NHL players will have a tough choice among Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Martin St. Louis. (AP Photos)

By Sarah Kwak

There was little surprise in the NHL Players’ Association’s announcement of the finalists for the 2013 Ted Lindsay Award, given to the “most outstanding player,” as voted by the players themselves. Penguins center Sidney Crosby, Capitals right wing Alex Ovechkin, and Lightning right wing Martin St. Louis, all previous winners of this award, made strong cases at various points of the season, and each achieved remarkable milestones even with the short schedule.

Crosby scored at a rate of 1.56 points per game, a pace that only he, Jaromir Jagr, Eric Lindros and Mario Lemieux have bettered since 1995. A position switch from left wing at the start of the season revived Ovechkin’s stagnant offensive production, and at right wing, the Great 8 exploded with 23 goals in his final 23 games. From March 14 to the end of the regular season, Ovechkin scored nearly twice as often as the next highest scorers (23-12) and regained his title as league’s most fearsome sniper, winning his third Rocket Richard Trophy. And then there’s St. Louis, who at age 37, outscored both Crosby and Ovechkin — not to mention the rest of the league. Playing against some kids who are half his age, the 14-year vet scored 60 points in just 48 games, a career-high per game pace.

So with such impressive cases for each, how does one begin to rate which performance is the most outstanding?

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After proving he’s a bona fide workhorse No. 1, Ryan Suter will be tough to beat. (Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

This morning, the NHL announced the three finalists for this year’s Norris Trophy, given annually to “the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-around ability in the position,” as chosen by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. And not one of them was named Lidstrom, Chara or Weber.

In fact, all three of this year’s nominees — Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang, Montreal’s P.K. Subban and Minnesota’s Ryan Suter — are first-timers. A signal of a changing of the guard among the league’s elite blueliners? That’s never a bad thing. All three deserve the recognition.

So, who’s going to win it?

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What about Bob? Where would the Blue Jackets be without netminder Sergei Bobrovsky? (Reed Saxon/AP)

By Allan Muir

When the NHL announces its annual All-Star teams at the league’s awards show in June, it will stick with a formula that rings a bit untrue this season. How, after all, can someone be an All-NHL player if he hasn’t played against the entire NHL?

In coming up with our end-of-regular season honors, we’ve decided that the lockout-abbreviated campaign requires a different take, so our All-NHL teams will be broken down by conference to reflect the unique scheduling.

Here are our Western honorees. You can find my Eastern picks here.

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Keeping his Penguins in contention with high-powered offense, Sidney Crosby may well run off with the Hart Trophy. (Graig Abel/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

With every team but one — the Boston Bruins — having hit the halfway point of the abbreviated schedule, it’s time to update our handicapping of the postseason hardware races. Here are my first-quarter choices, so you can compare.

Not surprisingly, many of the names have changed since our first look revealed some surprise favorites. Injuries have played a part, but in most cases it’s been a matter of players reasserting themselves among the elite once they had a chance to get their legs under them.

Here’s how we see the fields shaping up. Got a bone to pick with these choices? Make your case in the comments section below.

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