Who is your first round MVP?

by Killion on Apr 28, 2009 7:46 PM CDT

New Poll - Back up your choice in the comments.

Poll

Who is your first round MVP?

Martin Havlat (3 G, 3 A)

78 votes

Jonathan Toews (2 G, 4 A, 61.0 FO%)

63 votes

Kris VERSTEEG! (2 G, 5 A)

28 votes

Dustin Byfuglien (1 G, 3 A, 23 Hits)

28 votes

Brent Seabrook (1 G, 5 A, 24 Hits)

110 votes

Nikolai Khabibulin (4 W, .914SV%, 2.52 GAA)

194 votes

Someone Else

20 votes

521 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Hard choice but

Seabs has been a beast. He’s gotten on the scoreboard and played some great defense. He helped showing everyone the ‘Hawks weren’t as whimpy as the Calgary media made them out to be.

Plus he broke Glencross’s nose.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Calgary/2009/04/26/9251781-sun.html

by Justaminorthreat on Apr 28, 2009 7:54 PM CDT reply actions

The MVP of the first round

sure as hell isn’t a Chicago Blackhawk. :-)

Though that Toews character has certainly impressed.

I am a Free Canadian
Real Eyes Realize Real Lies

by Temujin on Apr 28, 2009 8:02 PM CDT reply actions

Toews, easily.

NOW STOP IT RIGHT HERE

by mjthor on Apr 28, 2009 8:07 PM CDT reply actions

Gonna have to go with Khabby

He kept the Hawks in the game(s) when the guys in front of him were out-of-sorts and getting pushed around by the Flames.

"He shows up every day to play, he plays hard every day, and he shows up to beat your butt." ~Ozzie Guillen on AJ Pierzynski, 3-17-09

R.I.P. Harry Kalas 4-13-09

by HappyHuman on Apr 28, 2009 8:13 PM CDT reply actions

Agreed

Khabby was the rock in this series, and will be for as long as this run continues. When he’s on, the Hawks cannot lose.

White Sox Baseball
Blackhawks Hockey

This time of year is great!

by KJM on Apr 28, 2009 9:30 PM CDT up reply actions

boy, that's tough

I’d have to say Seabrook…

by HawkInExile on Apr 28, 2009 9:28 PM CDT reply actions

BARKER

stepped up his game the most. 2nd choice is Buff

"Oh, that's easy. White Sox. I'm not one of these fair-weather fans. You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer; beautiful people up there. People aren't watching the game. It's not serious. White Sox, that's baseball. South Side." -O'Bama

by Hawk is God on Apr 28, 2009 10:07 PM CDT reply actions

Wouldn't say MVP but......

Although the surprise emergence of VERSTEEG! was great, I have enjoyed the growth of Barker from a turnstile to a productive d-man more. People were calling him to be traded because of his salary, supposed stunted growth and lack of defensive skills. Yet, they refuse or do not realize that defensemen take longer to develop and grow into their game. Look at Philly and you’ll see emerging two d-men (Coburn and Carle) who were given up on too fast by their original teams (Atlanta and TB ha ha). Barker is blocking shots, throwing his body around, disrupting play etc. And what a fucking heavy shot. Seriously, he had one of the quietest 40 point seasons ever for a d-man. I’m really glad this kid is figuring out how to become a quality NHL player.

by alpo on Apr 28, 2009 11:28 PM CDT up reply actions

Agreed

Maybe not MVP, but unsung hero for sure.

by Geoffhawk on Apr 29, 2009 10:47 AM CDT up reply actions

Tough Call...

…but I’ll lean towards Havlat! God only knows that without his heroics in Game 1 what happens to the Hawks for the rest of the series. The way he carried the Hawks offensively in Game 1 was huge!!! Not to mention he was a constant threat everytime he was on the ice in the series and was major part of shutting down the Iginla line.

by hawks61 on Apr 28, 2009 10:09 PM CDT reply actions

I went with Biscuit, but...

…if JHC doesn’t score that OT winner in Game 1, then we probably don’t win that series. And if Khabby doesn’t stand on his head in Game 6, then who the hell knows.

All I know is that we absolutely positively have to take a split (or better) in Vancouver this weekend. I do not see us winning this series without it.

WAIT FOR THE WHISTLE!

by Sec 326 Bureau Chief on Apr 29, 2009 6:37 AM CDT reply actions

I’d definitely prefer a split, but I think we have it in us to respond with 2 at home were the Luongos to take the first 2.

by ChicoMaki on Apr 29, 2009 11:58 AM CDT up reply actions

Khabby is the answer

His stats are skewed a bit by games 3 & 4, but in the games the Hawks won, Khabby was a huge reason why they won.
I don’t think the Hawks had any one dominating forward in round 1 and I say that’s a good thing. Some combination of Toews, Havlat, and Versteeg were the best players at least stats-wise and they all play on different lines. Scoring depth is huge in the playoffs and the Hawks have threats on every line.
Other than Khabby, I’d have to go with Seabass. He does so many good things that don’t necessarily show up in the stats other than keeping goals off the board. Add that to the things that do show up like his points and hits and I think he had a great series.

by stickhandler on Apr 29, 2009 8:43 AM CDT reply actions

Buff No Doubt About It

Every other guy listed pretty much preformed as expected. We have been waiting for Khabi to do this for 4 years, and the rest of the list are expected to be the team’s best players.

Buff was a huge difference maker in the series. I don’t know why it took him until Game 83 to wake but but one he did, look out. Maybe it’s playing with Pulse, maybe giving Buff some direction finally paid off. Whatever the case Buff was a hitting machine and could not be moved off the puck. Starting in game 2 the Flames were shying away from Buff and wanted no part of him.

We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.

by E Runs on Apr 29, 2009 8:52 AM CDT reply actions

In fairness to Buff

I think he woke up around game 70.

Got more soul than a sock with a hole.

by chrome on Apr 29, 2009 9:33 AM CDT up reply actions

I would like to give an honorable mention

To (his name is) Sami Pahlsson. While I don’t think he was quite series MVP level, he was definitely a leadership presence, especially working with some of the younger guys like Buff and helping settle the guys down on the bench.

by runningquicklynowhere on Apr 29, 2009 11:09 AM CDT reply actions

I voted for JHC

mainly due to him digging on every shift, but after reading this and checking around online, I think I might have picked wrong. I’ve known that Pahlsson was talking to the noobs, but I didn’t realize how much effect he had.

by burpchelischili on Apr 30, 2009 6:17 AM CDT up reply actions

In the playoffs defense sets the tone

and Seabrook aint’ tone deaf!

Lets Go Hawks!

by nextgame on Apr 29, 2009 11:26 AM CDT reply actions

Gotta go with Nikolai Harveybirdman

As he went, the Hawks went. When he played well, the Hawks won. When he was having rough games, the Hawks lost. Maybe the point of the MVP is to not have an off game, but in my opinion they would not have won this series with Baby Huey between the pipes. With the rest of the skaters, it was a different guy every night to carry the load, which is what you love to see this time of year. But nothing was more impressive than Monday night when Khabby stood on his head to slam the door as Calgary threw everything but the kitchen sink at him

by hawksfan21 on Apr 29, 2009 11:59 AM CDT reply actions