On February 2, 2024, a few months ago, I wrote an article on the site saying that Nikita Kucherov couldn’t care less about the All-Star Event.
My title: “Nikita Kucherov couldn’t care less about the All-Star Event”.
For tonight’s text, I could easily have used the same headline and simply changed the “All-Star Event” to “Trophy Night”. That’s what I did, but with a little less vulgarity. After all, there are children reading this…
My point remains the same: Kucherov really doesn’t want to be where he is.
Tonight, he seemed entirely disinterested, and it didn’t help that the host sported a beard and Russian accent.
You can say anything about the Russian, but at least he’s not a hypocrite.
The evening was a total mess…” Forced smiles and polite laughter”, as Simon-Olivier Lorange put it, except for Kucherov…
As for Matt Friend, I hope he doesn’t ignore the comments about him on social media too much.
He’s clearly no Kevin Hart. #RoastDeTomBrady
Overall, the evening may have been a disaster, but I’m sure Nathan MacKinnon had nothing to complain about.
He’s the big winner of this ceremony, because unlike Kucherov, he didn’t leave empty-handed. He won the Hart Trophy, awarded to his team’s most valuable player, and the Ted Lindsay, awarded to the best player according to his peers.
Here are the other winners:
- Connor Hellebuyck – Vézina
- Connor Bedard – Calder
- Connor Quinn Hughes – Norris
As for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the best defenseman, Mike Matheson was completely ignored. Despite a 62-point season, he didn’t receive a single vote.
At least, he received two third-place votes for the All-Star team.
Overtime
– We’ll see in a few years.
– Nice little deal.
– It’s going to be a big summer for them.
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