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Early Favorites For Conn Smythe Trophy

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Early Favorites For Conn Smythe Trophy

Authored by Christopher Reina - 15th May, 2009 - 9:14 pm

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The Conference Semifinals gave us three Game 7s with Carolina knocking off Boston in overtime on the road and the Red Wings getting a game-winner from Daniel Cleary with exactly three minutes remaining. Pittsburgh won the other Game 7, while the young Blackhawks needed just six to get past Vancouver.

The Final Four is now set, but which players have had the greatest individual success through the first two rounds of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs? Which players have the inside track for the Conn Smythe trophy, which was won last year by Henrik Zetterberg?

I use my Ice Impact Counter to determine the top-10 at each position in the most objective way possible. The Ice Impact Counter (IIC) is a statistical formula I developed in order to give certain weights to things like even goals, shorthanded goals, assists, plus/minus totals, while taking efficiency into consideration.

Click here for more information on the Ice Impact Counter

Forwards
1. Sidney Crosby, PIT: 36.4
2. Johan Franzen, DET: 31.5
3. Alexander Ovechkin, WAS: 30.3
4. Marc Savard, BOS: 28.4
5. Ryan Getzlaf, ANA: 27.5
6. Henrik Zetterberg, DET: 27.1
7. Jussi Jokinen, CAR: 26.1
8. Michael Ryder, BOS: 25.8
9. Daniel Cleary, DET: 25.8
10. Martin Havlat, CHI: 23.1

- Crosby and Ovechkin lead all players with points (21), but Crosby's has come on 55 shots to Ovechkin's 90.

- Getzlaf had 14 assists and four goals, eight of those assists occurring on power plays.

Defensemen
1. Nicklas Lidstrom, DET: 31.6
2. Brian Campbell, CHI: 28.7
3. Tom Poti, WAS: 26.7
4. Chris Pronger, ANA: 25.1
5. Sergei Gonchar, PIT: 24.6
6. Mark Eaton, PIT: 23.2
7. Sami Solo, VAN: 22.5
8. Scott Niedermayer, ANA: 21.7
9. Kris Letang, PIT: 21.7
10. Brian Seabrook, CHI: 21.4

- Lidstrom's name is littered throughout the record books, especially in playoff play; he has 11 points with eight of them on power plays.

- Campbell has an excellent 12.5% shot percentage and nine points.

Goalies
1. Jonas Hiller, ANA: 52.5
2. Cam Ward, CAR: 36.3
3. Tim Thomas, BOS: 30.4
4. Simeon Varlamov, WAS: 26.7
5. Chris Osgood, DET: 23.8
6. Roberto Luongo, VAN: 19.5
7. Martin Brodeur, NJD: 18.9
8. Marc-Andre Fleury, PIT: 16.0
9. Martin Biron, PHI: 12.7
10. Nikolai Khabibulin, CHI: 12.3

- The young Jonas Hiller has been nothing short of brilliant with a .943 shot percentage, withstanding the barrage of shots from the Sharks and Red Wings.

- Tim Thomas has the playoffs' best goals against average with a mark of 1.85, while Osgood trails at 2.06.

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