The Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the most valuable player (MVP) in the NHL play-offs, will be decided by the events that unfold in the Stanley Cup final. As it should be. Through three rounds of post-season play, there is no shortage of MVP contenders. For Chicago, Jonathan Toews, the team's captain, rode a 13-game point streak into the Cup showdown and was leading the league in play-off production.
Antti Niemi, the 26-year-old who entered the 2009-10 season - his first in the NHL - as the backup to the veteran Cristobal Huet, has more than answered any questions about the Blackhawks' netminding. In short, Niemi hasn't lost two games in a row this spring and he's become stingier and stingier with each play-off round. Duncan Keith, the Hawks' heart-and-soul defenceman, has teamed up with perennial partner Brent Seabrook and successfully shut down the top lines of Nashville, Vancouver and San Jose.
And Chicago have a couple more MVP candidates, too, in the form of big-bodied Dustin Byfuglien, who threw Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo off his game and then collected three game-winning goals against the Sharks, while the offensive exploits of Patrick Kane have kept the explosive winger in the best-player race, too. For the Flyers, there is a laundry list of could-be MVPs as well, starting with Mike Richards, the captain, a Bobby Clarke for the 21st century, and biggie-sized Chris Pronger, who brings his own blend of elite skill and frontier justice to Philadelphia's blueline.
Simon Gagne, scoring relentlessly since returning from a broken toe that cost him a handful of play-off games in rounds one and two, and Daniel Briere, finally scoring in the clutch and collecting points by the bushel, also are in the mix. Even the Flyers' goalie Michael Leighton, who didn't see any action until midway through the second round. While he underperformed and was pulled during the 6-5, Game 1 loss to the Blackhawks on Saturday night, he could complete his zero-to-hero story, like he did in the East final against Montreal, shutting out the Canadiens three times in five games.
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