Shesterkin a Hart Trophy finalist and no discipline for the Crosby injury

It’s just another day in the postseason for the New York Rangers with another honor for Igor Shesterkin.  In late breaking news it looks like the NHL has deemed that there was nothing illegal in the play that injured Sidney Crosby.

Another honor for New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin as he was named a finalist for the Hart Trophy along with Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews. The Hart Memorial Trophy is awarded to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.  It’s unlikely that Shesterkin will win, but there is no doubt that he was the Rangers’ most valuable player this season.

The overwhelming favorite has to be Auston Matthews who scored 60 goals, making him the first player in a decade to reach that mark and only the 21st player in NHL history.  Connor McDavid was the Art Ross Trophy winner, leading the NHL in scoring 123 points in 80 games.

Both Matthews and McDavid arguably have better supporting players and you would believe that both Toronto and Edmonton would have been playoff teams this season.  The question is whether the Rangers would have finished anywhere near where they did this season without Shesterkin.

Of course, Shesterkin is the overwhelming favorite to win the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top netminder.

The Crosby injury

The hottest topic in the NHL today is the Jacob Trouba hit on Sidney Crosby. Of course, the Penguins and their fans are proclaiming it was a dirty hit and Trouba was headhunting.  The latest from Mike Sullivan is that Crosby will be evaluated in Pittsburgh today and he has an “upper body injury.”    He backed off his accusation that it was a dirty hit and said that it isn’t up to him to determine if supplemental discipline is necessary.

Here is the play, one more time.  After looking at it carefully, it’s probably more appropriate to stop calling it a hit since it was more of a collision.

Here’s another slow motion version, though it starts late.

On Hockey Night in Canada, former NHL defenseman Kevin Bieksa analyzed the play and made a very simple and logical explanation of why it was not a head shot. He pointed out that Trouba is a right shot defenseman and if you are targeting a player’s head, you simply do not lead with your stick hand.

Looking at the play, Trouba was going for the puck and his stick hit Crosby’s skates, knocking him off balance and leading to the collision.  Bieksa was a right shot defenseman and he knows what he is talking about.

There has been no official word from the NHL about the chance for any supplemental discipline or if there will even be a hearing, but the New York Post’s Larry Brooks reported that there will be no further discipline.

If they had suspended Trouba, ponder this.  Darnell Nurse of the Edmonton Oilers was suspended for one game for a head butt.  Look at the play (preceded by a slash).

If that offense is worth a one-game suspension, there is no way that the Trouba play is even in the same league.