ARTHUR:
A month ago, Greg Wyshynski listed five reasons Corey Perry would not be receiving the Puck Daddy scribe's vote for the Hart. Amongst the quintet of complaints was the number of minor penalties that the Anaheim forward took on the way to his 104 PIM total.
It would be simplistic to counter that argument by noting that Corey Perry draws a large number of penalties for the Ducks (though at 1.2 per 60 minutes, he does). Instead, I would simply build on that counter argument and point out that 1/4 of Perry's 2-minute infractions are Roughing minors.
By simply pointing to his minor penalties, you seem to imply that Perry is some flat footed forward with a propensity for hurting his team with a Hook every time he can't keep up with his check. In reality, Perry is a forward who plays the game in the trenches (whether or not he's actually stationed in the trenches at the time). He hits you first, and he hits you back.
Are 10 Roughing minors a good thing? A positive? Well, no. Neither are his two Charging penalties and his one Boarding call. But if Perry is truly effective playing the game on the edge, then maybe the decision to vote for him should be based on more than visiting the Ducks' Penalties stat page of NHL.com and sorting by 'Minors.'
And that's why I feel Perry's consideration for the Ted Lindsay Award is so much more important than his nomination for the Hart. He may have a history of minor penalties, front of the net exchanges like the video above, runs at goaltenders and a pretty inexcusable suspension, but the Players' Association MVP could be the one place where your rap sheet isn't determinative of your value. After all, Alex Ovechkin took home his third consecutive MVP despite multiple suspensions and a couple of knee on knee hits that escaped suspension.
So, maybe it's actually more meaningful to be called valuable and effective by the players that actually play against you and have some firsthand knowledge of how valuable and effective you are. Mind blowing concept, I know.