Why He CAN Win The Hart Trophy

Henrik Lundqvist

As we all know, the playoffs have absolutely zero influence on the award winners at the end of the season (yeah right). But as they roll on and the Stanley Cup Final inches closer, a star continues to dominate at the top level. In fact, he's getting even better and rising up to the occasion every game. After a performance yesterday by the Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist sealed up his second shutout of the series, he is showing why he is a Hart Trophy candidate and why there's no reason he can't win it. 

When the playoffs begin, seeds no longer matter. Yes, they determine home ice advantage for the playoffs and show what a team has done all season, but they offer not even a prediction of what can happen when teams finally meet. The last seeded playoff team, the LA Kings, have played in fact just 12 games so far, losing just one of them. They are currently one win away from the Stanley Cup Final (an article about their current historic run will appear this week). 

Since the Rangers have started the playoffs, they have played well, but haven't had the easiest run. They have shown inconsistency from game to game, putting them in game seven's in both of their first round series'. But when their backs have been against the wall, and even when they have played great, the man in net continues to dazzle the eyes and put his name on the big stage.

Henrik Lundqvist had very good regular seasons since he debuted with the Rangers a few seasons ago. He's set a record for most 30 win seasons to start his career and has been the backbone of a Rangers team that has slowly been brought together with a mix of veteran and youth leadership. Lundqvist had 39 wins this year with a .930 save percentage and a 1.97 goals against, some of the best numbers in the league. He also had one of the best defenses in hockey this year though, with Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh leading that impressive core. 

Lundqvist hasn't ever been bad in the playoffs, winning many games for the Rangers by himself, however, he never won that "huge" game that would put him on another level. This year, Hank has done just that. He has played all 17 Rangers playoff games this year and it's only midway through the Eastern Conference Final. Lundqvist has a .942 save percentage which only seems to go up a little each game as he lets less and less through. His goals against is 1.57 which is also very impressive. His three shutouts have come at times when the Rangers haven't looked good in front of him, stopping 30+ shots in two of those three games. Lundqvist has not let up more than three goals in any playoff game yet this year and has starred in those two huge game sevens, letting up just one goal in each game as his team scored two.

Watching the Rangers play the Devils yesterday, I don't know if my jaw has officially realigned itself after dropping time and time again as Lundqvist stopped shot after shot, breakaway after breakaway, with remarkable saves. The game should have been 5-0 after two periods, however, Lundqvist was not going to let that happen and the Rangers finally awoke to help him preserve an ever so worthy shutout. And although he is not leading the league in stats right now, Jonathon Quick is, he hasn't had the team that Quick has had in front of him either. 

The Hockey New's Adam Proteau's tweeted yesterday, "Looking forward to Henrik Lundqvist being revealed as the world's first fully automated, completely lifelike GoalieBot." It's pretty certain Henrik Lundqvist plays like a robot, as he awaits out his opponent on every move, making sure he is in the perfect spot to make a save. However, the fact is, the man is human. He's just a human that is very good at what he does. Yes, Henrik Lundqvist can win the Hart Trophy. But I'm sure he really doesn't care about that. If he keeps up what he is doing, he may just by carrying home an even bigger trophy in a few weeks.