Phoenix Coyotes Hockey on AZ Vibe

GLENDALE – On the eve of the NHL Free Agency frenzy the NHL dropped a bombshell announcing that Phoenix Coyotes Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mike Nealy was named Chief Operating Officer of the Phoenix Coyotes and NHL Governor effective immediately. Nealy replaced Doug Moss who was the Coyotes Chief Operating Officer for the past eight years.

According to the Phoenix Coyotes e-mailed press release, Doug Moss left the organization to pursue other opportunities.

“On behalf of the National Hockey League, I send thanks to Doug for his devoted service to the team, the fans and to Jobing.com Arena,” said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly in a prepared statement. “We wish Doug the best as he moves on to a new chapter in his career.”

When asked for further clarification on some grey areas of the news today (like the timing of this decision happening on the last day of the fiscal year along with the involvement of Ice Edge Holdings in the news today) the NHL stated that Bill Daly’s prepared statement (above) would be the only public comment they would make regarding Moss leaving the Coyotes.

When reached for a comment about today’s news, Ice Edge Holdings media representative Robert Johnson released the following statement, “Ice Edge is not part of the process of running the team currently, however the NHL does keep us abreast of major decisions such as this one.”

On a personal note, I last spoke to Doug Moss in person at the 2010 NHL Awards at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. He was there with a large Coyotes contingent and looked very happy that the Coyotes were nominated for multiple awards.

We wish Doug Moss good luck in all his future endeavors.

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Coyotes announced today the long rumored signing of forward Wojetk Wolski to a two year contract worth $3.8 million dollars per season.

Last year Wolski scored new career high in numerous categories playing for Colorado and Phoenix:

Goals – 23
Assists – 42
Points – 65
Games – 80
Plus/minus – +21

This is a great signing by the Coyotes as the team will need a scoring forward with Wolski’s talent going into next season. “We are very excited to sign Wojtek to a new contract,” said Phoenix Coyotes General Manger Maloney said in a statement. “He is a talented offensive player who performed extremely well for us last season down the stretch and led our team in goals during the playoffs. He will be a key contributor for the Coyotes going forward as he enters the prime of his career.”

As previously stated, signing a scoring forward is exactly what the Coyotes need. However, the Coyotes will need to address scoring depth this season as that was one of the main reasons for the Coyotes inability to move out of the first round of the 2010 NHL playoffs.

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Coyotes were pretty busy Monday in preparations for the start of Free Agency on July 1st by waiving one player and trading a soon to be Restricted Free Agent.

The Phoenix Coyotes have waived ineffective Center Petteri Nokelainen and penalty prone defenseman Jim Vandermeer Monday. At this time of year, when players are waived it usually means that if these players are not picked up off the waiver wire, their contracts will more than likely be bought out.

If both players get bought out, the Coyotes are on the proverbial hook for the following amounts (these amounts will count against the Phoenix Coyotes Salary Cap):

Petteri Nokelainen will be paid approximately $317,000 over 2 years.
Jim Vandermeer be paid approximately $1,533,000 over 1 year.

If both players are indeed bought out, they will become unrestricted free agents and can negotiate with any team they desire.

The other bit of news is that Coyotes forward Daniel Winnik was traded Monday to the Colorado Avalanche in return for a 2010 fourth round draft pick. Daniel Winnik’s contract will expire on July 1st making him a restricted free agent with the Colorado Avalanche.

Transcript courtesy of the NHL Communications Office

After being selected as the #2 pick at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles, the Boston Bruins Tyler Seguin met with reporters.

Q.        How important is the defensive end for a young player like yourself?
TYLER SEGUIN:  Especially this year I knew I had to get to the next level and I had to mature as a player and get better.  Being in my own end, and I knew that.  It started working out that when I was doing better in my “D” zone, I was getting more chances in the offensive zone.  I think that was just because of maturing as a player here in this past year.

Q.  Is there a player you looked at as a fan growing up and that you’re looking forward to playing with?
TYLER SEGUIN:  Actually I just ran into Mark Recchi at the hotel a couple times.  We seem to be elevator buddies.  That was pretty cool.  He’s going to give me a lot of advice, and I’m looking forward to that.  And of course, I’ve seen Chara play.  He was probably the best player I’ve ever seen on the Bruins this past year, and I think it’s going to be quite tough going one-on-one against him if I get that opportunity.

Q.  Who do you give the most credit to for where you are right now?
TYLER SEGUIN:  Number one, probably my family.  My dad first and foremost.  He played for the University of Vermont which is by Boston, so he’s happy about there.  And he taught me my whole life about passion, desire, sacrifices.  And I have so many supporters.  My mom, my family, my sister, I’d probably give it to them.

Q.  Was it a little disappointment you didn’t go first?
TYLER SEGUIN:  I wasn’t surprised or disappointed.  I think I just came in here really with an open mind.  I didn’t have any expectations.  I think everyone has their own opinion.  We’ve seen it all year with whatever scouting service there may be.  You know, Edmonton decided to select Hall first overall, and good for him.  He deserves it.  And I’m happy to be a Bruin.

Q.  Do you feel like you’re a small part of history?
TYLER SEGUIN:  Growing up I was the local guy.  I liked watching the Leafs because they were the local team.  Now that it happened, I think it’s meant to be.  I think things worked out throughout my life and anyone’s lives.  It’s just where we were supposed to fall, and Boston was the team that was supposed to pick me.

Q.  How are you going to celebrate tonight?
TYLER SEGUIN:  I don’t know.  I don’t know if we have a draft party or what it will be.  But it’s going to start out with my 30 family and friend members out there in the crowd.

Q.  You said you didn’t have a preference on position; now do you have a preference?
TYLER SEGUIN:  No, I’ve always been a natural centerman my whole life.  I’ve always played center.  But when I came into my OHL career as a rookie I had to adjust to wing because I was playing with better players, and I was more of a play maker that year.
This past year the better players ended up leaving the team, they were older, so I got moved to center, and turned out to be more of a goal scorer.
I’m a pretty diverse player, and I want to step into a team or organization like the Bruins and play any role.

Q.  Anybody on the Bruins team right now that you’ve played with, played against, casual relationship you know heading into this?
TYLER SEGUIN:  No, one guy in Providence of the NHL team, McDermott, I played a couple weeks ago.  But other than that, no.

Q.  As you were growing up, who was the most inspirational hockey player at that time?
TYLER SEGUIN:  As I was growing up, he wasn’t in there too much.  He’s actually in the crowd right now.  Steve Yzerman, he’s always been my idol growing up.  Just the way he was on the ice, he started off as a rookie and had to mature as a player like I did.  Getting better in the zone and stuff like that.  And he turned into an all-around good guy.  He’s phenomenal off the ice and a true leader.  Something that I want to be like myself.

Transcript courtesy of the NHL Communications Office

After being selected as the #1 pick at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles, the Edmonton Oilers Taylor Hall sat down with reporters and discussed about numerous topics.

Q.  Was there an element of surprise out there for you tonight?

TAYLOR HALL:  I was so shocked.  I was shaking in my seat.  I got up to the podium, or whatever it is, and I was shaking so much I couldn’t even put my jersey on.  I’m just so happy.  My whole family’s so happy.  It means a lot to us.

Q.  Why were you nervous?

TAYLOR HALL:  Because I had no idea what was going on.  They said Windsor Spitfires and it’s all a blur from there.  I don’t remember anything.  I’m so happy right now.

Q.  What’s it mean to be an Oiler?

TAYLOR HALL:  Just to join such a great franchise.  Hopefully I can make that team next year.  That’s my first step.  We can really recreate some of the magic they had there.  I think when you have a young team, that’s something I’m really looking forward to joining.

Q.  Uniting with Jordan Eberle, a pretty good opportunity as well?

TAYLOR HALL:  Yeah, that’s going to be awesome.  He’s such a good guy, and good player, and somebody I had a good chemistry in Russia.  It’s going to be awesome playing with him.

Q.  Tambellini said you’re the best player, that’s why he went with you.  How much do you respect that?

TAYLOR HALL:  That’s something I work for all year.  I always push myself on and off the ice, for him to say that, that’s such a tremendous comment for him to say.  I have no words right now.  I’m so honored to join this organization, I feel so honored by them.

Q.  You’re a student of history.  Did you do anything to get drafted by the Oilers and Paul Coffey’s on the stage, and Kevin is on the stage?

TAYLOR HALL:  Yeah, they’re such a great franchise.  They have so much history behind them.  With the five Cups they won it would mean a lot to me to join their organization, hopefully bring another one up there.  That is the ultimate goal for me and the franchise.

Q.  Why was Windsor such a good organization to prepare you for that next step?

TAYLOR HALL:  I haven’t able to give credit to the guys in Windsor.  They transformed me as a player.  I went there as a young 15-year-old, and I came out as an 18-year-old man.  With all the winning they did there, it really taught me a lot about hockey.  Just what you have to do in the postseason and everything like that.

Q.  Personal significance of going number 1?

TAYLOR HALL:  Yeah, there is a lot of significance.  I feel honored with all the players that have gone number one.  I came into this year, that was one of my goals was to go number one.  In saying that, there is still a lot of work to do out here.  Dustin Brown on the podium before just saying how much work he had done so far, there is still a lot more to go.  So hopefully I can do that.

Q.  What kind of play per do you think you were before?

TAYLOR HALL:  I have no idea.  I haven’t even thought about that.  That’s for them to decide.  I don’t even know if I’d wear it.

Q.  What kind of player do you think the fans at Edmonton should expect to see?

TAYLOR HALL:  Well, like I said, I have to still make the team.  Nothing’s for sure.  There are a lot of number 1’s that have gone back to junior.

But I hope to be a dynamic offensive player, I like to play in the corners and knock it up, obviously get points because that’s my role.

Q.  For somebody who was born in Canada, how does it feel playing in the battle of Alberta?

TAYLOR HALL:  Yeah, that is something that shows my career has come full circle.  I played in my backyard in Calgary, now I’m playing in the big rink.  There’s been such a transformation, and it’s a tremendous journey that I’ve been on.

Q.  What number will you wear?

TAYLOR HALL:  I have no idea.  I haven’t even thought about that.

Q.  The fans it seems were toting whoever was going to be number one as a bit of a savior.  Do you feel a burden of expectation in that regard?

TAYLOR HALL:  Not really.  I thought about that.  There are always expectations no matter what you do.  Obviously being a number one pick, I have to go in there and have a job to do, and I think I have the tools to do it.  I know I have the confidence and the drive, so that’s what’s going to push me every day to be a better player and help the team out.

Q.  Does this make up for going second in the OHL selection?

TAYLOR HALL:  No, I’m still really shocked about that, actually.  That was a long time ago.  I can’t imagine three years ago I was that 15-year-old kid hope to go play in the OHL, now I’m going to become a member of the NHL soon.  That’s tremendous.

Q.  Does winning Memorial Cup or going first overall?

TAYLOR HALL:  They’re totally different things.  There’s a lot going through my mind right now.  Those Memorial Cups are tremendous.  You play for a team the whole year, and you develop a bond.  With this, this is purely individual; I have a lot of family, and lot of people — I owe a lot to them.

Q.  (Indiscernible)?

TAYLOR HALL:  I had no idea.  I was so shocked.  Like I said, when they said Edmonton Oilers, my mind went blank there.  I have no idea what went on:  I was smiling as big as I can.  He just said congrats, and the TSN interview said my drive and intensity is what pushed me ahead.  That’s a part of my game that I’ve never had to work on, so it’s always been good.

Q.  You’re such a competitor?

TAYLOR HALL:  Yeah, being a competitive guy is pretty important to me.  At the same time, there is a lot of work to do.  Lot of guys have gone number one.  They played in the NHL, but they haven’t really exceeded the expectations that they began.

So I have a lot of work to do.  Sure I went number one, but I still have a team to join, and a team to make better.

Q.  Taylor, it’s personal for you to win this.  What’s it mean for the franchise and all the people in Windsor for a Spitfire to go number one?

TAYLOR HALL:  Hopefully they’re pretty happy.  I know my time in Windsor has been remembered really well.  I owe a lot to that organization, that city, and it’s still a city I love.  A city I’m going to go back to.  Just like I said, a city I owe a lot to.  And hopefully they really appreciate me going number one because I appreciate them.

Q.  Do you have a message for the fans back in Edmonton?

TAYLOR HALL:  Just that I’m very excited to join the organization.  I know that some of them are pulling for me.  Hope they’re excited for the next season.  I know I am.  I can’t wait to get started with training camp, and just to meet the guys on the team, and hopefully develop a bond with the players and the fans.

Instead of inundating all of you with article after article, I’m just going to post the rest of the winners from the 2010 NHL Awards in Las Vegas this past Wednesday with Photos, interviews, and/or audio where applicable.

2009-2010 NHL ALL-Rookie Team

During the 2010 NHL Awards ceremony, the NHL handed out a press release announcing the 2009-2010 NHL All-Rookie Team. The team is as follows:

Goaltender – Jimmy Howard – Detroit Red Wings

Defenseman – Michael Del Zotto – New York Rangers

Defenseman – Tyler Meyers – Buffalo Sabres

Forward – Niclas Bergfors – Atlanta Thrashers

Forward – Matt Duchene – Colorado Avalanche

Forward – John Tavares – New York Islanders

Crosby and Stamkos share Maurice Richard Trophy

Pittsburgh Penguins Forward Sidney Crosby and Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos both won their first ever Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard trophy is awarded to the player(s) with the most goals in the a given regular season.

Ovechkin selected as the winner of inaugural Ted Lindsay Award

Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin was awarded the inaugural Ted Lindsay Award. Ovechkin was the first player since Wayne Gretzky to be awarded the NHLPA’s ‘Most Outstanding Player’ award.

The Ted Lindsay Award is given to the ‘Most Outstanding Player’ of a given year as voted on by the members of the NHL Players Association (NHLPA).

Crosby awarded Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award

Pittsburgh Penguins Forward and Team Captain Sidney Crosby were awarded the 2010 Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award. This award is given to the player that recognizes a players leadership on the ice and their contributions to their community and is selected by Mark Messier himself.

Crosby met with reporters after receiving the Mark Messier NHL Leadership award on stage at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas and had the following to say:

Theodore awarded Masterson Trophy

Washington Capitals goaltender Jose Theodore was awarded the Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy which is awarded to the player who ‘best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to Hockey’ and is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Following the Masterson Trophy presentation, Jose Theodore sat down with reporters for a few minutes:

Brodeur wins fifth career Jennings Trophy

New Jersey Devils goaltender won his fifth career William M. Jennings Trophy which is presented to the goalkeeper who has the lowest Goals Against Average (GAA) over the course of a regular season.

St. Louis wins Lady Bing Award

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis is the 2010 recipient of the Lady Bing Memorial Trophy which is awarded to the player to have displayed the most gentlemanly play, sportsmanship as well as displaying a high level of play during the regular season.

St. Louis has been the runner up for the Lady Bing Trophy over the past three seasons. This is the first time St. Louis has won the award.

Red Wings Datsyuk wins third straight Selke Trophy

Red Wings Forward Pavel Datsyuk Won his third Straight Selke Trophy which is awarded to the player who is the best defensive forward in the NHL as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Top 20 Finalists 2009-2010 Frank Selke Trophy Voting

Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
1. Pavel Datsyuk, DET 688 (37-26-21-8-7)
2. Ryan Kesler, VAN 655 (36-26-15-10-8)
3. Jordan Staal, PIT 528 (24-17-21-19-7)
4. Jonathan Toews, CHI 408 (17-15-19-10-8)
5. Patrice Bergeron, BOS 185 (8-8-4-8-5)
6. Travis Zajac, N.J. 73 (0-5-3-6-5)
7. Mike Richards, PHI 71 (2-3-4-1-7)
8. Patrick Marleau, S.J. 65 (0-2-5-6-8)
9. Henrik Zetterberg, DET 61 (2-1-4-3-5)
10. Nicklas Backstrom, WSH 51 (1-3-1-4-3)
11. Mikko Koivu, MIN 50 (0-4-3-2-1)
12. Zach Parise, N.J. 44 (0-1-5-3-3)
13. Alex Burrows, VAN 43 (0-3-3-2-1)
14. Vernon Fiddler, PHX 42 (0-1-3-4-8)
15. Daniel Alfredsson, OTT 38 (0-2-2-4-2)
16. Jay McClement, STL 37 (2-0-0-4-5)
17. Mike Fisher, OTT 35 (1-1-2-1-5)
18. Blair Betts, PHI 24 (1-2-0-0-0)
19. Martin Hanzal, PHX 24 (0-1-2-2-1)
20. Marian Hossa, CHI 22 (0-1-2-1-2)

LAS VEGAS – On Wednesday Ryan Miller capped off a spectacular year when he won his first Vezina Trophy at the 2010 NHL Awards at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. In addition to the Vezina Trophy, Miller became the 12th winner of the NHL Foundation Player Award which is given to the player that ‘applies the core values of hockey – commitment, perseverance, and teamwork – to enrich the lives of people in his community’. The NHL foundation will donate $25,000 to Ryan Millers’ Steadfast Foundation as part of Miller winning the Award.

The Vezina Trophy is awarded to the best Goaltender in the NHL and is voted on by all the General Managers in the NHL. Miller beat out Phoenix Coyotes Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov in the voting by 47 overall votes. Miller also received 23 first place votes on 28 of a total of 30 ballots.

According to a press release from the NHL:

Miller led the Sabres to the Northeast Division title for the second time in the past four seasons. He set a franchise record and ranked fourth among NHL goaltenders with 41 wins; placed second in the League in goals-against average (2.22) and save percentage (.929); and tied a career high with five shutouts. Miller continued to excel following his MVP performance for Team USA at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, going 9-2-1 in his first 12 decisions after collecting the silver medal in Vancouver.

As Ryan Miller arrived in the Media room at the 2010 NHL Awards at the Palms Hotel, he was carrying the full sized trophy himself (staff from the NHL carried trophies into the Media Room for the other trophy winners) and appeared to be extremely grateful to win the award.

Ryan Miller’s full press conference with the media (following the Vezina Trophy presentation) can be heard here:

Final 2010 Vezina Trophy Voting

Pts. 1st-2nd-3rd
1. Ryan Miller, BUF 126 (23-3-2)
2. Ilya Bryzgalov, PHX 79 (5-16-6)
3. Martin Brodeur, N.J. 32 (1-6-9)
4. Evgeni Nabokov, S.J. 9 (1-1-1)
5. Craig Anderson, COL 9 (0-2-3)
6. Henrik Lundqvist, NYR 6 (0-1-3)
7. Tuukka Rask, BOS 3 (0-1-0)
8. Jimmy Howard, DET 2 (0-0-2)
Miikka Kiprusoff, CGY 2 (0-0-2)
10. Jaroslav Halak, MTL 1 (0-0-1)
Roberto Luongo, VAN 1 (0-0-1)

LAS VEGAS – Duncan Keith of the 2009-2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks
added another trophy to his mantle by becoming the recipient of the 2010 James Norris Memorial Trophy. The Norris Trophy is awarded to the best defenseman in the NHL as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the end of the 2009-2010 regular season.

According to the press release from the NHL:

Playing all 82 games for the third time in his five-year NHL career, Keith logged a total of 2,180:34 in ice time, the most among all NHL players. Having steadily increased his production each year, he took his offense to another level this season, registering career highs in goals (14), assists (55) and points (69). Keith ranked second to Washington’s Mike Green among NHL defensemen in assists and points. He posted a plus-21 rating and is plus-84 over the past three seasons.

Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Ed Jovanovski was 18th in the Norris Trophy voting.

Duncan Keith talked with reporters following his Norris Trophy win:

2009-2010 Norris Trophy Final Results

Pts. 1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th
1. Duncan Keith, CHI 1096 (76-37-14-2-1)
2. Mike Green, WSH 831 (34-46-23-15-9)
3. Drew Doughty, L.A. 662 (15-28-46-25-11)
4. Nicklas Lidstrom, DET 303 (4-9-16-28-36)
5. Chris Pronger, PHI 168 (2-3-9-22-16)
6. Dan Boyle, S.J. 116 (1-2-5-15-22)
7. Shea Weber, NSH 96 (1-2-6-12-6)
8. Zdeno Chara, BOS 88 (0-3-7-6-14)
9. Christian Ehrhoff, VAN 21 (0-1-0-3-5)
10. Mark Streit, NYI 15 (0-1-1-1-0)
11. Ryan Suter, NSH 13 (0-0-2-1-0)
12. Brian Rafalski, DET 12 (0-0-2-0-2)
13. Brent Seabrook, CHI 10 (0-0-2-0-0)
14. Sergei Gonchar, PIT 8 (0-1-0-0-1)
15. Tyler Myers, BUF 6 (0-0-0-0-6)
16. Dion Phaneuf, TOR 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Jeff Schultz, WSH 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
18. Ed Jovanovski, PHX 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Chris Phillips, OTT 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Anton Volchenkov, OTT 1 (0-0-0-0-1)

Interview Transcript courtesy of the NHL Communications Department

LAS VEGAS – Following Phoenix Coyotes Head Coach Dave Tippett winning the Jack Adams Trophy at the 2010 NHL Awards in Las Vegas, he sat down with reporters for a few moments and shared his thoughts.

Q.        How good does it feel now that it’s finally officially yours?

DAVE TIPPETT:  Well, it’s very gratifying, I think for our organization.  I’m very happy for our coaching staff.  You know, we were a team that nobody gave much of a chance at the start of the year, and we used that adversity as a motivating factor throughout our whole group right from Doug Moss and his staff to Don Maloney and the hockey operations staff to our players.
In the end, we probably did a lot more than people thought, but in Phoenix we think it’s just the start of putting the foundation in place that we want to build there.

Q.  How do you get your players to believe and do what you wanted them to do when you came in?

DAVE TIPPETT:  You know, I think all the adversity with nobody giving us much chance to do anything made them a very coachable group.  They were guys that were really wanting to — had a lot to prove, and we came in with some pretty simple things that we were going to ask them to do and how they were going to play.  I thought the strengths of our team were our ability to defend and our goaltending, and we game planned around that.

When we started to have some early success, I think the players really recognized that this could work for us.  So we’ve talked about it there before.  We went into Pittsburgh the second game of the year and shut out the defending Stanley Cup champions.  And in that game, I know the players were looking at each other going we can do this.

It’s a process to become a team where you expect to win and not just to hope to win.  But I think we took some good steps in that direction.

Q.  How about winning the award?  How do you feel yourself getting the award?  I know it’s a team effort.

DAVE TIPPETT:  It’s very gratifying, it’s very gratifying.  You know, coaches in today’s NHL put a lot of time and a lot of energy and a lot of emotion into this to get recognized.  I look at it as a coaching staff award for our staff to get recognized, it’s very gratifying.

Q.  Do you worry about following up next year?  I mean, sometimes for a team that takes a step forward and then maybe backslide?  Do you have concerned about being able to sort of build as opposed to settling back?

DAVE TIPPETT:  Our concerns are we want to get better, but it’s probably no different than 29 other teams.  When you take as big a step as we did last year, there are certainly those concerns.  But I think what we’ve done is we’ve put a good foundation in place, and we recognize how we have to play to be successful.  If we come out and continue to do those same things, I think our ability to win hockey games will be the same.

Q.  Is there anything about hockey and Phoenix in general that you’d like people to know after all you’ve seen happen this year?

DAVE TIPPETT:  Well, it’s amazing that I almost put our fans in the same boat as our organization and as our players where there are a lot of fans in Phoenix that use the adversity to motivate them.  If you look at our building the last month of the season in the playoffs, it was one of the most fun buildings in the league.

So from that end, the fans that hung in there with us, and the new fans that we generate throughout the year, it’s a very positive thing for the organization.

Q.  Do you have a chance to meet the new owners tonight maybe if they’re around?

DAVE TIPPETT:  Yeah, I hope so, we’ll see.

Q.  Your joke about the owners, did you write that yourself?

DAVE TIPPETT:  Yeah (laughing).  Well, I thought somebody asked me that the other day.  Said, well what are you going to say if you win it?  And I said, well, most people probably go up and thank their owner, but I don’t know all 29 of them.  So in lieu of that, probably Gary Bettman and Bill Daly.

No, that’s part of the adversity that we dealt with all year.  It’s a different, unique kind of adversity, but I think our group handled it very well.

Q.  Do you have a message for the fans back in Phoenix?

DAVE TIPPETT:  Just that we’re going to continue to improve, continue to try to push forward with what we started last year, and we hope to have a lot more fun next year.

LAS VEGAS – Center Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks came into the NHL Awards as one of the most talented and dangerous players in the NHL. By the time he left Las Vegas he had the hardware and accolades that reflected the caliber of player he was this past season.

Prior to the NHL Awards, Henrik Sedin had already clinched the Art Ross Trophy which gets awarded to the player who was the 2010 Regular Season Scoring Champion (Sedin tallied 112 total points – 29 goals and 83 assists).

Sedin earned two further accolades at the NHL Awards by becoming the first Vancouver Canuck player in franchise history to win the Hart Trophy (Most Valuable Player to his team). Henrik Sedin was also voted to the 2009-2010 First All NHL All-Star Team. The Hart Trophy and the NHL All-Star Teams were voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the end of the 2009-2010 regular season.

In the Hart Trophy race, Henrik Sedin barely edged out two-time defending Hart Trophy recipient Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals by six first place votes and 60 overall votes (full voting tallies are below).

For the full list of the 2010 first and second team NHL All-Star Teams please refer to this article:

http://coyotes.azvibe.com/2010/06/23/2010-nhl-awards-bryzgalov-named-to-the-nhls-2nd-all-star-team/

Phoenix Coyotes Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov was 5th in the Hart Trophy race.

Henrik Sedin sat down with reporters following his Hart Trophy presentation. Here’s what he had to say:

Final 2010 Hart Trophy Voting
Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
1. Henrik Sedin, VAN 894 (46-34-27-19-4)
2. Alex Ovechkin, WSH 834 (40-35-22-22-13)
3. Sidney Crosby, PIT 729 (20-35-38-29-7)
4. Ryan Miller, BUF 505 (13-22-24-27-20)
5. Ilya Bryzgalov, PHX 354 (13-6-17-22-31)
6. Steven Stamkos, T.B. 28 (0-0-2-3-9)
7. Patrick Kane, CHI 17 (0-1-0-2-4)
8. Martin Brodeur, N.J. 16 (0-0-2-0-6)
9. Craig Anderson, COL 10 (1-0-0-0-0)
10. Patrick Marleau, S.J. 10 (0-0-0-3-1)
11. Nicklas Backstrom, WSH 10 (0-0-0-2-4)
12. Joe Thornton, S.J. 9 (0-0-0-1-6)
13. Zach Parise, N.J. 7 (0-0-1-0-2)
14. Mike Green, WSH 5 (0-0-0-1-2)
15. Zdeno Chara, BOS 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
16. Duncan Keith, CHI 3 (0-0-0-0-3)
17. Drew Doughty, L.A. 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
Marian Gaborik, NYR 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
Anze Kopitar, L.A. 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
Nicklas Lidstrom, DET 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
Tuukka Rask, BOS 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
Martin St. Louis, T.B. 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
23. Henrik Lundqvist, NYR 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Evgeni Nabokov, S.J. 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Chris Pronger, PHI 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Paul Stastny, COL 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Tomas Vokoun, FLA 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Shea Weber, NSH 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Henrik Zetterberg, DET 1 (0-0-0-0-1)