TORONTO (CP) -- Sidney Crosby will be the centre of attention at the
NHL awards ceremonies Thursday night.

The youngest player ever to win the scoring title led the Pittsburgh
Penguins into the playoffs for the first time since 2001, which makes
the 19-year-old superstar from Cole Harbour, N.S., a favourite to win
the Hart Trophy as most valuable player to his team and the Pearson
Award as the most outstanding player in the league.

That's what a poll of writers who cover NHL games for The Canadian
Press indicates.

Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings gets the nod for the Norris
Trophy as top defenceman and Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins is a
clear-cut Calder Trophy favourite for rookie of the year in the CP
poll, while it's a close call for most of the other trophies that
reward regular-season work.

Official results could differ from the CP poll, but Pierre LeBrun,
Bill Beacon, Jim Morris, Neil Stevens, Chris Johnston, Donna Spencer,
Robin Brownlee and Chris Yzerman make no apologies for their picks.

Hart Trophy

The official Hart winner has been determined by secret ballots cast by
selected members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.
Crosby and goaltenders Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils and
Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks got the most points.
CP's panel deemed Crosby's scoring title at 19 trumped what anybody
else did. It went 7-1 that he'd win the Hart. We're talking Wayne
Gretzky-like impact when we talk Crosby. One predicted Luongo will get
the Hart.
History is on Crosby's side.
The last three Hart winners also were scoring champions the same year
_ Peter Forsberg, then with Colorado, in 2003, Tampa's Martin St.
Louis in 2004 and San Jose's Joe Thornton in 2006. Also, goalies
seldom win the Hart. Jose Theodore was a surprise winner in 2002 when
he was with Montreal and Dominik Hasek took it home in 1997 and 1998
as a member of the Buffalo Sabres. One has to go all the way back to
1962 for the name of Montreal's Jacques Plante to find another winner
in goal.

Who will win: Crosby
Who should win: Crosby

Pearson Award

Crosby, Luongo and Vinny Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who
scored a league-best 52 goals, are the finalists after the more than
700 members of the NHL Players' Association weighed in.
Six of the eight on the CP panel said Crosby will win it. If he does,
he would be the seventh player in league history to win the scoring
title, get the MVP nod and also be picked most outstanding player by
his peers in the same year.
The only goaltenders to win the Pearson since it was first awarded in
1971 were Mike Liut (1981) and Hasek (1997 and 1998).

Who will win: Crosby
Who should win: Crosby

Vezina Trophy

Luongo and Brodeur led voting by league GMs for the Vezina Trophy for
top goaltender, and the CP panel split 4-4 on who will win it.
Brodeur had slightly better stats with a record 48 wins, a .922 save
percentage, a 2.18 GAA and a career-high 12 shutouts. Luongo had 47
wins, was fourth in save percentage (.921) and was sixth in
goals-against average (2.29).
Luongo's impact on his team's rise was immense, which is why five on
the panel said Luongo should win the Vezina. But Brodeur's seniority
and popularity could swing it his way. Flip a coin.

Who will win: Brodeur or Luongo
Who should win: Luongo

Norris Trophy

The silverware for best defenceman will go to Lidstrom for the second
year in a row and fifth time overall, or to one of Anaheim teammates
Chris Pronger or Scott Niedermayer for a second time, according to the
PHWA count.
CP went 6-2 that Lidstrom will win it. Niedermayer got the nod from two.
Lidstrom's plus-40 on the plus-minus scale topped all defencemen. Two
said Niedermayer should win it because he led all defencemen in
scoring with career highs in assists (54) and points (69), but the
league-wide buzz surrounds Lidstrom.

Who will win: Lidstrom
Who should win: Lidstrom

Calder Trophy

Pittsburgh teammates Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal and Colorado's
Paul Stastny got the most points for top rookie honours from PHWA voters.
The CP panel was unanimous in saying Malkin will step into the TV
lights. The Russian centre led all rookies in goals (33), power-play
goals (16), assists (52) and points (85). He was the first player in
89 years to score goals in each of his first six NHL games.
Hard to top that, although two on the CP panel said Stastny should win
the Calder but won't because all the hype is about Malkin.

Who will win: Malkin
Who should win: Malkin

Selke Trophy

The finalists in the PHWA vote on defensive forward are Carolina's Rod
Brind'Amour, who won last year, Anaheim's Samuel Pahlsson and New
Jersey's Jay Pandolfo.
Pahlsson's work in the playoffs earned him deserved recognition and
the CP panel was nearly unanimous in deciding the pesky Swede should
win the Selke, but there was little Sammi buzz outside California
between October and April and the panel split down the middle (4-4)
between Pandolfo and Brind'Amour.

Who will win: Pandolfo or Brind'Amour
Who should win: Pahlsson

Lady Byng Trophy

Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk, who won last year, Colorado's Joe Sakic or
Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis will be named most gentlemanly player.
This one also is decided by PHWA's selected league-wide group.
Four on the CP panel said Sakic, who won the Byng in 2001, will get it
again, while two went with Datsyuk and two with St. Louis.
Sakic, who won the Byng in 2001, took the most penalty minutes of the
three but is the sentimental favourite after finishing seventh in
league scoring with 100 points and joining Gordie Howe as the only
players to reach the century mark at 37 or older.

Who will win: Sakic
Who should win: St. Louis

Adams Award

Buffalo's Lindy Ruff, Pittsburgh's Michel Therrien and Vancouver's
Alain Vigneault are finalists for coach of the year, which is decided
by members of the NHL Broadcasters' Association.
Five on the CP panel said Ruff will take it a second year in a row,
while two others picked Therrien and one said Vigneault would win it.
Three said Vigneault should win it but won't because of Buffalo's No.
1 rank.
No wonder it's close: Ruff's Sabres topped the standings; Vigneault's
Canucks won a franchise-record 49 games and had the league's best
record after Christmas; and Therrien's Penguins showed a 47-point
improvement, which was fourth-highest in league history.

Who will win: Ruff
Who should win: Ruff