Pensburgh user GoPens! made a great argument in favor of Sidney Crosby winning the Hart Trophy this year over at Behind the Net.
His findings summarized:
--Alex Ovechkin and Henrik Sedin had much more advantageous measure in terms of quality of linemates.
--Crosby's quality of competition played against dwarfed Ovechkin and Sedin.
--The three finalists had similar production numbers.
--Ovechkin's defensive advanced stats and metrics were most impressive of the three finalists.
--Crosby (55.9%) was much better than Sedin (49.5) in the faceoff circle.
--Crosby (8 for 10) was much better than Ovechkin (2 for 9) in shootout, Sedin didn't take any gimmick shots.
--Crosby (42.4%) had points in bigger percentage of his team's offense than Sedin (41.1%) or Ovechkin (34%).
It's a great read; I encourage taking a peek at it. Crosby's candidacy and value really shines through. Given the media buzz, many expect Sedin to be the presumptive winner, but perhaps if the voters had all this information perhaps they'd chose differently.