It's certainly been a busy week for us hockey fans. Not only were we blessed with the list of expansion eligible players, but so too were there trades and an unveiling of new Adidas uniforms. Of course, this was all the appetizer to last night's NHL Awards in Las Vegas, which also acted as a live Golden Knights player draft. The annual event has had its share of duds over the years, but thankfully this edition went over just fine. I mean, it definitely wasn't the Academy Awards, but the league did well in putting on a show that managed to hold our attention for a few hours.
That's not to say there were some questionable moments during the telecast, including Knights executives blurting out players' names too early in the draft, and a creepy old man moment courtesy of Marcel Dionne. The NHL legend came out with Olympic champion Aly Raisman to present the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship, and chose to catcall her mid-speech. Leafs Nation editor, Jeff Veillette, summed up that exchange best with the below tweet.
True Blood star and Magic Mike's own, Joe Manganiello, was given hosting duties and brought some welcome and genuine energy to the show - even if some corny Photoshop jokes were in the mix. Hamilton indie rock outfit, The Arkells, kicked off the entire thing with a live performance, which is a nice change of pace from musical acts of the past. The night's most fun minute came when child actor, Jacob Tremblay, roasted his favourite team, the Vancouver Canucks.
Aside from all of the gimmicks, the night's main attractions were the aforementioned awards and the Golden Knights expansion draft. Edmonton Oilers captain, Connor McDavid, claimed both MVP and outstanding player honours, while Toronto Maple Leafs young gun, Auston Matthews, was named best rookie. Meanwhile, Vegas general manager, George McPhee, was able to snag goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and Predators forward, James Neal. For the complete list of award winners, as well as the Vegas Golden Knights draft selections, follow us after the jump.
2017 NHL Award Winners
Selke Trophy: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
Norris Trophy: Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks
King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Nick Foligno, Columbus Blue Jackets
Calder Trophy: Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
General Manager of the Year Award: David Poile, Nashville Predators
Jack Adams Award: John Tortorella, Columbus Blue Jackets
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Craig Anderson, Ottawa Senators
Lady Byng Trophy: Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
Vezina Trophy: Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets
Ted Lindsay Award: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Hart Trophy: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Vegas Golden Knights Draft Selection