In one of the more heavily-debated awards amongst media and fans, it turns out that Buffalo Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers really didn’t have much in the way of competition on the way to winning the NHL’s Calder Trophy as the top rookie. Here’s how the voting breakdown went.
Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
1. Tyler Myers, BUF 1178 (94-29-5-3-1)
2. Jimmy Howard, DET 778 (24-45-34-16-5)
3. Matt Duchene, COL 755 (12-42-53-25-1)
4. Tuukka Rask, BOS 339 (2-14-19-31-33)
5. John Tavares, NYI 303 (0-2-18-50-49)
6. Niclas Bergfors, ATL 30 (0-0-2-2-14)
7. Jamie Benn, DAL 20 (0-0-1-2-9)
8. Michael Del Zotto, NYR 15 (0-1-0-0-8)
9. Victor Hedman, T.B. 6 (0-0-1-0-1)
10. Evander Kane, ATL 6 (0-0-0-1-3)
11. Johnny Boychuk, BOS 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Cody Franson, NSH 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
13. T.J. Galiardi, COL 3 (0-0-0-0-3)
James van Riemsdyk, PHI 3 (0-0-0-0-3)
15. Tyler Bozak, TOR 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
Myers taking home the award by 400 points and having 70 more first place votes than Jimmy Howard, the voters enthusiastically said that Myers was their man and who can argue with what the 20 year-old defenseman did this year and sound logical.
The 6'8", 222-lb. defenseman led the Sabres in ice time per game (23:44), three minutes more than blueline partner Henrik Tallinder who ranked second. He shared second place on the club in plus-minus (+13) and was fifth in scoring (11-37--48). Myers ranked at or near the top in several rookie categories, including average ice time (first), shorthanded time (first, 3:04), assists (first), blocked shots (first, 137), plus-minus (T-second) and points (third). He also was one of four rookies to play all 82 games.