NHL Awards 2011: Bruins' Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas Take Home More Hardware

The 2010-11 NHL season has finally (unofficially, anyway) come to a close. The Boston Bruins won the biggest trophy of all, but a lot more hardware was handed out tonight at The Palms in Las Vegas. Below is the list of all the award winners on the night: 

Jack Adams - Pittsburgh Penguins' Dan Bylsma

Messier Award - Boston Bruins' Zdeno Chara

Norris Trophy - Detroit Red Wings' Nicklas Lidstrom

Selke Trophy - Vancouver Canucks' Ryan Kesler

Calder Trophy - Carolina Hurricanes' Jeff Skinner

Masterson Trophy - Philadelphia Flyers' Ian Laperriere

Lady Byng Trophy - Tampa Bay Lightning's Martin St. Louis

Lindsay Award - Vancouver's Daniel Sedin

NHL Foundation Award - Los Angeles Kings' Dustin Brown

Vezina Trophy - Boston's Tim Thomas

Hart Trophy - Corey Perry

For More Bruins coverage, visit our team page and blog, Stanley Cup of Chowder

NHL Awards 2011: Boston Bruins' Tim Thomas Wins Second Vezina Trophy

Following a season in which he set the NHL record for best save percentage (.938%), Tim Thomas was awarded his second Vezina Trophy in three years, firmly entrenching the Boston goaltender into an elite class. 

Since the NHL adopted the current criteria for the Vezina Trophy in 1982, only Patrick Roy, Ed Belfour, Dominik Hasek and Martin Brodeur have been multiple-time winners of the award. With Thomas, they account for 17 of the 28 Vezina awards in that span. 

Thomas' out-of-this-world numbers only improved in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where his GAA dropped from an even 2.00 to 1.98 and his save percentage rose to .940, ultimately resulting in Thomas hoisting the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff Most Valuable Player, as well as helping the Bruins to their first Stanley Cup since the days of Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito back in 1972, a span of 39 years. 

Not a bad deal for a guy who wasn't even the starting goaltender on his own team on opening night. 

NHL Awards 2011: Boston Bruins' Zdeno Chara Wins Messier Award

Boston Bruins' captain Zdeno Chara was recognized for his superb leadership on Wednesday night at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas when former New York Rangers captain and six-time Stanley Cup champion Mark Messier named him the winner of the Messier Leadership Award. 

Messier, who captained the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers to five and one Stanley Cups, respectively, is the lone voter on the award, whose nominees are suggested by teams, fans and NHL personnel. 

Chara joins Chris Chelios (2007), Mats Sundin (2008), Jarome Iginla (2009) and Sidney Crosby (2010) as the only winners in the award's brief history. 

Chara led the league in plus-minus in both the regular season (plus-33) and playoffs (plus-16), and registered his first career hat trick in a February game against the Carolina Huricanes. 

He was a finalist for the Norris Trophy as league's leading defenseman, but Nicklas Lidstrom of Detroit wound up taking home the award. 

For more Bruins coverage, visit our team page and blog, Stanley Cup of Chowder.

NHL Awards 2011: Awards Show Takes Place In Las Vegas Wednesday Night

The NHL Is set to hand out its 2011 hardware Wednesday night, and the Boston Bruins’ Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara are up for awards in Las Vegas.

The Awards show, which starts at 7 PM and will be televised exclusively on the NHL Network and NHL.com, will feature reigning Stanley Cup champions Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara vying, respectively, for the Vezina Trophy and Norris Trophy, for best goaltender and best defenseman in the regular season. 

Chara is also a finalist for the Messier Leadership Award, handed out to a player who best "exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice during the regular season."

Among the Bruins’ finalist snubs: Patrice Bergeron for the Selke Award, given out to the best defensive forward, and Brad Marchand for the Calder Trophy, which is awarded to the best rookie in the NHL. 

But of course, those awards are handed out based purely on regular season performance, and there’s little doubt that Bergeron and Marchand are happy with the trophy that they’ve already won this month. 

For a list of all awards and finalists, please see here.

For more Bruins coverage, visit our team page and blog, Stanley Cup of Chowder.

NHL Postseason Awards: Bruins' Tim Thomas Wins Conn Smythe

Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas has been named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy, honoring the Most Valuable Player of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Thomas, who recorded a shutout with 37 saves in the Bruins' 4-0 win over the Canucks in Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night, finished with 798 saves on 849 shots in 25 games this postseason.

In seven games in the Cup Final, Thomas had 238 saves on 246 shots, allowing only eight goals. Thomas was consistent all throughout the series, never giving up more than three goals in any game this series.

Thomas allowed one goal on 34 shots in Game 1 of the series - a 1-0 win for Vancouver. In Game 2, Thomas surrendered three goals on 33 shots, resulting in a 3-2 victory for the Canucks and an 0-2 series deficit for Boston.

In Game 3, Thomas was nearly flawless, turning away 40-of-41 shots he face in the Bruins' 8-1 statement win at TD Garden. Thomas was even better in Game 4, recording his first career Cup Final shutout with 38 saves.

The Bruins fell in Game 5, but through no fault of Thomas, who allowed one goal on 25 shots. But in Game 6, Thomas put forth another dominant effort, re-routing 36 of 38 shots en route to the Bruins' 5-2 win that forced Game 7. In the first three rounds of the playoffs, Thomas had 560 saves.

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