The finalists for the Calder Trophy were announced today, and the finalists are:
Steve Mason (who will win in a landslide)
Bobby Ryan (solid choice and deserves to be closer to Mason than he'll end up)
Kris Versteeg (22 G, 31 A, 53 P, +15, 55 PIM, 16 PP Points, 17:02 TOI/G)
Now, I know I shouldn't let this bother me. Like Earl constantly says, the Calder Trophy is ultimately meaningless and if anything it hurts your team because the player can use it to get more money in contract negotiations. But still, it does.
It bothers me that Drew Doughty wasn't nominated even though he led all rookie defensemen (and the Kings) in ice time. The Kings finished 4th in the league on shots on goal against.
It bothers me that Drew Doughty wasn't nominated even though he play 3 1/2 minutes a game on the power play and 3 minutes a game on the penalty kill
It bothers me that Doughty wasn't nominated even though he tied for the lead in scoring by a rookie defenseman with 27 points (although he would have been passed by a few people if they had played an entire season).
It bothers me that Doughty wasn't nominated even though he did this at 18/19 years old.
It bothers me that Kris Versteeg only had 53 points and was the 4th leading scorer on his team, while Doughty was the leader of the Kings' defense.
It bothers me that this is the 2nd time this has happened (Kopitar in 2006), but at least Jordan Staal had hype and national attention on his side; what does Kris Versteeg have going for him other than he doesn't play on the West Coast?
It bothers me that Kris Versteeg is a good young player but now I'm always going to hate him a little bit.
It bothers me that someone is going to say, "Who cares, it's just a nomination," because something doesn't become less wrong just because it's not that important.
It bothers me that Doughty was one of the few bright spots on the Kings this season and the rest of the league was apparently oblivious to it.
It bothers me because I can't imagine someone saying they'd rather have a 53-point forward than a 27-point, 23:49 TOI/G defenseman, and yet here we are.
It bothers me.
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