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Mike Yeo and much of Internet disappointed about Brodin’s Calder snub

Jonas Brodin

The biggest story about today’s announcement of the 2013 Calder Trophy nominees -- Jonathan Huberdeau, Brandon Saad and Brendan Gallagher -- wasn’t about the nominees.

It was about the snubs.

One snub in particular.

Minnesota defenseman Jonas Brodin failed to crack the top three (of note, the Professional Hockey Writers Association does the voting; 178 members cast votes this year), and that’s caused a lot of conversation.

Mike Russo of the Minnesota Star-Tribune reports that Wild head coach Mike Yeo was “very disappointed” with the decision, a feeling that resonated throughout Twitter:

Very simply, Jonas Brodin was the top rookie in the NHL this season. The fact he isn’t a finalist for the Calder makes us voters look bad.

— steve simmons (@simmonssteve) May 6, 2013

When NHL people argue writers not qualified to vote on awards, they cite omissions like Jonas Brodin for Calder. #embarrassing — Iain MacIntyre (@imacVanSun) May 6, 2013

@russostrib A travesty Brodin ‘s not a finalost for Calder — Pat Hickey (@zababes1) May 6, 2013


Shocked that Jonas Brodin wasn’t nominated for the Calder Trophy. Complete oversight.

— THE STATS GUY (@TH2NSTATSGUY) May 6, 2013


Hard to imagine Brodin not being in the top 3 of Calder race never mind not being on some people’s ballot.

— Tony Gallagher (@tg_gman) May 6, 2013


Brodin led all rookies in average ice time per game (23:12) and finished with 2G-9A-11PTS in 45 games. He also finished fourth among all first-year blueliners with 60 blocked shots, and led all with 18 takeaways.

For an interesting take on Brodin’s year, here’s Sports Illustrated’s Allan Muir:

He led all rookies in average ice time per game (23:12) while playing alongside Norris Trophy candidate Ryan Suter, which means that he routinely skated against the opposition’s top scorers.

While that should have sealed the deal, it’s possible that partnering worked against Brodin. It’s easy to imagine voters who don’t often see the Wild assuming that the veteran carried the kid.

But it was almost the opposite — Brodin��s arrival from the AHL helped put Suter’s season back on track and the duo worked as equally as Suter used to with old pal Shea Weber.

Should be noted that Brodin currently leads all rookies in postseason ice time as well, averaging a whopping 28:54 through the first three games of the Western Conference quarterfinal.