TORONTO (AP) – With the All-Star break in the rear view mirror for the T80HL, none other than Don Cherry takes a look at the award races as we hit the final third of the season. Here’s what Grapes had to say on a special episode of “Coach’s Corner” on CBC’s “Hockey Day in Canada” as part of All-Star weekend alongside Ron MacLean:

The All-Star break is in the rearview window and teams are starting to look towards the unofficial second half of the season.  In addition, pundits across the T80HL cities are starting to look at potential award winners. Count us in, too.  Today, we are going to look at the major awards: 

• Hart Memorial Trophy – Player judged to be most valuable to his team.
• Norris Trophy – Defense player who has demonstrated the greatest all-round ability at the position.
• Vezina Trophy – Goalie judged to be the best at this position.
• Calder Trophy – Player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition.
• Adams Trophy – Coach/GM judged to have contributed the most to his team’s success. We are considering both coach and General Manager when reviewing the Adams Trophy as they work so closely in tandem.

For each award, we will review:

• The Popular Pick – this is the player, coach or GM who the regular fan will expect to be the winner based.
• The Underdog Pick – This is the player, coach or GM that deserves some attention for the award but may be flying under the radar of the average fan.
• The Better-Not Win Pick – This is the player, coach or GM who may garner lots of attention but should not be given any vote or consideration. 
• My Pick – This is the player, coach or GM that I humbly suggest should win the award.

Hart Memorial Trophy 

Popular Pick – Dale Hawerchuk, Minnesota North Stars

Hawerchuk is the easy pick for the Hart Trophy at the break and rightfully so.  He leads the league in points by 5 points and his 61 assists would put him tied for 19^th in league scoring alone.  However, he does have 32 goals, ranking him 4^th in the league, with 27 of them coming at even strength.  He has done everything that the North Stars could have asked for and more.  There is a reason the North Stars are on top of the league. And Hawerchuk is a main reason.

Underdog Pick – Larry Murphy, Washington Capitals

Defensemen very rarely win the Hart Trophy and that likely won’t change this season.  But if it does, it will be because of the season Larry Murphy is having.  Murphy is tied for 8^th in league scoring, ahead of the likes of Mike Bossy and Adam Oates, and he is 3^rd in assists. If there is one thing keeping him back it is his poor defensive play. But, if he continues to run away with the blue line scoring title and leads the Capitals to the Adams Division, or even the Wales Conference title, he will have to be in the conversation.

Better-Not Win Pick – Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings

Voters who paid attention to the first few weeks of the league will remember Steve Yzerman’s amazing goal scoring streak to start the season.  He was a goal per game player for almost 30 games and was leading the league in points.  Then the goals stopped coming and the Red Wings started their fall down the standings.  He is still 4^th in league scoring and doing his part, but he isn’t bringing the team with him. 

My Pick – Mario Lemieux, Edmonton Oilers

Until last week, Mario was leading the league in points and dragging the Oilers into a solid playoff position. Have you looked at this team? They looked like a definite lottery team at the beginning of the year, battling the Leafs and Devils for the league basement.  Then Mario got started and the Oilers have been one of the hottest teams in the league.  Does anyone think they would be where they are without him and Mike Bullard as their #1 centre?  If Lemieux can stay close to Hawerchuk in league scoring, or even win the Art Ross, the award should rightfully be his.

Norris Trophy

Popular Pick – Larry Murphy, Washington Capitals

If you are a contender for the Hart Trophy, you damn well are the favourite for the Norris Trophy as well. As it stands, Murphy is the clear leader as the best defenseman.  He is on the way to 100 points as a blue liner and has the Caps in line for a top position in the Wales Conference.  His 57 assists still puts him in the top 30 in league scoring.  He has been all the Caps could ask for and more.  He anchors the league’s 3^rd ranked power play and plays prime minutes on the penalty kill as well, though the PK team does rank last in the league, so that isn’t a selling point.  If you are a betting man, put some cash down on Murphy winning the in augural Norris.  You won’t win much, but it is as safe a bet as there is right now.

Underdog Pick – Chris Chelios, Montreal Canadiens

I’m not sure how much of an underdog pick Chelios would be when you are 3^rd in defenseman scoring and lead all blue liners with 20 goals.  However, anyone other than Murphy is an underdog pick at this point.  Chelios could finish with 40 goals on the year and gives the Habs a 4th threat after Mats Naslund, Guy Lafleur, and Bobby Smith. Chelios, like Murphy, anchors the power play, 4^th in the league, just behind Washington, while the PK is in the middle of the league. Chelios could sneak up there if Murphy stumbles, but either way it will be fun to watch him if he can keep scoring goals.

Better-Not Win Pick – Paul Coffey, Hartford Whalers

Coffey is putting up a point per game and is in the top 5 in scoring for blue liners.  His 18 goals rank only behind Chelios.  He is having a great offensive season for the Whalers. Not surprising for the smooth skater. However, unlike his counterparts Murphy and Chelios, Coffey hasn’t been performing in his own end. The Whalers are a plus team, though most of their players are negative ratings.  None are like Coffey, though. His -19 rating is the worst on the team by a significant margin. No matter how many points Coffey gets, or points he collects, the fact that Coffey has such a bad rating and that the Whalers are so far back from the playoff cut line, means there is no reason Coffey, at this point, should be considered for the Norris.

My Pick – Larry Murphy, Washington Capitals.  

There is simply no overlooking Murphy’s first half.  He has simply been head and shoulders better than any other blue liner and, at this point, should win the award.

Vezina Trophy 

Popular Pick – Don Beaupre, Minnesota North Stars

Some way question why Fuhr isn’t the popular pick. Afterall, he does lead the league in GAA at 2.83, shutouts with 3, and save percentage at .894. I mean, that is the trifecta that should win you a Vezina. However, Beaupre leads the league and wins (32) and fewest losses (9) and trails Fuhr by just inches in all those categories, all while leading his team to the best record in hockey. Oh, and he has done that while playing more than 250 minutes fewer than Fuhr. To me, that is why he is the popular pick, if not the best pick.

Underdog Pick – Clint Malarchuk, Vancouver Canucks

It is very rare to see a rookie in the running for any major award, other than the Calder Trophy of course. But Malarchuk deserves to be in the talks for top goalie in the league, not just top rookie.  He has played in 45 games, leading the Canucks to second place in the Campbell Conference.  He has the 4^th best GAA and his save percentage is just .002 lower than Grant Fuhr’s. He has played fewer minutes than the other top contenders, meaning it is possible he could play more than the others in the second half and even improve his stats. The Canucks have their goaltending set for the next decade, and he could  

Better-Not Win Pick – Andy Moog, Boston Bruins

Moog is up there in the Vezina discussions thanks to his league-leading 3 shut outs, 28 wins and 5^th best 3.21 GAA.  However, he shouldn’t be in the discussions at all.  And that is because he has benefitted from a good team in front of him.  He has not don’t much to earn those 28 wins as his 0.876 save percentage indicates his poor play. Add in the fact that the Bruins give up the second fewest number of shots per game in the league and it is obvious that the Bruins are winning despite Moog’s play.  He will stay in the discussions because his team is winning.  But if this play continues in the second half, those talks should quiet down.  Fortunately for him, he may not be playing much in the second half as management has already played him more than 3000 minutes. With a hard 4,000 minute goalie limit, Moog only has about 16 games left to play. That is some ghastly goalie management by coach Roger Neilson.

My Pick – Grant Fuhr – New York Islanders

The Islanders are on top of the Wales Conference thanks to a rock-solid defense. They have allowed almost half a goal less per game than the next team and that is a testament to Fuhr’s play. He leads the league in goals against average, save percentage, and shut out and is tied for 3^rd in wins. The Islanders are 11^th in goals scored and only have 2 players, Mike Bossy and Tim Kerr, in the top 30 in league scoring. Without the play of Fuhr, the Islanders may very well be on the wrong side of the playoff cut line instead of leading the way.

Calder Trophy

Popular Pick – Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings

Yzerman is in the discussion for the Hart Trophy, so obviously he will be the favourite for the Calder. He is not only running away with the rookie scoring race, he’s in the top five in scoring in the entire league. He is second in goals with 36 and it is almost sure that he will hit 50 goals this year.  As a rookie.  Not sure what else needs to be said.  Yzerman is the clear Calder front runner.

Underdog Pick – Luc Robitaille, Los Angeles Kings

It is a slugfest of players fighting for second place in scoring for rookies. Five of them already have more than 50 points and Robitaille is 5^th.  However, he has 29 goals, second just to Yzerman, and has a chance at 50 goals.  He could challenge Yzerman for goals, but Robitaille is a sniper, not a playmaker, so he is never going to catch his point total.  But if he can catch and pass Yzerman in goals, and he breaks the 50-goal plateau, Robitaille could a surprise challenger.

Better-Not Win Pick – No One

Really, these players are in their first year in the toughest league in the world.  Anyone good enough to play in this league, deserves to be considered. 

My Pick – Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings

He is just too good and is putting up too many numbers not to win this award.  It is as close to a no-brainer as possible.

Adams Trophy

Popular Pick – Bob Gainey/Greg Sykes, Minnesota North Stars

The North Stars are running away with the league and the combo of Gainey and Sykes gets much of the credit for putting this team together.  Sykes started by quickly snapping up Dale Hawerchuk in the initial dispersal draft, a pick that now seems like pure brilliance. Since then, he has also acquired Rick Vaive to shore up the offense, while acquisitions Brad McCrimmon and Kevin Lowe helped out on the defensive side. He already had a strong nucleus with Neal Broten, Brian Bellows, Dino Ciccarelli, and Don Beaupre, but Sykes brought in the extra talent needed to go all the way. Gainey has taken that talent and made sure it all fits together. He has the offense humming to the tune of almost 4.5 goals per game, tops in the league, and the defense is second best, giving up just over 3 goals. If there is a negative for this team, it is the power play which ranks a surprising 11^th.  With no true offensive defenseman on the team, that may be one area Sykes looks to bolster as the trade deadline approaches. If he can give Gainey that, an already seemingly unstoppable team may be able to coast to the championship.

Underdog Pick – Tom Barkley/Mark Jones, Edmonton Oilers

I’m going to admit that this was perhaps the toughest category to pick from in this entire exercise. I considered Al Arbour/ PJ Jennings in Long Island, as Jennings’ picking Grant Fuhr in the dispersal draft and trade bringing in Tim Kerr has paid off in spades and the team is leading the conference.  But that isn’t really an underdog as they will be both in serious contention for this award come year end.  I would desperately love to name Dave King and Tom Levitt in Chicago as they made a ton of trades to try to challenge this year and it has simply not happened yet. They have been a bit of a disappointment to be honest. That is more on King than Levitt, though. Bryan Murray/Andrew Wood in Washington haven’t made a deal this year, though getting Doug Gilmour and Brent Ashton in the dispersal draft has worked well. The combo of Pat Quinn and John Mosher in Vancouver could also be considered, though any team with Wayne Gretzky should be expected to do well and Mosher hasn’t done anything to add to his team yet. So, I went way down to pick Barkley and Jones in Edmonton.  They have made the switch from Pittsburgh to Edmonton, saving a city that had seen its dynasty team ripped apart and given to the rest of the league.  Jones was able to save Glenn Anderson and Steve Smith, though. Jones has made 3 trades this year, all with the eye on the future, but most of his work has been done in the open market.  Jones reportedly cut almost a dozen players in the off season, replacing them with unsigned players, leaving Barkley the challenge of making it work.  And, for the past 30 games, he has done just that.  The Oilers have gone from contending with the Devils and Maple Leafs for last in the league, to being in 3^rd place in the Campbell Conference.  Riding Mario Lemieux is of course a no brainer, but he has everyone playing well enough in the weaker conference to make the playoffs a distinct possibility.  And their farm team is running away with the title, so they have a decent future it appears.

Better-Not Win Pick – Jim Schoenfeld/Al O’Neill, New Jersey Devils

In some manner of thinking, General Manager Al O’Neill could actually be commended for his performance so far this season. Citing a need to strip down the club and rebuild, O’Neill basically traded away anyone of importance or talent during the preseason and early parts of the regular season. He traded away picks in upcoming drafts for future drafts as he had his sights fixed on the future. He completed 7 trades this season and has given his coach almost nothing to work with. Schoenfeld can hardly be blamed for his team’s last place performance given the team he is able to put on the ice each night. There are a few bright spots, but this team is being built to be competitive in the mid-1990s, not now. They will be bad for many years, perhaps more than O’Neill will even be around for if ownership isn’t able to go along with a half-decade of losing. But what really puts O’Neill in this category, for me, is his public cheering of team losses and anger when they actually win a game. Look, we all know he wants to lose to get a good draft pick.  The world knows that.  But to actually publicly cheer against your team is…I don’t know…wrong. It goes against the spirit of the game and I can’t believe any player would want to play for a GM actively campaigning against you. Granted this behaviour has dwindled over the past little while. Whether that is because O’Neill was forced to back down by the league or his own owner, or he has just become to busy with alternative pursuits, I don’t know.  Hopefully he just realized how he was violating the spirit of competition. Unfortunately, he has stained this franchise for this year and hopefully the hockey gods will not reward him with the #1 overall pick.  We all know teams try to tank, by trading away talent, but all teams should be icing the best team they can each night and trying their best. Otherwise, it is the fabric of the game being lost.

My Pick – Bob Gainey/Greg Sykes, Minnesota North Stars

Sykes has brought in the talent to win it all and Gainey has them humming.  There are other teams going for it, but have not been able to pull of the right deal, have not had the courage, or it has not worked out as anticipated. For Minnesota, so far, everything has turned to gold and they should be making space for the Adams Trophy, along with other hardware, come season’s end.

HARTFORD (AP)- All-Star weekend for the T80HL continued on with a trio of entertaining contests between the best of the Wales Conference and the elite of the Campbell Conference in front of a capacity crowd in the city known as the Insurance Capital of the World. There was no shortage of luminaries in attendance for the festivities and the players were intent on delivering an entertaining product for those in attendance, not to mention the millions tuned in to see the contest both in the United States (via NBC) and in Canada (thanks to CBC) on television.

For more information about how things played out, check out the links below:

http://t80hl.com/AllStarsex1.html

http://t80hl.com/AllStarsex2.html

http://t80hl.com/AllStarsex3.html

More coverage from this weekend’s festivities will be forthcoming so stay tuned for updates about the rest of the T80HL season. Regular season action resumes Monday with most teams having 25 or 26 games left before the postseason.

HARTFORD (AP) – All-Star weekend for the T80HL got underway Saturday evening before a capacity crowd at the Hartford Civic Center with the skills competition. Fans got to see some of the league’s elite players showcase their skills and put on a show to make things entertaining ahead of Sunday’s trio of exhibition contests between the Wales and Campbell Conference All-Star teams.

All in all, it was a showcase for the Wales Conference, who rolled to an 11-4 victory in the skills competition. The Wales got off to a strong start as they won the puck control relay by rallying late in the race. After Vancouver’s Wayne Gretzky staked the Campbell to an advantage in the first leg of the race, Paul Coffey of the hometown Whalers outclassed Detroit’s Phil Housley and hit the line with a two-foot advantage heading into the final leg. The Rangers’ Mark Messier outskated Toronto’s Jari Kurri in the final leg to give the edge to the Wales Conference. In the individual race, Washington’s Mike Gartner outskated Detroit’s Steve Yzerman to give the nod to the Wales once again.

The fastest skater competition was back and it was Gartner, along with Coffey and Montreal’s Mats Naslund, blitzing their way to a win for the Wales. They bested the trio of Edmonton’s Glenn Anderson, Minnesota’s Brian Bellows and Yzerman. Coffey and Gartner tied for the fastest lap as both men blazed to a 13.763-second lap. All told, the Wales’ team average of 13.905 seconds was a shade better than the Campbell’s 14.031-second average.

The hardest shot competition was next with each team having four skaters teeing the puck up to hammer their fastest shot on goal. Five of the eight skaters cracked the century mark in miles per hour for the competition with Boston’s Ray Bourque leading the way with a 104.2 mile per hour blast. That helped the Wales earn the edge as they averaged nearly three miles an hour faster than the Campbell in the contest.

The Rapid Fire competition was next with three pairs of shooters testing the mettle of the goaltenders. Each pair fired 10 shots on one of the three goaltenders in the mix. The Campbell Conference got off to a shaky start as the combination of Washington’s Doug Gilmour and the Islanders’ Mike Bossy torched Minnesota netminder Don Beaupre for six goals on their 10 shots. Though Calgary’s Mike Vernon and Vancouver’s Clint Malarchuk did their best to keep the Campbell in it, the trio of Wales Conference goaltenders (the Islanders’ Grant Fuhr, the Bruins’ Andy Moog and the Rangers’ John Vanbiesbrouck) proved to be too much to handle.

The accuracy shooting competition is where the Campbell shined the most. Gretzky and Kurri both needed just four shots to obliterate the four targets, as did Bossy for the Wales Conference. The other competitors (Gilmour, Gartner and Messier for the Wales along with Lemieux and the Kings’ Luc Robitaille for the Campbell) battled but in the end, the Campbell Conference snipers were enough to come up with the victory. That led into the breakaway relay, where each goaltender faced a group of six skaters on breakaways. Each team dented the twine six times in their 18 attempts with Vanbiesbrouck turning in the best showing by stopping five of the six shooters.

The competition ended with a bit of a comedy routine as the goalies all had opportunities to try and hit the empty net. Unfortunately, all they managed to do was create plenty of laughs for the fans and the other members of their respective teams as none of the six managed to dent the twine, leaving Billy Smith of the Islanders as the last goaltender to be credited with a goal, which happened when the Colorado Rockies back passed the puck into their own net in a game on November 28, 1979.

Next on the schedule is the trio of All-Star Games on Sunday, May 16 so tune in for more action. Details of the skills competition can be found below.

http://T80HL.com/Accuracy.html
http://T80HL.com/BreakawayRelay.html
http://T80HL.com/FastestSkater.html
http://T80HL.com/GoalieGoals.html
http://T80HL.com/HardestShot.html
http://T80HL.com/PuckControl.html
http://T80HL.com/PuckControlRelay.html
http://T80HL.com/RapidFire.html
http://T80HL.com/Summary.html

HARTFORD (AP)- The T80HL League office announced the selections for the 1986/87 T80HL All-Star Game, coming to you from the Hartford Civic Center. There were more than 1.2 million votes cast during the open voting session and there is plenty of representation from around the league as some of the top stars will be skating during All-Star weekend. Without further ado, the rosters for the conferences are listed below:

WALES CONFERENCE

Bryan Trottier, C – New York Islanders
Mark Messier, C – New York Rangers
Doug Gilmour, C – Washington Capitals
Bobby Smith, C – Montreal Canadiens

Mats Naslund, LW – Montreal Canadiens
Brian Propp, LW – New York Islanders
Thomas Steen, LW – Montreal Canadiens
Anton Stastny, LW – Hartford Whalers

Mike Bossy, RW – New York Islanders
Mike Gartner, RW – Washington Capitals
Dave Christian, RW – Washington Capitals
Guy Lafleur, RW – Montreal Canadiens

Paul Coffey, D – Hartford Whalers
Chris Chelios, D – Montreal Canadiens
Ray Bourque, D – Boston Bruins
Larry Murphy, D – Washington Capitals
Scott Stevens, D – Washington Capitals
Denis Potvin, D – New York Islanders

Grant Fuhr, G – New York Islanders
Andy Moog, G – Boston Bruins
John Vanbiesbrouck – New York Rangers

PJ Jennings, GM – New York Islanders

CAMPBELL CONFERENCE

Mario Lemieux, C – Edmonton Oilers
Steve Yzerman, C – Detroit Red Wings
Dale Hawerchuk, C – Minnesota North Stars
Wayne Gretzky, C – Vancouver Canucks

Dave Andreychuk, LW – Calgary Flames
Patrick Sundstrom, LW – Vancouver Canucks
Brian Bellows, LW – Minnesota North Stars
Luc Robitaille, LW – Los Angeles Kings

Dino Ciccarelli, RW – Minnesota North Stars
Jari Kurri, RW – Toronto Maple Leafs
Rick Vaive, RW – Minnesota North Stars
Glenn Anderson, RW – Edmonton Oilers

Phil Housley, D – Detroit Red Wings
Craig Hartsburg, D – Minnesota North Stars
Doug Wilson, D – Chicago Blackhawks
Gary Suter, D – Calgary Flames
Al MacInnis, D – Calgary Flames
Moe Mantha, D – Edmonton Oilers

Clint Malarchuk, G – Vancouver Canucks
Don Beaupre, G – Minnesota North Stars
Mike Vernon, G – Calgary Flames

Greg Sykes, GM – Minnesota North Stars

All-Star weekend will take place May 15-16, 2021 with the Skills Competition taking place on Saturday, May 15 and a trio of All-Star Games on May 16. This ensures that all three goaltenders will get one start in net. The GMs can just draft text lines and send them in along with how they want to slot players for the skills competition.

Congratulations to all the All-Stars selected and thanks to all the fans for sending in their votes!