And the Hart Goes to --

Fan favorites Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals go up against newcomer Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks as potential recipients of this year's Hart Memorial Trophy. Selected at the end of the regular season in a poll by the Professional Hockey Association, the winner will be announced at the 2010 NHL Awards hosted in Las Vegas on June 23.

Crosby tied for the League-lead with a career-high of 51 goals, Ovechkin is the best player on the best team in the League, and Sedin led the league in points with 112 total points. Each candidate is more than worthy, so how could anyone make such a difficult decision? Here's the breakdown:

As a rather clean-cut and non-temperamental hockey player, Sid the Kid seems to epitomize everything that the Hart stands for. With excellent offensive skills, Crosby was involved in over 42 percent of his team's scoring. Additionally, Crosby managed to lead the League in hat tricks, face offs, and to display his proficiency in shootouts. While some will argue that this comes as a result of the fact that Crosby's offensive line is lacking in comparison to that of Washington, the only opinions that really matter will unveiled next Wednesday.

In the other corner we have Alex Ovechkin, and it's clear that he had the biggest impact on his own team out of any of the three candidates. Ovechkin could join the hockey elite of Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr should he be selected to win his third consecutive Hart. For the fifth straight season, Ovi led the League with 368 shots on goal, but Crosby's 51 goals, 58 assists, 109 total points and plus/minus of 15 are competitive as are Sedin's 29 goals, 83 assists, 112 total points and plus/minus of 35.

However, with Ovechkin's 50 goals, 59 assists, and 109 total points, not to mention his plus/minus of 45, it's hard to remember that he ever missed a single game this past season. The fact remains, though, that between injury and suspension, Ovechkin missed a total of ten regular season games. The real question is will these suspensions help or harm Ovi's chances? Will voters see it as a bonus that he missed ten games and still managed to post such great numbers, or will his aggressive behavior be negatively viewed?

Lastly, we have the underdog Henrik Sedin. As the front runner in league points as well as a great plus/minus rating, it's plain to see that Sedin is an outstanding team player. Not only has he been successful as an individual player, he also worked to make his team better. To add to his credibility, Sedin accomplished all of these things in the Western Conference, which is always more competitive.

In the end, we can think what we want, but we can never know exactly how and why the decision-making process will be executed. These are just the facts.

Source: www.nhl.com