2006 Conn Smythe Trophy: If you could pick the winner. | HFBoards - NHL Message Board and Forum for National Hockey League
Toggle sidebar

2006 Conn Smythe Trophy: If you could pick the winner.

Who would you have picked?

  • Cam Ward

    Votes: 7 20.6%

  • Eric Staal

    Votes: 12 35.3%

  • Rod Brind'Amour

    Votes: 6 17.6%

  • Chris Pronger

    Votes: 9 26.5%
  • Total voters
    34
djboos22

djboos22

Aho (insert pun)
Jan 17, 2011
2,665
515
Palm Bay, FL
Based on another topic of discussion, this came up. Pretty simple question, who would you have picked?

Cam Ward - 15-8 .920 SV% 2.14 GAA 2 SO

Eric Staal - 25 GP 9 G 19 A 28 P - Led playoffs in points. Most since 1996 at that time

Rod Brind'Amour - 25 GP 12 G 6 A 18 P - The heart of that team

Chris Pronger - 24 GP 5 G 16 A 21 P - Avg 30 minutes of ice time. Giguere like run for a defenseman
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: rnhaas
I'd say Staal or Brind'amour, leaning towards Staal because of the point difference. But Brind'amour would be more than worthy too with those 12 goals and 4 game winners

Either way, it shouldn't have been Ward. Any Cup winning goalie will have objectively good stats. Nothing about Ward's play was great or a decider like a Thomas or Giguere. Quick note, they only had 2 game 7s that year, not 4.
 
BigBadBruins7708 said:
I'd say Staal or Brind'amour, leaning towards Staal because of the point difference. But Brind'amour would be more than worthy too with those 12 goals and 4 game winners

Either way, it shouldn't have been Ward. Any Cup winning goalie will have objectively good stats. Nothing about Ward's play was great or a decider like a Thomas or Giguere. Quick note, they only had 2 game 7s that year, not 4.
Click to expand...
My bad, I included the two others from 2009 lol
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigBadBruins7708
I go back and forth between Staal and Rod. I voted Staal. I truely believe he would have been awarded the Smyth if they closed it out after his 2 goals in game 5.
 
I voted Ward.

I remember he wasn't the #1 goalie - don't think he even was 1B at the time. So to come in like that and help your team save their round 1 and go all the way, I thought was impressive. It's exactly what they needed to get going in an overall strong team effort.

You can probably argue Staal or Brind'Amour too, but I like the narrative of the goalie change as a good story.

Pronger was great - but his team lost.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dennis Bonvie
statistically brind’amour has a convincing case over staal, imo, even given the ten pt discrepancy

he led the team in icetime as a forward, a little over four minutes more than staal, led them in SH TOI, and was behind only staal in PP TOI, so he absolutely did it all, including being +9 to staal’s even while holding down tough assignments

led the team in goals and had only one fewer ES pt than staal and four GWGs (real ones where he broke a tie late in the game, including game seven of the ECF and game one of the finals)

an absolutely bonkers 57.3 faceoff% in very heavy usage over a full cup run (100 more faceoffs won than #2, tying his own record from 2002 — ok “record” from when they started tracking that stat, but 2011 kesler is the only player since to come within 50 of that number, and he finished 48 behind)

but the argument for staal is he absolutely killed it on the PP and that historically good PP probably is what won them the cup
 
  • Like
Reactions: Auston Escobar, rnhaas and Hockey Outsider
Staal, with Brind'Amour right behind, then Ward a little gap behind them.

I agree that Pronger was the best player that postseason, but to give a player on the losing team the Conn Smythe, my view is said player must be the playoff MVP by a clear and convincing amount, i.e. 2003 Giguere.
 
  • Like
Reactions: djboos22
Cam Ward still isn't a bad pick. 2006 was one of those years with multiple guys who had good springs. The 4 mentioned in the poll are the right choices. Staal just for the scoring prowess, Brindy for the two-way play and Ward for the hot moments he had in net, and of course coming in and helping them turn it around.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dennis Bonvie, Yozhik v tumane and djboos22
I voted for Pronger, who had the best playoff by a D I think I've seen in my adult life.

If it had to be the Canes, I'd take Brind'Amour for the reasons @vadim sharifijanov pointed out. Brind'Amour was playing Modano-esque minutes at forward. His total TOI this playoff is still the second most ever among forwards since the NHL started tracking skater ice time.
 
Pronger's wife, for putting up with living in Edmonton during that run.

I didn't realize Ward was a controversial pick until the last several years from reading this forum. Is that hindsight being 20/20 because he had an unspectacular, if solid career? Or was there much debate in 2006 of him not being deserving?
 
Last edited:
I had Rod Brind'Amour as my pick, and by a large margin. His ice time, timely goals, two-way play, faceoffs, and overall leadership were absolutely essential to the Canes' Cup run. IMO, he was pretty much THE key factor in all four rounds of the playoffs for them.
 
Tim Connolly!

😭

The answer is Brindamour, imo. Pronger was out of this world but Brindamour's team won and he was just a sheer force in every single way imaginable. Clutch plays as well.
 
GMR said:
Pronger's wife, for putting up with living in Edmonton during that run.

I didn't realize Ward was a controversial pick until the last several years from reading this forum. Is that hindsight being 20/20 because he had an unspectacular, if solid career? Or was there much debate in 2006 of him not being deserving?
Click to expand...

i was shocked. but i wonder if this wasn't a case of the vote being split between pronger (the objective best player but didn't win), brind'amour (the best cane but for intangible reasons as much as tangible), and staal (the leading scorer) and so the goalie took it with like a third of the votes?

as ever i wish we had the cs voting results
 
GMR said:
Pronger's wife, for putting up with living in Edmonton during that run.

I didn't realize Ward was a controversial pick until the last several years from reading this forum. Is that hindsight being 20/20 because he had an unspectacular, if solid career? Or was there much debate in 2006 of him not being deserving?
Click to expand...

Watching it live, I remember not being upset at the Ward selection, but surprised. We won because we were always able to come back and score goals, so I thought Staal or Brindy was going to get it.
 
MarkusKetterer said:
To me it was Brind’amour. However had Edmonton won it, Roloson was my pick. Unfortunately he got injured, so we never got to see if he would have won the Smythe, even if the finals end the same way.

Edmonton looked like a completely different team with Markkanen and Conklin in net.
Click to expand...
Without looking it up, wasn't Pronger pretty much a shoe in for the Smythe if the Oilers had won? That's the way I remember it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Latest posts

Ad

Ad

Top Bottom