LAS VEGAS — Corey Perry crashed the Sedins’ NHL MVP party.
The Anaheim Ducks forward, who scored a league-best 50 goals, won the Hart Trophy on Wednesday night. His surprise victory came at the expense of scoring champion Daniel Sedin, who was trying to complete an unprecedented MVP double dip after his twin brother and Vancouver Canucks teammate Henrik took the honors last year.
“You didn’t know what to expect coming in, and then all of a sudden you hear your name and you’re like, ‘Oh,’ ” Perry said. “It surprised me.”
Perry, who scored 19 goals in his final 16 games as Anaheim moved from 11th to fourth in the Western Conference, received 67-of-126 first-place votes from the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. Sedin had 51 first-place votes.
Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings won his seventh Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman, tying Doug Harvey as a seven-time winner, one behind record-holder Bobby Orr.
Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas, who set an NHL record for save percentage at .938, surpassing Dominik Hasek‘s .937 mark set during the 1998-89 season, added his second Vezina Trophy.
• The St. Louis Blues signed winger B.J. Crombeen to a two-year contract extension.
• Former Calgary Flames part- owner Harley Hotchkiss, a Hockey Hall of Famer, died of prostate cancer. He was 83.
Ex-Trojan admits taking money
LOS ANGELES — Former USC football player Lonnie White admitted to accepting $14,000 in illegal payments during his four years at the school in the 1980s.
White, who worked as a sportswriter at the Los Angeles Times from 1987-2008, made the confession in a first-person story for The Daily, saying most of the money came from selling the four season tickets provided to every scholarship player. Those tickets are not to be sold.
“To this day, it’s something I’m ashamed about,” White wrote. “Rent was overdue, and my household bills were delinquent. I needed the money to live. So accepting the $14,000 in different forms of ‘benefits’ over my college years three decades ago was an act of survival.”
• Former Florida cornerback Janoris Jenkins will play his senior season at North Alabama, the Division II program led by former Auburn coach Terry Bowden.
• Iowa athletic department officials were collecting details about the types of free cars some coaches and employees drive after data revealed at least 57 coaches, assistant coaches, spouses and athletic department employees drive vehicles donated by car dealers.
Footnotes.
Sporting Kansas City extended its MLS unbeaten streak to six matches with a 0-0 draw against the Philadelphia Union in Chester, Pa.
• The Chicago Fire extended its unbeaten streak to six matches with a 0-0 draw against Real Salt Lake in Bridgeview, Ill.
• American national team diver Harrison Jones has been suspended for one year after testing positive for marijuana.
Denver Post wire services
