Lady Byng Nominees Announced

Pavel Datsyuk has owned the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy the past three seasons, and he's going to have an opportunity to claim another one as the Red Wings' star is, once again, one of the top vote-getters in 2009. Joining Datsyuk in the top three are New Jersey's Zach Parise and Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis.

The 30-year-old center matched a career-high with 97 points this season, fourth best in the NHL, while also setting a new personal-best with 32 goals. One of the best -- and most underrated -- players in the NHL, Datsyuk is the total package as a player, and is also one of the all-time great draft day steals, going in the sixth-round of the 1998 draft, 187th overall.

Should Datsyuk win again, he'll be the second player to win the award four straight seasons, joining former New York Rangers forward Frank Boucher who claimed it between 1927 and 1931.

The members of the Detroit media that had votes weighed in on the voting process, as Helene St. James expects Datsyuk to win, while Bruce MacLeod says he voted for both Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom in the top-five, while also making a case for Calgary's Jarome Iginla to be "the poster child for a new attitude" for the award.

The player I'd like to mention is Jarome Iginla. I think he should be the poster child for a new attitude about the Lady Byng. Let's not make it all about penalty minutes and let's focus on sportmanship and gentlemanly conduct. The thing I like about Datsyuk winning the Byng is that he's physical, hits people. I just think that outside of Detroit, people don't realize that and are voting just on low penalty minutes and high performance. I think players that hit like Datsyuk and especially Iginla, but have a high level of integrity and sportsmanship. I'm pulling for Datsyuk to win. But in the future, I'd like to see guys like Iginla be named as finalists -- competitors with class.

It's a fine argument, but it also begs the question: Why didn't you vote for Iginla?

Parise is looking to become the first Devils player to ever win the Lady Byng, as the 24-year-old forward is coming off a breakout season that saw him register 94 points -- fifth best in the league -- while also finishing third in the league with 45 goals. According to Tom Gulitti at Fire & Ice, Parise was surprised to learn that he was a finalist for the award.

After being the subject of trade rumors for much of the season, St. Louis ended up leading the Lightning with 80 points in 82 games, while scoring 30 goals for the fifth time in six years. Not that it matters much, but former Tampa Bay forward Brad Richards was the last player not named Datsyuk to take home the award, winning in 2003-04, the same year Tampa Bay won its first Stanley Cup.

NHL.com's John McGourty cites the players' points-per-penalty ratio as a way to "judge the most worthy recipient," which surely angers Bruce MacLeod who argued -- in his push for Iginla to get more votes -- that it shouldn't be about penalty minutes. After all, it's described as being "awarded to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."

No mention of fewest penalty minutes. Actually, If you were to type that description into a Google search you might get a picture of Pavel Datsyuk.

All award winners will be announced on June 18, 2009, at the NHL's award ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada. On Monday, the league will announce the nominees for the Vezina Trophy as the top goaltender.