An Open Letter to Ron Wilson, Penguins Fans, and All of ESPN

TIC TAC TOE. Tape to Tape.
Dear Unenlightened Ones,

Where in the wide world is the secret, bastardized version of the Hart
description that so many of you are privy to?

The Hart is for the "player most valuable to his team"--not the "best
player in the league," "highest scoring player," or "best actor in a leading role." Nowhere in that description does it say, "The prerequisites for the Hart Trophy are a talented supporting cast, savvy GM, and playoff birth."
If every man, woman, and child wants so desperately to award an MVP title to a player on a playoff team, there's the Conn Smythe.

The argument for Malkin as a Hart recipient would work if we were talking about Basketball, a sport in which one player can conceivably control 20% of the game. Lebron took the otherwise terrible Cavs to the show.

Hockey is not Basketball. There are twenty players in a given lineup, meaning each player has less input in his team's destiny.
Ovechkin plays about twenty-one minutes a night. He can take over the game for short stints, but then it's back to an AHL caliber offense. Would anyone have ever heard the names Quentin Laing, Thomas Fleischmann, or Eric Fehr if Ovechkin wasn't on the same team?

Besides, if Ovechkin will be a "lock" for the Hart as a member of a post-season
squad, shouldn't he be a "near lock" for the Hart if the Caps earn
ninth or tenth in the East?

My Hart candidates:

1. The Moscow Express (The one that's been hot during the full season, not twenty games. Hell, I'd nominate Brooks Laich for the Hart if it was just a trophy for hot-streaks. Brooksie's had ten in the last thirteen. )
2. Iggy Pop
3. St. Marty, the patron Saint of offensively impotent clubs

Why no Malkin?
Is Malkin really the most valuable man on his team, having had a
comparatively slow first half? I'd sooner take Ty Conklin for bailing
out the Pens. Malkin has had a ton of help. Crosby, Staal, Whitney, Gonchar, Sykora...

Why no Lidstrom, Datsyuk, or Zetterberg?
Not one of the Detroit skaters has significantly outplayed his
mates; they're a very solid unit, and that's not a bad thing.
Damien Cox wants to give Lidstrom the Hart. Are you kidding? They were absolutely fine without him. Detroit will still win the Western Conference, and besides, they're not exactly razor thin on the blueline. When Niklas went down, they had legions of veteran savvy to carry out the struggle.

Why no Vinny?
He's one-dimensional--a Kovalchuk with crisper passes.

As for Ovechkin, he's the only player in the league to have twice as
many goals as his team's second highest scorer. He leads the league
in goals, points, PPG, GWG, and shots. He's eighth in TKA, and
tenth in hits.

How many other players are that well rounded? Can Malkin, Lidstrom,
Datsyuk, Vinny, or Zetterberg claim to play as well in all three zones? Has Lidstrom ever hit anyone? Ever?

Take away Ovechkin, Brodeur, or Iggy from their clubs, and it's not a question of the playoffs, it's question of "Kansas City or Seattle?"

No player has been as valuable to his team as Ovechkin has been for the
Caps in decades.

Signed with a prayer for your cognitive depravity,

Jimmy Jazz