Botta and Perez's NHL Awards Ballots: The Calder Trophy

As proud members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, NHL FanHouse's Christopher Botta and A.J. Perez hold votes on several of the league's top awards. Today, we present their ballots for the Calder Trophy, given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition." Writers are asked to pick five nominees in order of most deserving.

Chris Botta

1. Tyler Myers, Buffalo Sabres: The 20-year-old defenseman made the direct leap from junior to become one of the most valuable players on the East's fourth-place team. Myers averaged just under 24 minutes a game and was a plus-13. Looking for offensive production? From the blueline, Myers finished third in rookie scoring.

2. Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings: The stats tell the story for the 26-year-old goalie -- 37-15-10, 2.26 GAA average, .924 save percentage. In helping to save the Red Wings' season, Howard started 60 games.

3. Matt Duchene, Colorado Avalanche: Delivered for a playoff team on just about everything you could have asked of a 19-year-old center. Leading scorer among NHL rookies.

4. John Tavares, New York Islanders: Delivered for a non-playoff team on just about everything you could have asked of a 19-year-old center. Leading scorer on Islanders, finished a point behind Duchene.

5. Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins: Sharing the nets with veteran Tim Thomas, Rask was 22-12-5 with a league-leading 1.97 GAA and .931 save percentage. In helping to save the Bruins' season, Rask started 39 games.

A.J. Perez

1. Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings: Howard just slips in under the Calder age deadline, but I don't think that should be held against him. Goalies tend to develop later than skaters. Howard seized the starting job after Chris Osgood faltered and he's been the primary reason the Wings are again contenders.

2. Tyler Myers, Buffalo Sabres: The 6-foot-8 Texan has been hard to ignore this season, not just because of his size. He's the top defenseman on a Sabres team that has allowed the fewest goals per game in the league.

3. Matt Duchene, Colorado Avalanche: He's matured greatly in recent months, especially defensively. He's one of the rare rookies who has a positive plus-minus to go along with some impressive offensive numbers.

4 John Tavares, New York Islanders: Sure, the Islanders aren't exactly loaded offensively, but Tavares (54 points) still managed to lead his team in scoring.

5. Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins He always seems to be at the right position in net, which has been a good the Bruins who rode Rask into the playoffs.