The Hockey Stop

The Washington Capitals had a busy time at the trade deadline, adding toughness to the front and back lines. Carolina defenseman Joe Corvo (pictured above) is heading to Washington for Brian Pothier and prospect Oskar Osala. The Capitals also picked up Hurricanes forward Scott Walker in exchange for a 7th round pick in the 2010 draft. Washington also nabbed Wild center Eric Belanger for a 2010 2nd round pick. And in a surprise move the Blue Jackets' Milan Jurcina will be returning to Washington. The Caps traded Jurcina and Chris Clark to Columbus earlier this season for Jason Chimera. The blueliner played for Team Slovakia in the Winter Olympics.

More trades at the deadline:

Sabres forward Clarke Macarthur to Thrashers for 3rd and 4th round picks

Blue Jackets forward Raffi Torres to Sabres for defenseman Nathan Paetsch and 2nd round pick.

Ducks goalie Vesa Toskala to Flames for goalie Curtis Mcelhinney.

Lightning forward Jeff Halpern to Kings for forward Teddy Purcell and 3rd round pick.

Canucks defenseman Mathieu Schneider to Coyotes for defenseman Sean Zimmerman and 6th round pick.

Full list of completed trades at NHL.com

Roundup of yesterday's trades:

The Ducks nabbed Hurricanes defenseman Aaron Ward in exchange for goalie Justin Pogge and a 2010 or 2010 4th round draft pick.

Defenseman Derek Morris is returning to Phoenix as the Bruins traded the player to the Coyotes for a 2011 fourth-round pick. The Bruins then replaced Morris by picking up defenseman Dennis Seidenberg and a prospect from the Panthers in exchange for Craig Weller, Byron Bitz and a second-round draft pick.

The Blues nabbed forward Matt D'Agostini from the Canadians for Aaron Palushaj.

Well it didn't take long for the Isles' Andy Sutton to find a home -- and it isn't with the Capitals. The Ottawa Senators acquired the veteran defenseman in exchange for a 2010 second-round pick that formerly belonged to the San Jose Sharks.

The Atlanta Thrashers have signed 48-year-old defenseman Chris Chelios. The three-time Stanley Cup winner would be the oldest NHL player if he returns this year. The deal is for $700,000 and Chelios will stay with the Chicago Wolves minor league team unless he is claimed on waivers.

Right hip injury sidelines Flyers goalie Ray Emery for the season.

The Sports Network is reporting that a deal is in place to trade Toronto forward Alexei Ponikarovsky to Pittsburgh for prospect Luca Caputi.

Washington Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin added more hardware to his growing collection on Thursday night at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

The 23-year-old star won his second straight Hart trophy as the league's best player and the Pearson award as the most outstanding player in voting by fellow NHLPA members.

Ovechkin won the Hart by a large voting margin over Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin and Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk. The Russian was awarded 115 of 131 first-place tallies.

In nabbing the MVP trophy again this year, he became the first player to win back-to-backs since Dominik Hasek in 1997 and 1998 and the first forward since Wayne Gretzky, who snagged eight-straight Hart trophies from 1980-'87.

Other highlights from the Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort included Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas winning the Vezina as best netminder and Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason being awarded the Calder trophy as rookie of the year.

In his acceptance speech, Ovechkin dedicated the award to the loyal Caps fans and said Washington is his favorite city right now (Ovechkin wasn't the only Washingtonian making hockey headlines today as President Barack Obama called Pittsburgh head coach Dan Bylsma earlier in the day to congratulate the Penguins on winning the Stanley Cup).

"Next year, I hope [the] Stanley Cup will be ours," Ovechkin said to cheers from the Caps fans in attendance.

Here is the winners list (winners in bold):

HART MEMORIAL TROPHY (Most valuable player)

Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings

Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

VEZINA TROPHY (best goaltender)

Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild

Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets

Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins

JAMES NORRIS MEMORIAL TROPHY (best defenseman)

Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins

Mike Green, Washington Capitals

Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings

CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHY (best rookie)

Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets

Bobby Ryan, Anaheim Ducks

Kris Versteeg, Chicago Blackhawks

LADY BYNG MEMORIAL TROPHY (best sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct)

Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings

Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils

Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning

FRANK J. SELKE TROPHY (best defensive forward)

Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings

Ryan Kesler, Vancouver Canucks

Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers

JACK ADAMS AWARD (best coach)

Claude Julien, Boston Bruins

Todd McLellan, San Jose Sharks

Andy Murray, St. Louis Blues

LESTER B. PEARSON AWARD (best player as voted by fellow NHLPA members)

Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings

Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

MASTERTON TROPHY (player who best exemplifies the qualities of perserverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey)

Chris Chelios, Detroit Red Wings

Steve Sullivan, Nashville Predators

Richard Zednik, Florida Panthers