Awards

Once you make it past the performance by Nickelback and the awkward jokes to open the show, the NHL handed out its awards on Wednesday night in Las Vegas.

Here are your winners, which we'll be updating throughout the night.

KarlssonNorris Trophy (Best Defenseman): Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators

Just one day after signing a massive seven-year contract extension with the Ottawa Senators, Erik Karlsson took home his first ever Norris Trophy, which is given to the NHL's best all-around defenseman.

Karlsson was the NHL's leading scorer among defenseman. He finished the season with 78 points while no other blue-liner had more than 53. His defensive game has its share of critics, but offensive ability (again, it goes to best "all-around" defenseman) is also factored into the Norris voting. Karlsson won the award over Nashville's Shea Weber and Boston's Zdeno Chara.

2012 NHL Awards
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According to ESPN's Scott Burnside, Karlsson won the award by a vote count of just 1,069 to 1,057 over Weber, which is the second year in a row the Nashville defenseman has narrowly missed out on the award.

MalkinTed Lindsay Award (Best Player Voted By Players): Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin came into the night as the favorite to win the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP, but before that was announced he took home the Ted Lindsay award, which is given to the most outstanding player as voted by the players.

This award is a high honor because it comes from the players and not from, you know, writers or broadcasters.

Malking led the league with 109 points and had his first ever 50-goal season.

BluesJack Adams Award (Coach of the Year): Ken Hitchcock, St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues were one of the biggest surprises in the NHL during the regular season. and a lot of that success was credited to the job Ken Hitchcock did after he took over behind the bench for Davis Payne early in the season.

The Blues finished as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and had one of their best seasons in over a decade, and they were one of the toughest defensive teams in the league -- a common trait among teams coached by Hitchcock.

After he was hired the Blues finished the season on a 43-15-11 run, knocked off the San Jose Sharks in the first-round of the playoffs and were the eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings.

LandeskogCalder Trophy (Rookie of the year): Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche

Landeskog finished the season tied for the league lead in rookie scoring (with fellow finalist Ryan Nugent-Hopkins), and he did it while playing an advanced role for a teenager in his first taste of NHL action. He consistently played some of the toughest minutes in the Avalanche lineup every night and still finished as their leading goal-scorer and one of their leading point producers.

His two-way ability and physical play has drawn favorable comparisons to Peter Forsberg, and he's already established himself as one of Colorado's franchise players going forward.

BluesGeneral Manager of the Year: Doug Armstrong, St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues swept the "executive" portion of the awards on Wednesday night by not only coming away with the coach of the year (Hitchcock), but also the general manager of the year with Doug Armstrong.

Armstrong has been the Blues' general manager since July, 2010.

Armstrong finished first ahead of Florida's Dale Tallon and Nashville's David Poile.

Patrice BergeronFrank J. Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward): Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins

It seems like he probably should have won the award before this, but Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins took home his first Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward on Wednesday night. He finished the regular season with the best relative Corsi rating (which simply means when Bergeron was on the ice his team controlled the puck and didn't allow their opponents to generate much offense) and was a league-best plus-36.

He played against top competition each night, was a key penalty killer and one of the best faceoff men in the league. When it comes to the best two-way players in the NHL, Bergeron is right at the top of the list.

BrianCampbellLady Byng Trophy (Sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct): Brian Campbell, Florida Panthers

Brian Campbell spent more time on the ice this season than any other player in the NHL and recorded just six penalty minutes with the Florida Panthers. It's that sort of clean play, combined with his terrific season offensively, that earned him the Lady Byng Trophy.

He's the first defenseman since 1954 to win the award (Red Kelly) and just the third difference defenseman to ever win it.

Campbell was one of the many offseason pickups made by the Panthers last offseason and his first year in Florida turned out to be one of the best of his career.

LundqvistVezina Trophy (Best Goaltender): Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers

New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goalie for the first time in his career, edging out Nashville's Pekka Rinne and Los Angeles Kings netminder Jonathan Quick.

Lundqvist was a rock for the Rangers all season and finished the year with 39 wins and a .930 save percentage. He was also a finalist for the Hart Trophy for his remarkable play this season.

MalkinHart Trophy (Most Valuable Player): Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh's best player this season capped off a pretty incredible night by taking home his first ever NHL MVP award to go along with the Ted Lindsay Award and Art Ross Trophy that he collected earlier in the evening.

Not only did Malkin win the award, he won it in a landslide with 1,473 points. Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos was second with 598 points.

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