The season is now a third of the way done and if I had to vote or even had a vote, Claude Giroux would be my favorite to win the Hart. But what will it take come April? Here you go:
Stay healthy
Obviously, and theres no reason to think Giroux wont. Hes played all 82 games in each of his first two full seasons in the league. However, cynics can argue the odds are against him playing the full tilt for a third straight season. Giroux plays an aggressive, physical game and all it takes is one wrong turn into the boards or a slap shot off the top of the skate to cost him 4-6 weeks of the season and take a considerable dip from the league leaders.
Healthy linemates, especially Jagr
Its no coincidence the Flyers' top three scorers are all on the Flyers' top line, but if you look at prior MVPs, they all had a Robin to their Batman. Corey Perry had Ryan Getzlaf, Alex Ovechkin needed Nicklas Backstrom and Sidney Crosby had Evgeni Malkin on the power play. Giroux needs Jagr, if anything, to pad his numbers in the assist column.
Big performance in big game
Having Giroux perform his magic on a grand stagesuch as the Winter Classic or the All-Star Game where the entire hockey world will be watching, including voters, would just add to his magical season. It certainly helps Girouxs cause to have the Winter Classic on his schedule and would further help his case if he has a big game. If he takes home the MVP at the All-Star Game in his hometown of Ottawa that would be a nice sweetener as well.
Monitoring minutes
Ian Laperriere and I both agreed Wednesday night that Giroux cant maintain this eye-popping pace over an 82-game schedule. Hes sixth among all forwards in TOI (time on ice). No big deal, but hes averaging around 24 over his last 11 games. Thats way too much. Not only that, Giroux has 74:14 of SH time. Ice time coach Peter Laviolette calls the hard minutes. To put that in perspective, thats more PK minutes than Phil Kessel, Martin St. Louis, Corey Perry, Steve Stamkos and Brad Richards combined.
Win division andor finish with 100 points
While I dont think its necessarily essential the Flyers win the Atlantic, I believe it could be a sticking point, especially if Giroux is battling down the stretch with one of the Sedin's or Jonathan Toews, who in turn lead their team to the top of their divisionconference. It can hurt more than it can helpsee Kessel (once the season is over).
Excel in late-February
Why? The Flyers have a west-coast stretch of games that goes through Edmonton, Calgary and San Jose and lets face it, while voters try and remain objective, they have a tendency to lean toward a candidate in the conference they typically cover. If Giroux gets hot during these games, then voters who favor Western Conference teams can see firsthand what all of us are already drooling over.
NHL
Keep up the Giroux lovefest
Pierre McGuire of Versus was pumping Girouxs tires all night long in the game at Buffalo, which included a pregame sit-down interview. Keep it up, Pierre.
Watch the rearview mirror
Giroux cant afford Toews, Crosby, the Sedin's or anyone else to explode in the final 20 games of the season like Perry did last season when he scored 19 goals in his final 19 games. Perry came out of nowhere to win the Hart. The aforementioned superstars are all capable of a repeat performance.
Finish on the plus side
If the total points are all very close among the top three finalists, I can see plusminus being used against someone. Its a "perception" that player wasnt very good defensively. As of this post, Giroux is a plus-six. Last season, he was a plus-20. I dont see any reason why he shouldnt finish with a plus number.
Chris Pronger stays hurt
Now before you go off and blow a gasket on me, Im not wishing this to happen at all, but it certainly strengthens Girouxs case for the Hart if hes able to carry the Flyers on his shoulders without their captain. When determining the MVP, the value aspect can be magnified by the loss of a teammate. I think it gave Henrik Sedin a slight edge in 2010 when his twin brother Daniel went down with an injury for a good chunk of time.
E-mail John Boruk at jboruk@comcastsportsnet.com