Nearly every team is one-third of the way through their schedule (which is approximately game #27 for each club), so let?s take a look at the early favorites to take home the league-wide individual awards. Stats as of December 8, 2010 Hart Trophy ? MVP Sidney Crosby ? PIT Crosby is on some kind of tear right now. He leads the league in goals (24) and points (48), on pace for a tidy line of 68-68-136. He has points in 16 consecutive games, leading his team to a 12-0-1 record in their past 13. He has points in 25 of 29 games this season. He is playing the best hockey of his career right now and is only 23-years-old. In the mix: Steven Stamkos ? TB; Pavel Datsyuk ? DET; Tim Thomas ? BOS; Brad Richards ? DAL. Anti-Hart: Ilya Kovalchuk ? NJ (5 goals, -17, $100M contract) Norris Trophy ? Best Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien ? ATL Nearly everyone in North America was scratching their heads after Byfuglien was moved back defense after dominating as a forward in the playoffs with Chicago last year. But now he leads all defensemen in goals (10), points (29), power play goals and points, game winning goals, shots, is a plus defensively, and helping Atlanta stay in the top-8 in the East. In the mix: Nicklas Lidstrom ? DET; John-Michael Liles ? COL; Kris Letang ? PIT; Ryan Whitney ? EDM. Anti-Norris: Sergei Gonchar ? OTT (4 goals, -14, $5M per season) Vezina Trophy ? Best Goalie Tim Thomas ? BOS After a horrible year last year that saw him lose his starting job, Thomas has been nothing short of remarkable, leading the league with an unreal 1.49 GAA, .955 SV% and 5 shutouts to go with his 14-2-2 record. Montreal leads the division, but Boston has played fewer games, and they are in a position to take the lead thanks to the 2009 Vezina winner, not on regaining his form, but playing better than ever at 36-years-old. In the mix: Carey Price ? MTL; Ondrej Pavelec ? ATL; Jimmy Howard ? DET; Sergei Bobrovsky ? PHI. Anti-Vezina: Rick DiPietro ? NYI (3-4-4, 3.76GAA, .874SV%, signed for 12 more years) Calder Trophy ? Best Rookie Sergei Bobrovsky ? PHI ?Bob the Goalie? just keeps getting better. In his first ever season in North America, Bob is 14-4-2 for a team battling for first place in their conference. His 14 wins ranks third in the league; he is also 7th in the league in GAA (2.21) and SV% (.925) to rank narrowly ahead of a very deep rookie class. I didn?t even have him has the best rookie goalie, but he just keeps getting better and has now jumped ahead (for now) in my eyes. In the mix: Logan Couture ? SJ; Jeff Skinner ? CAR; Cam Fowler ? ANA; Jordan Eberle ? EDM. Anti-Calder: Kyle Clifford ? LA (21 games, 1 point, -10) Selke Trophy ? Best Defensive Forward Pavel Datsyuk ? DET This may be getting old, as Datsyuk has won the last three Selke trophies, but there is no reason not to give it to him again at this point. He once again leads the league in takeaways with 35, is among the faceoff leaders at 56.8%, is a plus player, and it?s nearly impossible to keep the puck away from him (or take it away from him). In the mix: Patrick Sharp ? CHI; Jonathan Toews ? CHI; Ryan Kesler ? VAN; Mike Richards, PHI. Anti-Selke: Ilya Kovalchuk ? NJ (33 giveaways to 14 takeaways, -17 rating) Jack Adams ? Best Coach Craig Ramsay ? ATL The rookie head coach has completely changed the culture in Atlanta, and they are now a team no one likes to face. They play tough, smart hockey, score a lot of goals, and Ramsay has everyone on the roster contributing. He is getting career-years out of Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien, enormous play from Ondrej Pavelec, and everyone is being held accountable. The Thrashers are relevant in the NHL, if not in their own arena, and are tied for fourth in the Conference. In the mix: Guy Boucher ? TB; Dan Bylsma ? PIT; Mike Babcock ? DET; Dave Tippett ? PHX. Anti-Jack: Ron Wilson ? TOR (team hasn?t improved offensively or in special teams since last year). Nick is RealGM?s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email [email protected] or on twitter @NickObergan