SAN JOSE, Calif. — On the Friday morning of the Avalanche’s Game 5 against San Jose, the NHL announced that Colorado center Matt Duchene, Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard and Buffalo defenseman Tyler Meyers were the three finalists for the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year.
The winner will be announced at the league’s annual awards ceremony at Las Vegas on June 23.
“It’s definitely a huge honor,” Duchene said after the Avalanche morning skate. “You only get one shot at it, and it’s pretty cool to be named to the top three there. I’m very honored and happy to be a part of that, but it’s a huge credit to my teammates.”
The finalist selection is a bit of validation for the Avalanche’s selection of Duchene with the No. 3 overall choice in the 2009 entry draft, because neither of the top two picks — New York Islanders center John Tavares and Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman — made the cut.
Duchene, 19, had 55 points this season for the Avalanche, best in the league among rookies. His 24 goals tied Tavares for the rookie lead.
Howard is 26 and played four seasons in the AHL after his career at the University of Maine, and he had a strong season for the Red Wings after taking over the No. 1 job from Chris Osgood.
The Texas-born Myers, the Sabres’ top pick in 2008 from Kelowna of major junior’s Western Hockey League, stuck with Buffalo this season. An imposing if skinny figure at 6-feet-7 and 204 pounds, Myers made an immediate impact, playing more than 23 minutes a game and getting 11 goals and 37 assists.
The voting was conducted among members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association in the final days before the playoffs started. The awards ceremony at Las Vegas is scheduled five days after the final possible date in a seven-game Stanley Cup Finals.
The franchise has had three Calder winners, the first two when the franchise was based in Quebec — Peter Stastny, the father of current Avalanche center Paul Stastny, in 1981; and Peter Forsberg in 1995. Colorado’s Chris Drury won the Calder in 1999.
Porter returns.
After missing two games with an upper-body injury, Kevin Porter was back in the lineup for the Avs against the Sharks in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series. He skated on a third line with Ryan O’Reilly and Marek Svatos.
“To miss a few games was tough, but getting back in, I’m excited,” Porter said. “It’s a really close series, so I want to make a difference.”
Size matters.
Sharks winger Ryane Clowe says his team’s superior size over the Avalanche can make the difference as the series goes longer.
“We have size, so we need to take advantage of it,” he said. “One thing about our size is, I think it wears the other team’s ‘D’ down well, especially over a seven-game series. When we’re executing, we come through the neutral zone pretty fast too. When you’ve got guys 6-2, 220, coming down on you with speed, it’s pretty intimidating.”
Footnotes.
Avs right wing David Jones (torn anterior cruciate ligament) did not make the trip to San Jose but did skate on his own at Denver Thursday. Coach Joe Sacco said the team has not given up hope that he will be able to play in this series. . . . Sacco said right wing Milan Hejduk (upper body) was “progressing” in his recovery, but didn’t get more specific than that. There was no further update on the status of Peter Mueller (concussion).
