NHL Awards: Looking at the Lady Byng

Ask any hockey expert, wanna-be expert, or fan about the NHL's Lady Byng Trophy, and you'll likely get some snarky comments about how it's awarded to the league's biggest twinkletoes and/or is an award for soft players who don't like to get touched too hard.

For example, from Wild Hockey:

I'm not sure the Lady Byng is actually a trophy. I think at the NHL Awards Ceremony they just give the winner a bunch of roses and a tiara. I could be wrong about this.

The official wording is to give the award "to the National Hockey League hockey player voted to have shown the best sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with performance in play." In recent times, this has simply meant a player with a lot of points and the lowest penalty totals, even if said player whines a lot.

Despite what the naysayers tell you, I believe there is value in this award. Far too often, the media hype up big penalty minute totals as a sign of a tough, gritty player. Me? I see careless stick-work and a lack of discipline by the likes of a Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan Witt, or Keith Tkachuk as putting their teams on the penalty kill and giving the opposition great chances to score.

If you can play the game with a high level of skill AND stay out of the penalty box, then you have added a lot of value to your team but not giving the opposition more time with the man advantage.

Looking at the leader boards, many of today's top scorers tend not to take a lot of penalties, so it becomes a matter of picking out the players with exceptionally low penalty minute totals.

So, who are the top candidates for the tiara ... err ... trophy?

1. Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning - 82GP, 102PTS, 28PIM

He finished 5th in league scoring and is the only player in the top 10 in NHL scoring with less than 44 PIM. He's also a bit of a media darling, and has never had more than 38PIM in any one season.

St. Louis is a fine example of how one can be a Lady Byng candidate and not be 'soft'. Having to fight through the trees of the NHL as a little midget, St. Louis has to work a lot harder than most players to succeed, and can do it cleanly. In the end, he should win.

2. Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings - 79GP, 87PTS, 20PIM

Last year's Byng winner finished 17th in league scoring and had the lowest PIM total among all Top 50 scorers. Unfortunately, St. Louis was a far superior player and 4 minor penalties shouldn't be enough to get Datsyuk a sequel.

3. Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche - 82GP, 100PTS, 46PIM

Although Sakic's PIM totals were much higher than the other two candidates, Gentleman Joe has already embodied the spirit of the award with an elite level of skills mixed with good sportsmanship. He won the Byng, together with the MVP, back in 2001.

Honorable Mentions:

Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Maple Leafs - 74GP, 58PTS, 20PIM

Kaberle, who generally passes before he shoots, is as much of a hockey sportsman as one could ever hope for. Playing a tougher role, and bigger minutes, as a defenseman, Kaberle stayed out of the penalty box and continue a career-long trend of finishing with a low penalty total.

If you wanted a defensive candidate that embodies this award, Kaberle would be the best choice.

Kyle Wellwood, Toronto Maple Leafs

As my colleague Mirtle pointed out in a previous column, Wellwood played 48 games, scored 42 points, and didn't take a SINGLE penalty. In today's whistle-happy NHL, this is an amazing stat. If he played the whole season like that, he'd be an easy choice for the award. Sadly, it takes more than 48 games to win an NHL award.