The Hart Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the player deemed to be the most valuable to his team by the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association. This year’s finalists include two goaltenders, Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils and Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks, and center Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins. There will be a first-time winner this year, as Crosby and Luongo are first-time nominees while Brodeur finished third in his two previous nominations (2002-03 and 2003-04).

Much debate will be made whether a goaltender should win the Hart Trophy while goalies already have their own award (Vezina Trophy). The Vezina is given to the “goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at this position” while the Hart rewards value in terms of a team concept. Individual accomplishments versus team value -- not the same thing in my book. Brodeur and Luongo did not lead the NHL in GAA or save percentage, but the Devils and Canucks, respectively, would not have won a division title without their netminders. Goaltenders always have been treated differently than the rest of the players (hockey rule #32: always steer clear of a goalie putting on his pads), but not so differently that they can’t win a Hart Trophy. Assuming the three nominees have an equal shot at winning, let’s examine their credentials.

Brodeur won an NHL-record 48 games this season (10 wins coming in a shootout) while leading goalies in games played (78) and shutouts (12). The 14-year veteran’s consistency almost makes you forget just how good he is compared to everyone else. Since the 1996-97 season, Brodeur leads the NHL with 412 wins -- 118 more than the next goalie on the list (Ed Belfour). In that time, he’s lost defensemen the likes of Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer but with little to no drop-off in his production. Brodeur’s value can’t be overstated as New Jersey’s 216 goals scored were the fewest by a playoff team. The Devils provided him with 2.47 goals in support per game, the sixth-lowest total in the league and lowest among playoff goaltenders.

Luongo is on the other side of the spectrum. He’s seven years younger than Brodeur and tasting success for the first time after an offseason trade sent him from Florida to Vancouver. His numbers, though, are very similar. The 28-year-old was one win shy of tying Brodeur’s record-setting season while posting a career-best 2.29 GAA in 76 games. He was a major factor in the Canucks' 2.36 GAA this season -- a stark contrast to the 3.03 GAA from last year. Do you think Alex Auld, Luongo’s counterpart in Vancouver last season and for whom he was traded, would have led the Canucks from out of the playoffs last year to the Northwest Division title this season? Neither do I.

That leaves us with that Crosby kid -- arguably already the best player in the league. The 19-year-old wunderkind won the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer with 120 points, becoming the youngest scoring leader among major pro sports. As if leading the league in scoring wasn’t enough, he helped Pittsburgh make a 47-point turnaround this year to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2000-01 season. Crosby had seven separate streaks of points in five or more consecutive games while only one streak of three games without a point. All that while playing amidst constant media attention and the uncertainty of where the Penguins organization would be playing next season.

Will a goaltender win the Hart for the first time since Jose Theodore in 2001-02 with Montreal, or will it a be a teenager for the first time since Wayne Gretzky won his first of nine Hart Trophies as a 19-year-old in 1980? Crosby has all the media hype around him (deservedly so) and likely will be helped by the “anti-goalie bias” facing Brodeur and Luongo. Each of the three finalists is a compelling case, but what Crosby did leading the Penguins this season was phenomenal. This Hart Trophy should be the first of many more in Sid the Kid’s long career.