As P.K. Subban discovered in the Stanley Cup finals, poke Sidney Crosby at your peril. Well, last night in Las Vegas, with Crosby in attendance, the mantle of best player in the game was clearly handed to Edmonton centre Connor McDavid, even though Crosby led the league in goals and, more significantly, led his Pittsburgh Penguins to a second Cup.

McDavid was awarded the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player, and also received the Ted Lindsay Award for most outstanding player, as voted on by the players themselves.

“It’s a great pleasure to play against you guys every night—well, sometimes it isn’t, but it’s still an honour,” McDavid said during his acceptance speech for the Lindsay Award.

The Oilers’ No. 97 also won the Art Ross Trophy. McDavid was the only player to crack the 100-point mark, well ahead of Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane, both of whom had 89 points (although Crosby played only 75 games; both McDavid and Kane played the full 82 games).

Crosby had a sensational season and easily could have won one or both of the Lindsay or Hart. He won the Rocket Richard Trophy and led all goalscorers with 44 goals, four more than Toronto rookie Auston Matthews and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov. This was the first full season since 2003-04 that the winner didn’t reach 50 (2012-13 was a lockout-shortened season that saw Alex Ovechkin win with 32 goals in 48 games).

Perhaps the other trophy highlight of the night belonged to Matthews, the 19-year-old who just completed a record rookie season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He won the Calder Trophy and is the first Leafs player to win rookie of the year since Brit Selby in 1966. He tied for second in league goalscoring with 40. Last year’s 1st overall draft choice seems destined to become the centrepiece of a new era of excellence in hockey in Toronto.

He ended his acceptance speech by saying, “Finally, to the City of Toronto. Leafs Nation. You guys are the best fans in the league.”

One of the biggest surprises was Brent Burns, who won the Norris Trophy. It was widely regarded that Ottawa defenceman Erik Karlsson of Sweden would win. Burns, however, was among the top three scorers for much of the year and finished with 76 points, ninth overall and tops among all defenceman. It marked his first Norris Trophy.

Patrice Bergeron took home the Selke Trophy as best defensive forward. This was his fourth such honour, tying Bob Gainey for the most ever. A two-way player, he is best known in international circles for his exceptional play with Crosby. Bergeron has two Olympic gold medals to his name and is the only player in history to win World Junior gold before winning senior World Championship gold.

John Tortorella, who led the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 50-win, 108-point season was named Jack Adams Award winner as coach of the year. Along the way, the Jackets put together a 16-game winning streak, the second longest such streak in NHL history. Tortorella won the award for the second time, the first coming in 2003-04 with Tampa Bay.

Nick Foligno of Columbus won the King Clancy Award. This honour is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and league broadcasters and goes to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.

Foligno and his wife, Janelle, have donated $1 million to Nationwide Children's Hospital and Boston Children's Hospital for improved congenital heart care in honour of the oldest of their three children, Milana.

Foligno is also involved in his family's foundation, the Janis Foligno Foundation, in honour his mother who lost her life to breast cancer. He has also donated his time to various Central Ohio charities with his teammates.

The winners:

Hart Trophy— Connor McDavid (Edmonton)
Finalists: Sergei Bobrovsky (Columbus), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh)

Ted Lindsay Award— Connor McDavid (Edmonton)
Finalists: Brent Burns (San Jose), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh)

Norris Trophy— Brent Burns (San Jose)
Finalists: Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay), Erik Karlsson (Ottawa)

Vezina Trophy— Sergei Bobrovsky (Columbus)
Finalists: Braden Holtby (Washington), Carey Price (Montreal)

Calder Trophy— Auston Matthews (Toronto)
Finalists: Patrik Laine (Winnipeg), Zach Werenski (Columbus)

Selke Trophy— Patrice Bergeron (Boston)
Finalists: Ryan Kesler, Mikko Koivu (Minnesota)

Lady Byng Trophy— Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary)
Finalists: Mikael Granlund (Minnesota), Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis)

Jack Adams Award— John Tortorella (Columbus)
Finalists: Mike Babcock (Toronto), Todd McLellan (Edmonton)

Bill Masterton Trophy— Craig Anderson (Ottawa)
Finalists: Andrew Cogliano (Anaheim), Derek Ryan (Carolina)

Art Ross Trophy—Connor McDavid (Edmonton)

Rocket Richard Trophy—Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh)

William Jennings Trophy—Braden Holtby (Washington)

King Clancy Trophy—Nick Foligno (Columbus)

ANDREW PODNIEKS