The three finalists were announced for the Lady Byng Trophy. San Jose Sharks Forward Patrick Marleau, Colorado Avalanche Forward Ryan O’Reilly, and New York Rangers Forward Martin St. Louis. Finalists are selected by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The winner will be announced on June 24th during the 2014 NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas.
The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is awarded to the NHL player that exhibits the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct along with a high standard of playing ability.
Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks
Marleau played in all 82 regular season games this season, and only received 18 penalty minutes. He again was a Sharks top scorer with 33 goals, which was second on the team. This is the second time that Marleau has been nominated for this award. In 2006 he was a nominee when Pavel Datsyuk took home the award. The 34-year-old continues to be a leader for the Sharks, and consistently puts up amazing point totals.
Ryan O’Reilly, Colorado Avalanche
With an amazing one penalty called on him in 80 games O’Reilly was nominated for the Lady Byng Trophy for the first time. In 80 games O’Reilly netted 28 goals and had 36 assists for a point total of 64. He helped lead the upstart Colorado Avalanche back to the playoffs.
Martin St. Louis, New York Rangers
St. Louis is very familiar with the Lady Byng. He won the trophy last season, and has now won it a total of three times. St. Louis played for the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers this season, and recorded his seventh 30-goal season of his career. He ranked third amongst forwards in ice time, but was only assessed 10 penalty minutes.
National Hockey League news and information website. Hockey news website/blog that covers the National Hockey League – offers a sometimes controversial but always entertaining approach to the great game of hockey.