The National Hockey League revealed its Hart Trophy finalists Thursday for the league's Most Valuable Player and announced that Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, Claude Giroux who captains the Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf are up for the honor.
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NHL.com revealed the trio is nominated for the Hart Memorial Trophy awarded "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team." The Professional Hockey Writers' Association submitted votes at the end of the regular season and the top three vote-getters were announced as finalists.
Spots World News has also unveiled predictions for the Norris Trophy and Vezina Trophy.
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Crosby led the entire NHL with 68 assists and 104 points and finished seventh in goals with 36 while capturing his second Art Ross Trophy and leading the Penguins to the Metropolitan Division crown.
Crosby, 26, won the Hart Trophy in 2006-07 and has been nominated for the award four times in his career, finishing as the runner-up twice. "Sid the Kid" had points in 60 of 80 games and 30 multi-point games this season.
Getzlaf, 28, is a first time Hart Trophy finalist and notched a career-high 31 goals while finishing second in the league in points (87) and fifth in assists (56) while leading the Ducks to the best record in the Western Conference and a Pacific Division crown.
The Ducks set franchise record with 54 wins, 29 home wins, 25 road wins and 116 points on the back of Getzlaf, who had a career-high seven game-winning goals and a 14-game point streak during the middle of the season.
Giroux was third in the league with 86 points and was able to match a career-high in goals (28) despite a slow start. He was able to help lead the Flyers out of an early-season rut and into the postseason as the No. 3 seed in the Metropolitan Division bracket.
Giroux, 26, notched his 100th career goal this season and finished the last 67 games of the season by recording 79 points in that span while also going on a nine-game point streak during the season. Giroux is up for the Hart Trophy for the first time in his career.
Prediction: While Getzlaf had a tremendous year for the red-hot Ducks by setting a career-high in goals and finishing second with 87 points and Giroux was instrumental in the Flyers turnaround by matching his career-best for goals and finishing third in the scoring race, Crosby is the clear winner here. Crosby not only led the entire league in points and assists, he matched his third-highest goal total for any season and was a tremendous all-around player and leader for his team proving once again to be the best in the sport.
The Pick: Crosby wins the Hart Trophy
The winner of the Hart Trophy will be announced Tuesday, June 24, during the 2014 NHL Awards from Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas.
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