Russian forward Alex Ovechkin won the Hart Trophy and The Lester B. Pearson Award on Thursday night as the National Hockey League's player of the year, honoring him for a season in which he scored 65 goals and 112 points. Ovechkin edged finalists Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins for both honors. The Hart is voted on by members of the North American Professional Hockey Writers' Association, while the Pearson is given out by the NHL Players' Association. Ovechkin was the first player to score 60 goals in an NHL season since Mario Lemieux in 1996. He joined Sergei Fedorov (1994) as the only Russian-born players to win the Hart and the Pearson. The Capitals' Bruce Boudreau earned the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach. The only damper on the evening in the nation's capital came when Nicklas Backstrom was edged by Chicago's Patrick Kane for rookie of the year. Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom completed his second hat trick in Norris Trophy competition when he was named as the league's top defenseman for the third straight season and sixth overall. New Jersey's Martin Brodeur was chosen as the NHL's top goalie. Jason Blake of the Toronto Maple Leafs, diagnozed with leukemia, received the Bill Masterton Trophy for dedication to ice hockey.
