Lady Bing finalists (Sportsmanship): St. Louis, Datsyuk, Parise.

[Forkboy]

Is a fourth Lady Byng in the offing for Datsyuk?

That's the NHL's theme for the 2008-09 season and it's an apt question when it comes to the nominees for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the League's most gentlemanly player.

Is this the year that Tampa Bay Lightning right winger Martin St. Louis reverses the outcome of the Lady Byng voting the past two seasons and unseats Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk, who is seeking his fourth straight Lady Byng?

Both players are among the finalists this year, along with New Jersey Devils left winger Zach Parise. They will be on hand for the 2009 NHL Awards, which will be broadcast live from the Pearl Concert Theater inside the Palms Hotel Las Vegas on June 18 on VERSUS in the United States and CBC in Canada.

Character counts and the three nominees for the 2009 Lady Byng have it in spades.
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Perhaps the most misunderstood trophy in sports, the Lady Byng rewards "the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability." In other words, it rewards production done with class.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=419920&navid=DL|NHL|Home

Good picks. I already know how good St. Louis and Datsyuk are, but Parise is one of the pleasant surprises this year. He's looked awesome in the NJ games I've seen.

[LisaM]

1. I love this award.

I think that it should be in all sports, and that it should be given by the First Spouse (one day, I hope, we won't just be talking about First Ladies). I wish Michelle Obama would implement it, a sportsmanship trophy. It's nice to see it honored. Of course, there would be a problem in the NFL and NBA with so few people being eligible, but maybe it would encourage people to try.

[Forkboy]

2. For all of hockey's bad image at times, it's the classiest of all the main sports.

Just look at what the Wings did when they won the Cup the year after Konstantinov was paralyzed. When they brought him out in the wheelchair to carry the Cup there wasn't a dry eye in the house, including mine. That was one of the classiest things I've ever seen.

The classiest moment I've ever seen came in college hockey. The coach of Maine, Shawn Walsh, was diagnosed with what was basically terminal cancer (he died at 46). When they went to the next game after the news and the opposing team took the ice they all had Walsh's name on their jerseys. That's class.

I think hockey players have the most respect for one another, too. Even in the fights there's a level of respect. I can't remember the players involved, but there's a great clip I saw where two tough guys were waiting for the faceoff, and one of them (it may have been LaRaque) was talking to the other guy. "You want to go? You want to drop them?" the other guy said yes, and Laraque said, "Ok, good luck," in all seriousness. They had their fight, patted each other on the head after and went to the box. :)

[LisaM]

3. I totally agree, and they don't have too many off-ice incidents either

You rarely, if ever, hear about them getting arrested for drugs, beating their wives, etc. I know that there have been some drinking incidents, which is terrible, but that seems to be the extent of it. Non-fans don't realize how psychological an aspect of the game the fighting is. We like 'em in our house! We cheer them on. The day McCarty beat up Lemieux is one of my favorite memories, and I love to see that old clip of Vernie taking on Roy, too. Good times!

It's a great game and I love it. My cousins are Caps' fans, and they were at that game where Konstantinov was wheeled out. They took photos of it and sent them to me, a Wings' fan.

[Captain Hilts]

4. I agree completely. And they treat their fans better also. nt