Florida Panthers defenseman Brian Campbell, Edmonton Oilers forward Jordan Eberle and New York Islanders forward Matt Moulson have been named finalists for the Lady Byng Trophy, which will be presented on June 20 at the NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas.

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Defenseman Brian Campbell of the Florida Panthers, right wing Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers and left wing Matt Moulson of the New York Islanders are the three finalists for the 2011-12 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. Which means Loui Eriksson isn't one. The Professional Hockey Writers Association votes on this Trophy, which is awarded "to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability." Now, for a while we were thinking that the biggest controversy for this ridiculous award — it's the hockey equivalent of the "School Spirit" award in a high-school yearbook … or maybe "Shiest," which always went to that girl who played the violin — would be the exclusion of Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but that was before his PIMs climbed late in the season. Instead, we're faced with the exclusion of 2011 Byng finalist Loui Eriksson because (a) all the voters do is count up the penalty minutes for leading scorers and (b) Eriksson had 12(!) of them, which apparently makes him John Wayne Gacy on ice. Now that Loui was robbed , who wins the 2011-12 Lady Byng?

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Florida Panthers defenseman Brian Campbell, Edmonton Oilers forward Jordan Eberle and New York Islanders forward Matt Moulson have been named finalists for the Lady Byng Trophy, which will be presented on June 20 at the NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas.

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TORONTO (AP) Not much has gone right for the Edmonton Oilers the past few seasons, but once again they will own draft day.

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Why is this man smiling? Oh, because the Edmonton Oilers walked into the 2012 NHL Draft Lottery with an 18.8 percent chance of winning the top pick … and did just that, leaving the NHL's worst team the Columbus Blue Jackets with the second overall pick. Yes, the Jackets even failed at Failing for Nail. Nail Yakupov of the Sarnia Sting (OHL) is the consensus top pick, a left wing with explosive offensive skills. The Oilers are two years removed from taking another left wing No. 1 overall in Taylor Hall, and selected center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins first overall last summer.

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Henrik Sedin scored the only goal Vancouver needed and the Canucks won the Presidents' Trophy with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.

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UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- In each of the past two seasons, New York Islanders forward Matt Moulson has finished in the top-25 in goals scored with 31 and 30, respectively. This season, he's surpassed his career highs in goals (36) and points (69) and will likely finish in the top-10 among NHL goal scorers. And for the third straight season Moulson and his teammates won't be playing postseason hockey, thus giving him yet another opportunity to get the call from Hockey Canada to play in next month's World Championships in Finland and Sweden. He's been bypassed the last two springs, but having been the first Islander to record three straight 30-goal seasons since Ziggy Palffy in 1995-96 and establishing himself as a top scorer in the league, Team Canada GM Kevin Lowe should have an easy selection to make. (Heck, I'm sure Lowe watched Moulson's 3-point afternoon against his Edmonton Oilers when they played each other on Dec. 31.) So was he disappointed getting overlooked after two strong seasons?

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As you know, the Lady Byng Trophy is given to "the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability." Or as the writers voting on the award call it, "fewest penalty minutes by a player you've actually heard of." Our favorite thing about the NHL.com Lady Byng Watch is that it exists. Seriously, it saves hockey fans a good 40 seconds of expended time (a) going to the points leader board, (b) figuring out which high-scoring forward also has the fewest PIMs and (c) assuming that player wins the NHL's most useless award. Which leads us to this incredible controversy: Loui Eriksson of the Dallas Stars has 10 (!) penalty minutes in 79 games, yet NHL.com has the audacity to rank him ahead of choir boys Matt Moulson of the New York Islanders (6 PIM in 79 games) and Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers (8 PIM in 76 games) for the Byng?

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EDMONTON - In a season of mostly bad news for the Edmonton Oilers, linemates Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins could provide some positive storylines when the NHL hands out its annual awards in June.

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Last season, San Jose Sharks forward Logan Couture and Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes battled until the end of the season for rookie of the year honors in the NHL. Couture fell short because (a) he had seven fewer points than Skinner and (b) he had two fewer goals than Michael Grabner of the New York Islanders. And, let's face it: He wasn't known as "Hockey Bieber" at the All-Star game, either. Simplistic as it might seem, that's the way of the Calder Trophy: Since 1990, 13 forwards have been named NHL rookie of the year; all but two of them led all rookies in points that season. In 1999, Chris Drury of the Colorado Avalanche won the Calder with 44 points in 79 games, which was four off the pace of his teammate Milan Hejduk. He was also four goals behind Mark Parrish (24) for the rookie goals race. Yet he took home the Calder as the league's most complete rookie player. In 1992, Tony Amonte led the NHL in rookie goals (35) and points (69); but he needed 79 games to achieve what Pavel Bure nearly did in 65 games, scoring 34 goals and posting 60 points. Bure won the Calder without leading NHL rookies in either category. With a handful of games left in the 2011-12 season, the rookie race is shaping up as a four-forward affair. Matt Read of the Philadelphia Flyers has 21 goals and 22 assists, having played a versatile and essential role for his team. Adam Henrique, slumping mightily lately and off the Parise/Kovalchuk line, had 16 goals and 31 assists for the New Jersey Devils. Then come the big two: Gabriel Landeskog, who has 22 goals and 26 assists in 77 games for a plus-19 with the Colorado Avalanche vs. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Edmonton Oilers, who reclaimed the rookie points lead with a two-point night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. If Nugent-Hopkins finishes the season with the points lead, does he lift the Calder Trophy in Vegas?

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