After picking up the nomination for the Hart Trophy last week the trio of Pavel Datsyuk, Evgeni Malkin, and Alexander Ovechkin have all been nominated as the players choice for most valuable player. The Pearson Award is presented to the league’s “outstanding player” as chosen by his fellow members of the NHL Players’ Association.
For Datsyuk and Malkin it is their first nomination in this category as Ovechkin looks to take his second in a row. The Hart is selected by Professional Hockey Writers Association who has agreed with the NHLPA for the last two years on both Ovechkin and his predecessor Sidney Crosby. But they have chosen different winners 16 times since the Pearson was first awarded to Phil Esposito in 1971.
Like the Hart, this marks the first time all three nominees are Russian. The last Russian to win the award prior to Ovechkin was Sergei Fedorov in 1994.
