Sports

Kings' Brown, Ducks GM Murray Among Those Honored At 2014 NHL Awards

June 24, 2014 / 7:45 PM PDT / KCAL News

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Edmonton's Andrew Ference won the King Clancy Award for humanitarian contributions to hockey, while Los Angeles captain Dustin Brown won the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award for his charitable work at the league's postseason awards in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

The winners of the league's statistical awards also were recognized at the ceremony in the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas. Washington's Alex Ovechkin accepted his fourth Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goal-scorer, while Jonathan Quick and the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings won their first Jennings Trophy for the NHL's fewest goals allowed.

Anaheim general manager Bob Murray was voted the NHL's general manager of the year after building the Ducks into the two-time Pacific Division champions and the Western Conference's top regular-season team.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby won his second Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player.

Crosby also collected the Art Ross Trophy as the league scoring champion and the Ted Lindsay Award as the players' choice for the NHL's most outstanding player.

Boston goalie Tuukka Rask won the Vezina Trophy, and Bruins teammate Patrice Bergeron won his second Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward. Chicago's Duncan Keith won his second Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman.

Colorado coach Patrick Roy won the Adams Award, while Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon became the youngest player to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie.

Crosby cleaned up at the NHL's awards show after a fruitful season that included a gold medal as Canada's captain at the Sochi Olympics. He led the league with 104 points, including 68 assists in his fifth career 100-point season. Crosby scored in 60 of his 80 games, never going more than two games without a point for the Metropolitan Division champion Penguins.

Crosby hadn't won the Hart Trophy since 2007, but the 26-year-old center handily beat out Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf and Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux. Crosby received 128 of the 137 first-place votes from a panel of hockey writers, while Getzlaf finished second in the balloting.

In his acceptance speech, Crosby thanked his teammates and family.

"I appreciate all the sacrifices you've made to allow me to play the game I love every day," Crosby said.

Dominic Moore of the New York Rangers won the Masterton Trophy, an award for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Colorado's Ryan O'Reilly won the Lady Byng Trophy for his sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct after scoring a career-best 64 points while committing just one minor penalty all year.

Roy was chosen the NHL's top coach in his first season behind the Colorado bench. The Hall of Fame goalie led the Avalanche from 29th place in the overall league standings to third this season, going 52-22-8 and winning the Central Division.

Bergeron beat out Los Angeles' Anze Kopitar and Chicago captain Jonathan Toews for the Selke, which he also won in 2012. The smooth two-way forward, who also won the NHL Foundation Player Award for his charitable work, won a league-high 1,015 faceoffs while finishing second in the NHL with a career-best plus-38 rating.

Rask went 36-15-6 and finished in the top five in every major statistical category to win his first Vezina for Boston, which claimed the Presidents' Trophy with the NHL's best regular-season record. The NHL's general managers chose Rask in a narrow vote over Colorado's Semyon Varlamov, who finished fourth in the Hart Trophy balloting.

Keith comfortably beat out Boston captain Zdeno Chara and Nashville's Shea Weber for the Norris, which he also won in 2010. Keith, who led all defensemen with 55 assists while leading the Blackhawks in ice time for the ninth straight season, is the only active NHL defenseman with multiple Norris wins.

MacKinnon was a runaway winner of the Calder, receiving 130 of the 137 first-place votes. The No. 1 overall pick doesn't turn 19 until Sept. 1, beating Carolina's Jeff Skinner in 2011 as the youngest player to claim the trophy.

Moore returned to the NHL this season after sitting out a year to be with his wife, Katie, who died from a rare form of liver cancer in January 2013. The 33-year-old forward thanked his family and teammates.

"I've had a lot of good examples of perseverance over the years, and none more so than my wife, Katie," Moore said. "So, this award is very meaningful, and I'm very grateful."