From Mike Brophy at The Hockey News,

It’s almost time to vote for the Hart Trophy and I’ve got to be honest, I am not even close to picking my winner.

I will say, though, I have narrowed it down to four candidates – goalies Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils and Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks, left winger Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and right winger Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames.

I firmly believe, had Sidney Crosby not missed so much action with that high ankle sprain, he would have repeated as the Hart winner. Oh well.

Update 5:50pm ET: John Glennon at The Tennessean wonders this about Ovechkin,

“His energy and his passion — if you could bottle that and stick it inside your players — you would have an unbelievable team.’’

It sounds like the description of an MVP, but there’s a catch. The Capitals are in a position similar to that of the Predators, two points out of the playoff picture with nine games remaining in the season.

Hence the question: Should Washington fall short of the postseason, should Ovechkin win the MVP? The last player to accomplish such a feat was a guy named Mario Lemieux, who did it while playing for Pittsburgh in 1986-87.