The Hockey Stop

Jay Mohr did another bang-up job hosting the NHL Awards in Las Vegas tonight. The highlight of the night was his hilarious parody of HBO's "NHL 24/7 Caps-Pens."

In case you missed the opening segment here it is.



In all seriousness, here are the real winners from tonight's ceremony.

Norris (Outstanding Defenseman): Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings

Art Ross (Regular-Season Scoring Leader): Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks

Mark Messier Leadership Award: Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins

Selke (Outstanding Defensive Forward): Ryan Kesler, Vancouver Canucks

Jack Adams (Coach of the Year): Dan Bylsma, Pittsburgh Penguins

Calder (Top Rookie): Jeff Skinner, Carolina Hurricanes

Jennings (Fewest Goals Allowed): Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider, Vancouver Canucks

General Manager: Mike Gillis, Vancouver Canucks

Rocket Richard (Most Regular-Season Goals): Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks

Ted Lindsay (MVP as Voted by Players): Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks

Masterton (Perseverance and Dedication to Hockey): Ian Laperriere, Philadelphia Flyers

King Clancy (Leadership and Humanitarian Contributions): Doug Weight, New York Islanders

Lady Byng (Skillful and Gentlemanly Play): Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning

Vezina (Top Goaltender): Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins

Hart (MVP): Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks

NHL legend Wayne Gretzky is holding his fantasy camp at the Bellagio in Las Vegas this year and he was gracious enough to sit down with NHL Live! interviewers E.J. Hradek and Craig Button to talk shop.

Here are a few gems from the Great One:

On what it will take for the Washington Capitals to win the Stanley Cup this year (hint: it has to do with the same position played by Grant Fuhr when the Edmonton Oilers and No. 99 were a Stanley Cup dynasty):



On the Phoenix Coyotes' cinderella season and Ilya Bryzgalov for MVP:



On what L.A. Kings defenseman Drew Doughty brought to Team Canada's gold medal run in the Vancouver Winter Olympics:



On Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane's great play in the Olympics and his teammate Jonathan Toews being a modern-day Bryan Trottier:



On Sidney Crosby:



On what Wayne is doing now:

The Chicago Blackhawks are hitching onto the popularity of the Chicago Bears and the NFL franchise is riding the winning ways of the NHL team.

The Bears and Blackhawks have entered into a marketing partnership, reports ESPNChicago.com. The deal will include commercials, appearances at United Center and Soldier Field, and other cross-promotional activities.

Blackhawks stars such as Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews will join Bears players such as Jay Cutler and Devin Hester in the spots.





Quebec City is making an aggressive push for an NHL franchise.

Mayor Régis Labeaume recently announced the city is building a new arena to lure a team and the NHL's top brass are taking notice. Both commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly have both stated that a new arena will help Quebec City's cause in its competition with Kansas City and Las Vegas for a team.

The city lost the Nordiques to Denver (Colorado Avalanche) which could hurt its cause, but it also could be a positive as Daly stated: "Both Winnipeg and Quebec have already done that (supported an NHL team). We'll see how things evolve."

Washington Capitals star and NHL 2K10 video game cover athlete Alex Ovechkin was obviously disappointed his team didn't advance further in the Stanley Cup playoffs, losing to the eventual champion Pittsburgh Penguins in a seven-game Eastern Conference quarterfinals thriller. Ovechkin didn't watch the Pens win the Cup in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last Friday: "It was too hard for me to do that. But I say congratulations Pittsburgh," he told the National Post.

But for at least a few days in Las Vegas, Ovechkin gets to let loose and possibly collect some consolation hardware at the 2009 NHL Awards.

Tuesday night the Hart and Pearson trophy finalist participated in the first ever outdoor motion capture for publisher 2K Sports' fall release at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip. And the perpetual showman didn't disappoint the curious spectators surrounding the hockey rink. From the Las Vegas Sun:

As for the simulation of their scoring skills Tuesday, however, the highlight came when Ovechkin, skating to the chants of 'Ovi, Ovi, Ovi' from beyond the iron fences, performed his much-maligned 'burning stick' routine after scoring from up close (pictured above).

After scoring his 50th goal of the season in March, the 23-year-old Caps winger put his stick down on the ice and pretended to warm his hands over it as if it were on fire.

It will look identical when NHL 2K10 is released, patented gold laces and all.

So while Ovechkin is once again the favorite to repeat as the league's regular-season MVP and as he experiences his first trip to Sin City, there is little doubt he would give up all the individual accolades to trade skates with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin who will be sipping champagne all summer from the Stanley Cup.

The NHL Awards show takes place this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. in Las Vegas) at the Palms. The ceremony will be televised live on Versus.

Here is the nominees list:

Hart Trophy (MVP to his team): Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit), Alex Ovechkin (Washington), Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh)

Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year): Steve Mason (Columbus), Bobby Ryan (Anaheim) and Kris Versteeg (Chicago)

Norris Trophy (top defenseman): Zdeno Chara (Boston), Mike Green (Washington) and Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit)

Vezina Trophy (top goaltender): Niklas Backstrom (Minnesota), Mason (Columbus) and Tim Thomas (Boston)

Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year): Claude Julien (Boston), Todd McLellan (San Jose) and Andy Murray (St. Louis)

Lady Byng (most gentlemanly player): Datsyuk (Detroit), Zach Parise (New Jersey) and Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay)

Selke Trophy (top defensive forward): Datsyuk (Detroit), Ryan Kesler (Vancouver) and Mike Richards (Philadelphia)

Masterton Trophy (dedication and perseverance): Chris Chelios (Detroit), Steve Sullivan (Nashville) and Richard Zednik (Florida)

Mark Messier Leadership Award: Chara (Boston), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh) and Jarome Iginla (Calgary)