Lamoriello said Devils will not be giving out team awards this season. No MVP, Players’ Player, Unsung Hero. Would not explain why.
— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) April 7, 2015
Gulitti notes the Devils didn’t hand out trophies during the lockout-shortened ’13 campaign either; the reason given was that it wasn’t a full season.
As for this season, it’s been both odd and disappointing. The Devils began with one head coach (Peter DeBoer) and, barring something crazy, will finish with three (Lamoriello, Adam Oates, Scott Stevens). They also missed the playoffs for the third straight year, something former captain Zach Parise said he “never would’ve predicted.”
“Just because of the way things are run,” Parise said in early March, per the Star-Ledger. “I hope they can pull off something at the end of the year, or next year, and get back in.”
Your guess is as good as any to why the Devils aren’t handing out hardware. If it’s because Lamoriello and company didn’t want to celebrate a disappointing campaign, that’s fine, but New Jersey gave out trophies last year -- Jaromir Jagr won MVP, Andy Greene earned Unsung Hero and Ryan Carter took home the Players’ Player -- despite the fact the Devils finished 10th in the Eastern Conference, with just 35 wins.
As is often the case in New Jersey, you can probably chalk this latest decision up to Lou being Lou.