FanHouse

Well here we go.

Bypassing the red carpet (not that we were allowed within 100 feet of it), I ducked down a side street and toward the back door entrance to the Elgin Theatre about 15 minutes ago.

My first celebrity run-in?

Commissioner Gary Bettman and his entourage, who rounded the corner just as I arrive. Ahh, to be within feet of The Commish.

The awards themselves should begin here shortly, and I'll be here at my perch in the media dungeon, located two floors below the tux-only affair in the theatre itself. There are about 50 of us crammed in here on long skinny tables, and with a few guys working toward early deadlines, it's mostly business.

Media run-ins? The Score's Cabbie on the Street and Stan Fischler. Fischler likes the pretzels.
UPDATE We're underway here at the Elgin, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper presenting the first award, the Lester B. Pearson.

This is how much Canada likes hockey.

Eric McErlain is worried the show isn't on Versus quite yet, but I think that's due to a half hour tape delay that is being used everywhere except in the Atlantic time zone.

Americans - keep me updated in the comments.


UPDATE Sidney Crosby begins what should be a long night of trips to the podium with a win here, voted the league's best player by his peers.

He thanks the coaches, the fans and his family. So sweet, so bland, so... Crosby.

I think he's going to have quite a haul tonight, barring an upset win by Roberto Luongo for the biggie,

UPDATE Montreal Canadiens great Jean Beliveau has a nice tribute to Vincent Lecavalier in a taped bit that applauds him for winning the Rocket Richard Trophy. People in Quebec are quite excited a home province kid has won the trophy named after a francophone legend.


UPDATE Doug Gilmour is one of the presenters here for the Frank J. Selke for the league's best defensive foward. No Crosby sighting in the media den yet.

UPDATE The Selke goes to... Rod Brind'Amour. Brind'Amour won last year as well, and barely edged out Pahlsson.

Voting:

1. Brind`Amour 420 pts (16-21-7-23-9)
2. Sam Pahlsson 405 (24-8-18-4-7)
3. Jay Pandolfo 311 (16-10-10-7-10)

Drury, Fisher, Lehtinen, Zetterberg, Draper, Langkow and Madden rounded out the Top 10 in voting.

UPDATE The Masterton is awarded to Phil Kessel for persevering through his bout with testicular cancer.

UPDATE Brind'Amour is here in the room with the Selke.

"I think last year was such a good year for our team, that this award last year didn't mean that much, because obviously we were champions."

"I think I'm enjoying the festivities a little bit more; I'm just kind of sitting back and enjoying the ride."

"My son's the biggest hockey fan I've ever seen; he wants everyone else's jersey. He's got a couple from the Hurricanes, but he doesn't even have mine."

"I'm not sure how you vote on this award. [Pandolfo's] a great player."

"The game means a lot more to me now, I know I'm getting a lot older. You know your time's limited and you enjoy every chance you get."

UPDATE Still no sign of the Versus coverage. This could be a PR nightmare. Well, another one.

UPDATE Malkin wins the Calder Trophy, but he's a no show. Coach Michel Therrien is accepting the award on his behalf.

Calder voting:

1. Malkin 1,357 points (120 first-place votes)
2. Stastny 965 points (16)
3. Staal 565 (6)
4. Kopitar 417
5. Penner 107
6. Vlasic 96 (1)
7. Carle 95
8. Wolski 30
9. Radulov 23
10. Zajac 13

This one wasn't even close.

They're going to have to rethink the voting here, I think, as some screwy candidates received votes. Dan Girardi, Gilbert Brule and Josh Harding are just three of the names that received a Top 5 spot from some voters.

UPDATE Pavel Datsyuk is another no-show, which is making the NHL look bad here, and he wins the Lady Byng for the second year in a row.

Byng voting went Datsyuk, St. Louis, Sakic, Pandolfo, Bouchard, Lidstrom, Huselius, Kaberle, Selanne, Richards.

Datsyuk was way ahead here of the next closest person.

UPDATE An update on the Versus situation from a reader in Carolina:

"VS screwed up BIG time. Us viewers in the US get to watch some worthless boxing crap. A ticker at the bottom of the screen says VS will air the show at 11pm. What's the point, we'll know who wins."

I guess you're all stuck with me!

First team all-stars: Brodeur, Lidstrom, Niedermayer, Crosby, Heatley, Ovechkin
Second team all-stars: Luongo, Pronger, Boyle, Lecavalier, St. Louis, Vanek

A precursor to Brodeur winning the Hart/Vezina?

UPDATE Saku Koivu wins the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for his contributions away from the rink. Terrific choice, as following his treatment for non-Hodgkins lympoma, Koivu donated a considerable amount towards cancer research and treatment in Montreal.

From the release: "After battling and beating non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Koivu went on to create th Saku Koivu Foundation in 2002. Through his personal financial generosity and leadership, the Foundation has raised $2.5-million, leading to the acquisition of the first PET/CT in Montreal."

Past recent winners include Kolzig, Iginla, Shanahan and Francis.

UPDATE Pat Quinn is there with Shane Doan to present the Jack Adams for the coach of the year.

And the winner is...

Alain Vigneault.

This one was incredibly close, with Ruff finishing just eight points behind the Canucks coach.

1. Vigneault 134
2. Ruff 126
3. Therrien 91
4. Trotz 89
5. Nolan 47
6. Babcock 40
7. Lemaire 32
8. Carlyle 20
9. Tippett 17
10. Murray 15

UPDATE A commenter just posted the explanation for the screw-up:

"Here's what happened. Versus was using the CBC signal from Toronto. However CBC is tape delaying the awards and showing them at 8pm local time. Apparently Versus just got the schedule from the NHL (which had the whole thing starting at 7) and never looked at the CBC schedule. Because the CBC feed from Toronto was delayed that would push the broadcast past 9 o'clock when Versus is scheduled for a live boxing match. Thus the decision was made to push the already taped award show to 11 and air the live sporting event."

On an unrelated note, the number for people to call Versus and complain is (203) 406-2500.

UPDATE Vigneault is here in the room. He says he thought Therrien might win.

"It's not easy to come back [into the league]. It was a long journey back, I did my best everywhere I've been, I tried my hardest. Like I said upstairs, this is the work of the entire group."

"I know that this game is full of great moments, but also full of challenges," he said in reference to being nominated with Montreal and losing his job 18 games into the following season.

UPDATE Lidstrom wins the Norris and should be down here shortly. It's his fifth win in the last six years.

1. Lidstrom 1,217 (87)
2. Niedermayer 1,024 (46)
3. Pronger 608 (6)
4. Boyle 219 (1)
5. Timonen 144
6. Phaneuf 98
7. Gonchar 85
8. Souray 67
   
9. Zubov 42
10. Campbell 42

UPDATE Vezina's up... and Lidstrom's here. Overlap... we need another blogger! Lidstrom's wedding ring is shiny, blinding almost. He doesn't look as old as he is, either.

Brodeur won the Vezina I see on the television screen. So... Lidstrom quotes, then Vezina votes. I'm only one man.

UPDATE Here's Lidstrom: "I got to the airport in Detroit right after 9 o'clock this morning and our plane was canceled.

"I got off the bus right about 7 o'clock and had time to just drop of my bags at the hotel and get over here."

"I don't think I'll follow Chelly's footsteps with the way he's playing [into old age], but he's an inspiration with the way he keeps himself in shape."

UPDATE Vezina voting:

1. Brodeur 122 (16)
2. Luongo 116 (14)
3. Kiprusoff 7
4. Lundqvist 7
5. Hasek 5
6. Backstrom 4
7. Miller 4
8. DiPietro 2
9. Giguere 2
10. Mason 1

Brodeur and Luongo are the only ones to receive first-place votes.

UPDATE All rookie team: Mike Smith, Carle, Vlasic, Malkin, Staal, Stastny

UPDATE Hart is up now, with Gordie Howe presenting. And Crosby wins the league MVP award at just 19.

Hart voting:

1. Crosby 1,225 (91)
2. Luongo 801 (25)
3. Brodeur 763 (21)
4. Lecavalier 362 (5)
5. Thornton 230
6. Lidstrom 53 (1)
7. Niedermayer 45
8. Sakic 44
9. Selanne 36
10. Hossa 35

That's the end of the show... I'll keep blogging as more players come in for availability, including Crosby, who I expect to meet shortly.

UPDATE Here's Crosby: He's answering a few questions about his family, and how his Dad had tears in his eyes during the awards ceremony when he won the Hart.

"This has been a pretty memorable couple of weeks. These are some great accomplishments and I'll definitely always be proud of them."

Crosby speaks with such a quiet voice, and isn't a huge man. His presence has quieted the room here considerably, but he's certainly not an overpowering personality.

"I wanted to be better than I was the year before."

"The first time I met him, I was like a deer in headlights; I was pretty much speechless," he says of receiving the Hart from Howe.

Interestingly enough, the trophies the players are given look like mini replicas and the Hart isn't all that big.

UPDATE Brodeur is here now and the Vezina he has is enormous. Maybe it ate the other trophies. Honestly, it's like three feet high.

Not much being said here.

The scrums are starting off to the side... I'll be back later on.

UPDATE I'm going to have the full voting lists for every award, as well as some sort of a wrap-up, over at my personal blog by the end of the night. Thanks so much for coming by.