-up: Nathan MacKinnon, C, Colorado; Jacob Trouba, D, Winnipeg Comment: This was really a surprisingly good race, as Palat wouldnt go away, even once MacKinnon surged into the rookie scoring lead. MacKinnon held on to win that race, 63 points to Palats 59, but Palat faced higher-quality competition, as he was an offensive driver for the Lightning even while Steven Stamkos was injured. Its very close, to be sure, but I give Palat the edge. Among the runner-ups, Jacob Trouba gets the edge over Torey Krug even though Trouba missed 17 games. Trouba played more minutes, against tougher competition and was productive in that role. Krug was really a power play ace for the Bruins, scoring 19 of his 40 points with the man advantage, but he didnt have the kind of responsibility that the Jets put upon Trouba. Palats frequent linemate, centre Tyler Johnson, was also a worthy candidate after scoring 24 goals to tie MacKinnon for the rookie lead. SELKE TROPHYWinner: Patrice Bergeron, C, Boston Runners-up: Anze Kopitar, C, Los Angeles; David Backes, C, St. Louis. Comment: This is an increasingly fascinating award, as more and more statistical measures become available to help gauge a players effectiveness. When looking at the top contenders -- Bergeron, Kopitar, Backes, Jonathan Toews, Gabriel Landeskog, Alexander Steen -- they are all very good two-way players. Landeskog, Toews, Backes and Steen face the higher quality of competition, Bergeron, Kopitar and Toews have the most dominant possession numbers, and Bergeron does it while starting 46.6% of his shifts in the offensive zone. The numbers, then, support Bergeron, who won the award in 2012. LADY BYNG AWARDWinner: Ryan OReilly, RW, ColoradoRunners-up: Tyler Seguin, C, Dallas; Jay Bouwmeester, D, St. Louis Comment: There are many players who play a clean game with a high level of skill, but no one should match OReilly, the Avalanche forward who scored a career-high 64 points and took his only minor penalty (playing with a broken stick) in his 72nd game of the season. JACK ADAMS AWARDWinner: Jon Cooper, Tampa BayRunners-up: Patrick Roy, Colorado; Mike Babcock, Detroit Comment: Its difficult to determine how much credit a coach deserves for a teams success in a single year because sometimes that success is predicated on percentages. That doesnt inherently mean a coach isnt deserving, but if their success isnt sustainable, should a coach really be rewarded for his team being lucky? To that end, a hot goaltender can make a coach look awfully good and so it is with some trepidation that I take Jon Cooper as my Jack Adams pick, because goaltender Ben Bishop played such a big part in the Lightnings 101-point season. At the same time, Cooper kept the Lightning going even though Steven Stamkos was out for nearly four months with a broken tibia and they traded Martin St. Louis at the trade deadline. Pushing through that, with rookies like Palat and Johnson handling big minutes, is deserving of credit. Roy may be the popular choice, since hes a well-known former player, and hes no doubt improved the Avalanche, but how much of that is tied to Semyon Varlamovs superb season? Cooper faced a little more adversity. If adversity is the criteria, Babcock might have a strong claim. His best two players, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, each missed 37 games, and those were only the most prominent on a regularly long injured list. That the Wings reached the playoffs, with rookies scattered throughout their forward ranks by seasons end, is enough reason for consideration. Bostons Claude Julien, Anaheims Bruce Boudreau and Columbus Todd Richards are some others that I would give strong consideration to this season. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Eric Fisher Super Bowl Jersey . During halftime, Love told The Associated Press he would receive treatment Saturday night and hoped to play Monday night against Houston. "I knew that my quad was bothering me pretty bad so I went out there and tried to move around a little bit and it just wasnt quite right," Love said. Joe Montana Super Bowl Jersey . The time off didnt slow them down. Tyler Zeller scored a season-high 18 points and grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds, Kyrie Irving added 14 points and the Cavaliers pushed their winning streak to five games Tuesday night with a 114-85 victory over the skidding Philadelphia 76ers. http://www.officialkcchiefspro.com/Damie...-chiefs-jersey/. Today, he looks at the offensive line. 1. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (OT, McGill) You Should Know: Over the course of his university career, Duvernay-Tardifs commitments to medical school and the family business frequently limited him to one practice per week, yet he was still the Metras Trophy winner as the Top Lineman in CIS football in 2013. Juan Thornhill Super Bowl Jersey . -- San Francisco 49ers offensive co-ordinator Greg Roman is a finalist to replace Joe Paterno at Penn State, his agent said Monday. Sammy Watkins Super Bowl Jersey . Now he has a complete game. Scherzer tossed a three-hitter in his 179th career start for his first complete game and Victor Martinez hit his 16th homer to lead the Detroit Tigers a 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox. CHICAGO -- Marcus Semien simply tried to stay calm and collect himself as he stepped to the plate with the Chicago White Sox threatening to take the lead. Then, he delivered. Semien hit a tiebreaking RBI double in a two-run 12th, Jose Quintana pitched one-hit ball over seven innings, and the White Sox beat the Cubs 3-1 at Wrigley Field on Monday night. "Sometimes you get a little bit more amped up," Semien said. "But the calmer I am, the better I do, usually." Quintana and five relievers combined on a four-hitter, and the White Sox came away with the win after dropping four straight and six of seven to their crosstown rivals. The Cubs lost even though Jeff Samardzija pitched three-hit ball over nine innings. He remained winless despite coming up big on the mound and delivering at the plate, coming through with the lone hit off Quintana and scoring the Cubs lone run. "You couldnt ask for anything more from a starting pitcher than what he gave us," manager Rick Renteria said. "So its a shame that we werent able to get (the win) for him." The winning rally started when Alexei Ramirez singled off Justin Grimm with two out and stole second. Tyler Flowers walked, and Semien lined a 1-1 pitch over third baseman Mike Olts head to make it 2-1. Grimm (1-1) plunked pinch-hitter Paul Konerko on the left arm to load the bases and walked Alejandro De Aza to make it a two-run game. In the bottom half, Matt Lindstrom walked Welington Castillo leading off before Nate Schierholtz bounced into a double play. He then gave up a single to Olt and struck out Luis Valbuena for his fifth save in eight chances. Daniel Webb (3-0) struck out the lone batter he faced for the win. Both teams got dominant starts, with Samardzija and Quintana each allowing one run on a chilly night with the wind blowing in. The only hit off Quintana was a leadoff double in the sixth by Samardzija, who scored on a sacrifice fly by Junior Lake that tied it at 1. The White Sox threatened in the ninth when Samardzija walked Jose Abrreu and Adam Dunn with one out, but Dayan Viciedo grounded into a double play.dddddddddddd In the bottom half, the Cubs Anthony Rizzo singled off Ronald Belisario with one out and moved to second on a grounder to shortstop by Starlin Castro, with the throw from Alexei Ramirez deep in the hole barely beating him. The call was upheld after a replay review, and Castillo then struck out to send the game to extra innings. The Cubs left two on in the 11th when Webb came in for Scott Downs and struck out Castro for the third out. It was another hard-luck night for Samardzija, who struck out seven and walked two while throwing a career-high 126 pitches. He is 0-3 in seven starts this season despite a 1.62 ERA, and the Cubs are 1-6 when he pitches. His most recent win was against San Diego on Aug. 24. In 13 starts since then, hes 0-5. "We come out to win games every day regardless of whos on the mound or what the lineup is or who were facing," he said. "You come out to win the game. Anytime you dont win, its frustrating." Quintana, meanwhile, retired the first 14 batters before walking Schierholtz and Olt. Still, he took yet another no-decision. He has four after setting an American League record with 17 last season. "He was great," manager Robin Ventura said. "Both pitchers were great. Q had a little extra life on it today. Would have liked to have kept him in there. Hes not quite the hitter the other guy is. He pitched great for us. He was rolling there pretty good." NOTES: White Sox ace Chris Sale said he felt fine after throwing his first bullpen session since injuring his left arm. Sale threw 40 pitches before Mondays game. General manager Rick Hahn said the left-hander will go on a rehab assignment in the "coming couple weeks." ... Hahn also said reliever Nate Jones had back surgery and will be re-evaluated in a month. He is on the 60-day disabled list. ... RHP Edwin Jackson (2-2, 5.24 ERA) starts Tuesday for the Cubs, with RHP Hector Noesi (0-2, 11.12) pitching for the White Sox. ' ' '