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Los Angeles Kings general manager Dean Lombardi strongly believes Drew Doughty should win the Norris Trophy this season. Lombardi recently spoke about the award and was asked if he thought Doughty, his star defenseman, should receive his first Norris Trophy. The award is annually given to  the defenseman “who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.” [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Hockey contest now ]   Said Lombardi, “Not even close. All you’ve got to do is stay up and watch West Coast games, and you’ll know why, and I won’t even have to explain it to you. You know what the beauty of that position is? It’s the classic case where greatness is in the subtleties. That No. 1 defenseman, what makes him special? Unless you really understand the game and see some of the things he does, you have to study the game, not watch the game, and realize what he does is really special, and has nothing to do with highlights and the points and all of this stuff.” Doughty and Ottawa Senators’ blueliner Erik Karlsson are considered the two favorites for the award this season. Karlsson, a two-time winner, led defensemen with 82 points this season. He’s considered the premier offensive defenseman of his generation, but is believed by some in hockey to not be as polished defensively as Doughty, who had 51 points in 82 games this season. Doughty averaged 2:37 of shorthanded ice-time per-game this year to Karlsson’s 1:19.  Karlsson’s advanced stats, however, prove he’s a better all-around defender than his reputation would indicate. Lombardi didn’t reference Karlsson by name, but took a dig at offensive defensemen in general. Also, Karlsson’s Senators didn’t make the playoffs, and Lombardi took note of the fact that past offensive Norris winners made the postseason. “It’s not the highlight-film position. It’s not supposed to be, and then we turned it (into one) because (of) Paul Coffey,” Lombardi said “I guess, he pulled it off. But at least Paul Coffey was in the playoffs.” At points this season, Karlsson had been compared to Coffey. Voting for the Norris Trophy closes today and is conducted by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. Doughty has never won the award. Last season he received the most first-place votes, but lost to Karlsson. Doughty is a two-time finalist for the Norris.  Lombardi said he believes general managers should have the final say in voting for the Norris. “What I would say is that we should change, and we’ve actually discussed this among the general managers, I wouldn’t completely cut the media out (of the voting),” Lombardi said. “What I would say is have the media give us three candidates and let us vote on it because it’s too important a trophy. It reflects way more…way more, than what people are looking at.” MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY   - - - - - - - Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper     Continue to Article

April 13, 2016 6:07:pm EST

Almost every NHL contender has a few ghosts of past failures that they must exorcise on the path toward the Stanley Cup. The San Jose Sharks have a monster in their closet, and they've got to face it in the first round. Just two years ago, the Los Angeles Kings rallied from a 0-3 series deficit in the first round to eliminate San Jose in humiliating fashion at the Shark Tank. Continue to Article

April 13, 2016 4:52:pm EST

So much went right for Russian sniper Alex Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals this season that they might finally be set to reverse years of postseason heartbreak when the Stanley Cup playoffs open this week. Ovechkin was the National Hockey League's top scorer for a fourth straight year with 50 goals, goalie Braden Holtby tied the all-time mark for single-season wins with 48 and Washington won the Presidents' Trophy for finishing first overall. Washington begin their series on Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers. Continue to Article

April 12, 2016 3:00:pm EST

(Reuters) - Brief profiles of the eight Western Conference teams, listed in order of regular season point total, that have qualified for the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup playoffs: DALLAS STARS Regular season record: 50-23-9 (109 points) How they qualified: First in Central division Head coach: Lindy Ruff Most points: Jamie Benn (89) Most goals: Jamie Benn (41) Stanley Cup championships: One (1999) - - ST. ... Continue to Article

April 12, 2016 2:58:pm EST