NHL.com’s Dave Stubbs spoke with Red Wings legend Ted Lindsay regarding the award that bears his name, a.k.a. the NHL’s MVP trophy, as well as Alex Ovechkin’s winning of and celebrations with the Stanley Cup.
Lindsay offered this take on the Capitals’ celebrations:
“Alex has earned the right to his fun,” Lindsay said Wednesday from his Detroit-area home. “He’s just won the Stanley Cup and I think he realizes the meaning of that championship. He’s as good as anyone in the NHL today. Alex is an honest hockey player who gives you the same effort every night. There are different ways to judge talent: Do you produce every night, or only when you think you should?”
Ovechkin and Lindsay have the every-night work ethic in common, and a strong link beyond that. In 2010, the Russia-born forward was named winner of the Ted Lindsay Award, voted on annually by members of the NHL Players’ Association to the man deemed to be the MVP of the regular season.
The award was created in 1971 as the Lester B. Pearson Award, named for a former Canadian prime minister; Ovechkin won the Pearson in 2008 and 2009, then followed that with his natural hat trick in 2010 when he was awarded the newly named Ted Lindsay Award.
Only Hall of Famers Guy Lafleur of the Montreal Canadiens (1976-78) and Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers (1982-85) have won the award three or more times consecutively.
Oilers forward Connor McDavid won the Lindsay Award last season and is a finalist for the award at the 2018 NHL Awards presented by Hulu, to be staged June 20 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. His fellow finalists are forwards Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Taylor Hall of the New Jersey Devils.
“I’m honored that Alex has won the award three times,” Lindsay said. “And I’m happy that he’s finally won the Stanley Cup. I appreciate him very much, as I do the all of these players today. It’s altogether a different game than when I played. I don’t maybe agree with today’s game completely, but I certainly recognize the talent of these players.”
Continued, and Stubbs reports that Lindsay won’t be attending this year’s NHL awards.
This type of personality is what the NHL needs