Mid-Season Fantasy Hockey Awards

Halfway through the hockey season, the fantasy world has seen its share of surprises. Some players have been let-downs whereas others have far surpassed expectations. Let's take a look at who the Mid-Season fantasy awards go to.

MVP: Sydney Crosby

Any arguments here? First in Goals, second in assists, top-ten in every other category (except PIMs), and has taken his game to a whole new level. He dominated November and December with a point streak that lasted 25 games, in which he scored 24 goals and 26 assists. For those who drafted him, congratulations on getting a guy who's putting up Gretzky-like numbers. He's currently on pace for about 130 points and should continue to be the number one player in fantasy.

Runners up: Steven Stamkos, Tim Thomas

Norris Trophy: Dustin Byfuglien

"Big Buff" leads defensmen in goals, he has 41 points in 44 games and is on pace for about 75 points. Who saw that coming? Many doubted his chances of success after his trade to Atlanta since he wouldn't be surrounded by the talent Chicago had to offer, but he has become the go-to guy and flourished. For a guy who went undrafted in many leagues and is currently ranked 6th on the Yahoo! player rankings, it's hard to find better value than Byfuglien. And he has RW eligibility to boot!

Runners up: Kris Letang, Nick Lidstrom

Vezina Trophy: Tim Thomas

After a dissapointing season in '09-'10, Thomas has taken the starting job from Tuukka Rask and put up an insane 18-4-5 record with a 1.80 GAA, .945 SV%, and 5 shutouts. To give you an idea of how valuable he's been, he's ranked #3 and the next goalie isn't until Jon Quick at #18. There's no reason to believe his success won't continue, as he has done it before, and for someone who was typically drafted as a 3rd goalie, he has become the backbone of many fantasy tandems.

Runner up: Carey Price, Henrik Lundqvist

Biggest Bust: Ilya Kovalchuk

Ilya Kovalchuk, the superstar, went to the best defensive team in the game and saw his +/- drop to -30. Wait, what? On top of that, he has a measly 10 goals and 11 assists, putting him on pace for the worst season of his career. For those who used a 1st round pick on him, my sympathies. He's been nothing but a disappointment and unless it's a keeper league or a deep league, it's arguable as to whether he should even be owned at this point.

Runner up: Mike Green, Duncan Keith

Biggest Surprise: Brandon Dubinsky

The case certainly could, and should, be made for Dustin Byfuglien or Tim Thomas in this spot. But since they've already recieved awards, I'm going to go with an underdog here. Dubinsky has gone from a player not typically on the fantasy radar to an offensive catalyst. He's the most consistent reason (besides Lundqvist) the Rangers are playing so well this year. Dubinsky has never surpassed 44 points in a season but he's got 34 so far this year, on pace for about 70, and has a solid 48 PIM and 109 SOG, putting him as a very good #2 center in fantasy. He even dropped the gloves with roughneck Alex Ovechkin.

Runner up: Tim Thomas, Dustin Byfuglien