Avalanche, Crosby, Bergeron win big at Awards

LAS VEGAS -- The Colorado Avalanche were 13 voting points shy of a perfect show Tuesday night at the 2014 NHL Awards.

Three out of four is still quite the accomplishment for a team that last year at this time was preparing to select first in the NHL Draft, hoping to build for the future with a new coach and management hierarchy.

"Unfortunately [goalie Semyon Varlamov] couldn't win, but it's definitely nice to have us all win," said Avalanche center Ryan O'Reilly, who won the Lady Byng Trophy. "We can celebrate it together."

Colorado's Patrick Roy won the Jack Adams Award in his first season as a NHL coach, topping Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock and Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper. Roy received 68 out of 95 first-place votes, was named on 89 ballots and had 399 voting points, 236 more than Babcock. It's all a result of him leading the Avalanche to a 112-point season and the Central Division regular-season title.

Colorado was third in the overall standings this season after finishing 29th in 2012-13.

"Throughout the year he always reinforced that whatever we did to do it with intensity and to do it as best we could," O'Reilly said of Roy. "There were times where we could have relaxed a bit, but he kept us going. He made adjustments when he needed to and without those adjustments there's no way we would have won the division."

Nathan MacKinnon, the player Colorado selected with the No. 1 pick last June, was a landslide winner in balloting for the Calder Trophy as the League's top rookie, receiving 130 of 137 possible first-place votes. The 18-year-old forward is the youngest player in history to win the Calder Trophy.

He led all rookies with 39 assists, 63 points, 241 shots on goal and eight power play goals. He was tied for first among rookies with 24 goals and five game-winning goals. MacKinnon had a 13-game point streak from Jan. 25 to March 6, breaking Wayne Gretzky's record for longest single-season point streak by a player age 18 or younger.

"I was very fortunate to be brought into a good team," MacKinnon said. "A lot of high picks come into teams that struggle for the first few years. Thankfully, I jumped into a winning [environment]. We started off strong and we kept it going from there. Overall it was definitely the best year of my life."

O'Reilly joined Hall of Fame member and current Colorado president of hockey operations Joe Sakic as the only Avalanche players to win the Lady Byng Trophy, which is awarded "to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."

O'Reilly had two penalty minutes in 80 games this season. He led the Avalanche with a career-best 28 goals and was first in the NHL with 83 takeaways. O'Reilly blew away his competition, finishing with 110 of 131 first-place votes and 1,181 voting points. New York Rangers forward Martin St. Louis was second with 358 points.

"When I lose a game, I tend to get a little emotional and a little upset, which is something I've tried to overcome. But on the ice, my dad has always said you can't score a goal from the penalty box," O'Reilly said. "He always said when you want to get back at someone and hurt the team you're playing against the most, you have to put the puck in the net, you've gotta score, you've gotta beat them. That's the only way to truly hurt a team. That's been a guideline that I've always played by."

Varlamov came close to winning the Vezina Trophy but he was edged by Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, who finished with 16 out of a possible 30 first-place votes and 113 voting points to win the Vezina for the first time in his career. Varlamov had eight first-place votes and 90 points. The NHL general managers vote on the Vezina Trophy.

"They know the game really well and maybe in the future I have some friends there in other teams, if they like me that much," Rask joked. "But they really know the game and it means a lot that the bosses voted you as the best goalie."

Rask had 36 wins to help the Bruins' win the Presidents' Trophy. He allowed two or fewer goals in 37 of 58 starts and was first in the NHL in shutouts (seven), second in save percentage (.930), fourth in goals-against average (2.04) and fifth in wins.

He was admittedly stunned that he won.

"It's a great honor as everybody says, but I'm still kind of shocked that I can't really answer any questions," Rask said. "It's a great honor. There's so many good goalies in the League that 10 guys could have easily won it. They picked me, so it's a great honor."

Rask was joined by Bruins' teammate Patrice Bergeron as a winner Tuesday night.

Bergeron was actually a triple winner: He took home the Selke Trophy as the League's top defensive forward and the NHL Foundation Award, which goes to the player "who applies the core values of (ice) hockey commitment, perseverance and teamwork to enrich the lives of people in his community."

Bergeron was also voted as the EA Sports NHL 15 cover athlete.

"How many did he get, four or five?" Rask joked about Bergeron's awards. "He deserved every single trophy he gets, and today he got many so I'm really happy for him."

Bergeron is now a two-time Selke Trophy winner; he also won in 2012. It's his first time as a NHL Foundation Award winner.

Bergeron was third in the League in faceoff percentage (58.6 percent) and was tops with 1,015 faceoff wins. He was second in the League with a plus-38 rating, finishing 66 of his 80 games even or better. He also had a League-best 61.2-percent Corsi-for rating, according to ExtraSkater.com.

Bergeron received 112 first-place votes of the 137 ballots cast. Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar was second and Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews was third.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was also a triple winner Tuesday, taking home the Hart Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Award and the Art Ross Trophy. Crosby led the League with 104 points. He received 128 out of a possible 137 first-place votes for the Hart Trophy.

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith won the Norris Trophy for the second time in five years. He received 68 first-place votes, was named on 129 of 137 ballots and had 1,033 voting points. Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was second with 667 points and Nashville Predators captain Shea Weber finished third with 638 points.

New York Rangers center Dominic Moore won the Bill Masterton Trophy for "perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey." Moore returned to the NHL this past season after taking a year off following the death of his wife, Katie, who passed away in January 2013 from a rare form of liver cancer. She was 32.

"Awards like this, especially this award about perseverance, is a shared thing," Moore said. "I'm just grateful for all the support and encouragement that I've personally gotten throughout my coming back and playing. It was a lot harder than I ever thought. I owe a lot to the people around me for getting through and this award is a nice recognition of that."

Bob Murray of the Anaheim Ducks won the GM of the Year Award, which is voted on by the League's 30 general managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media. The Ducks won the Pacific Division regular-season title with 116 points and finished one point behind the Bruins for the Presidents' Trophy.

"Your peers vote on this, so any time your peers vote an award to you it's really special," Murray said. "That's what it means to me, my group of guys deemed me worthy of this. It's just really special that way."

Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown won the Mark Messier Leadership Award presented by Bridgestone. He beat out finalists Ryan Getzlaf of the Ducks and Toews for the award that goes to a player "in recognition of his commitment and service to charities in his community."

Edmonton Oilers captain Andrew Ference was feted with the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which is awarded "to the player who best exemplifies leadership on and off the ice and who has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution to his community."

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was given the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal-scorer. He finished with 51 goals to win the trophy for the second straight season and fourth time in his career.

Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, who was not in attendance after having surgery on his wrist earlier Tuesday, won the William M. Jennings Award, which goes to the goalie or goalies who played a minimum of 25 games on the team that allowed the fewest goals.

Quick saw the most action on a Kings' team that allowed a League-low 174 goals. He allowed 100 goals in 49 appearances and finished with a 2.07 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and six shutouts.

---