As If There Was Any Doubt

(Courtesy Claus Anderson/Getty Images)

Alex Ovechkin just continues to add to the makings of a Hall of Fame resume, one that he’ll probably complete before the age of 27. 

To recap:

05-06 Calder Trophy

07-08 Lester B. Pearson Award

07-08 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy

07-08 Hart Trophy

07-08 Art Ross Trophy

05-06, 06-07, 07-08 All-NHL First Team

163 Goals, 147 Assists for a total of 310 Points in 245 NHL Games. 

Oh, yeah, he’s also by far the most exciting player in the league. He makes amazing offensive plays several times a game, he’s got a rocket of a shot from the point on the power play and he throws the body like a 6-foot-5, 250 lb. defenseman. Nevermind the unmatched exuberance he throws out whenever he scores, his trademark jump into the boards becoming the premier highlight clip for the league. “Ovie” truly is the total package, and he has single handedly rebuilt hockey in our nation’s capital. 

The MVP (Hart Trophy) race was never in doubt once the Capitals surged into the playoff race in mid-March. Same thing with the coach of the year (Jack Adams), which was won by Caps bench boss Bruce Boudreau, who took over Glen Hanlon’s sinking ship on Thanksgiving. Sure, Evgeni Malkin and Mike Babcock supporters could pay lip service to their chances at the respective awards, but the rise of the Caps from league doormat to division champion in one year was matched in this year of sports only by the Celtics likely ascension to world champion Sunday or Tuesday. Ovechkin had the biggest hand in that, but Boudreau was a close second.

Other highlights from last night’s NHL Awards ceremony:

-Nicklas Lidstrom is the second greatest defenseman of all time. 6 Norris Trophies? The first European to captain a Stanley Cup Champion (and a dominant one at that?). Bobby Orr’s place in history is secure, but Lidstrom’s should be too. 

-Marty Brodeur stole the Vezina from Evgeni Nabakov. I know the Devils aren’t a playoff team without him in net this year, but the Sharks battled for the President’s Trophy on the back of Nabby, a more impressive feat in a MUCH tougher conference. Nevertheless, Brodeur’s win further cements his legacy as the greatest goaltender of all-time. 

Next up: The Draft. Should be very interesting with one of the deepest classes in the last 20 years. The trading season should begin the evening before, and free agency follows July 1. 

Also, congrats to the AHL’s 2008 Calder Cup Champions, the Chicago Wolves (affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers). 

A true classic

For the last two weeks the NBA has been billing the matchup between the Celtics and Lakers as the classic rivalry in league history. Thursday night the series finally got a game that lived up to the hype.

And it’s a good thing, because the series now appears to be all but over.

Boston pulled off the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history, erasing a 24-point first-half deficit in Los Angeles to beat the Lakers 97-91. And this will indeed go down as one of the most memorable gamesin NBA Finals history, for the good — Boston’s tremendous defense in the second half — and the bad — LA’s tremendous lack of poise, especially in the third quarter.

After the game, Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson said that the series is “not over.” Oh really?. No team has come back from a 3-1 deficit in Finals’ history, and the Lakers would have to win the final three games, including two in Boston to take the series. That’s not going to happen, no matter how much Zen you practice.

Instead,  suddenly Doc “Kobe-stopper” Rivers is a genius. Phil “my-team-lacks-poise” Jackson is being out-coached. And the Boston Celtics, the team that was devastated just about a year ago when they didn’t get the top pick in the NBA Draft, are a game away from winning their first NBA Championship in 22 years.

Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant is understandably not happy, after what was surely the most devastating loss of his legendary career.