A few days ago, Bob Wage posted an illuminating article (“Will Carolina Defense Be Improved Next Season?”) showing how the Hurricanes’ defense had improved after the 2011 trade deadline and the acquisitions of Derek Joslin and Bryan Allen. Some posters on Canes Country pointed out that around the time of the trade deadline and as the post-season grows nearer, teams generally change to a more defensive style of play. I wanted to get a better idea of just how the Carolina defense improved after the deadline compared to the rest of the league so I copied the final scores from all 1230 regular season games from www.nhl.com and did some analysis.

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A lot of posters on this site seem to be pulling hard for Jeff Skinner to win the Calder Memorial Trophy following his spectacular rookie year. I get where they're coming from. We all want to see our guy recognized for what he does. Like a proud parent who knows deep down their kid is the best. Or maybe it's some sort of consolation for missing the playoffs. If Skinner wins, we all win. Right? I'd like to offer another point of view that I think makes, at least to me, a little more sense.

Let’s first make one thing clear: I think Skinner is the best player among those up for the award and will have the best career. The dude has not yet turned 19 and already has a 30 goal 60 point NHL season on his resume. He is a great player and a joy for fans to watch and, so far, it looks like the sky could be the limit. But, as much as I may feel the need to dump accolades on the kid, I’m wondering: Why do we (the fans) care so much about some superficial award? What does a Calder do for a player anyway? Or a team for that matter? Would Skinner winning the NHL’s Rookie of the Year do anything more than make his first contract a little more expensive?
 
Probably not, in my estimation. Awards like the Calder, the Selke, the Richard, etc. only serve to give members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association something to argue over and feel important about knowing that they are the chosen ones we trust to tell us who the best players and coaches are. Whoop-de-doo. I hope they have a good time at the awards ceremony.

As a selfish Hurricanes fan, I don’t want Jeff Skinner to win the Calder. Why, you ask? Because I don’t want Skinner to get any kind of idea that it does not pay to be far and away the best player. I don’t want him to begin thinking that as long as he is a little bit better than his peers, the right people will notice and put him on his appropriate pedestal. I want him to go into the offseason with the attitude that he still has a lot to prove and that there are people out there who don’t believe in him. I want this guy to believe that the professional hockey world is an unfair place and that in order to recieve your proper respects, you don’t only have to be the best; you have to be so much better than everyone else that no one can deny you your place at the top.

I know this is not a popular opinion around Canes Country. And some may even find it a little harsh or akin to tiger parenting to withhold a simple reward after such a dynamite first season from Skinner. Put it this way: Does winning an award help a player’s team to get to the playoffs? Of course not. Could the motivation added after getting overlooked for an award that a player probably deserved help his team the following year? Maybe.