Ice Hockey, Alexander Ovechkin became the first repeat winner of the NHL's MVP

Alexander Ovechkin became the first repeat winner of the NHL's MVP award in 11 years and Zdeno Chara grabbed top defenceman honours, snapping Nicklas Lidstrom's stranglehold on the trophy.

The 23-year-old Washington Capital forward Ovechkin beat out Russian compatriots Evgeni Malkin, of Pittsburgh, and Pavel Datsyuk, of Detroit, to capture the National Hockey League's most valuable player award for the second consecutive season.

The trophies were handed out Thursday at a lavish NHL awards dinner in Las Vegas.
Czech Goaltender Dominik Hasek is the last player to win the MVP award twice, taking the honours 1997 and 1998.

It was the first time in the history of the trophy that all three finalists were Russian.
Ovechkin also collected the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goal scorer with 56 goals and the Lester B. Pearson award which is given to the top player as voted on by fellow NHLers.

"I love to play hockey anywhere, but my favourite city to play the sport right now is Washington," Ovechkin said. "Hopefully next year the Stanley Cup will be ours."
Boston Bruins' giant defenceman Chara ended Lidstrom's three-year string of Norris Trophies by collecting the top defenceman honours. Lidstrom had won the award six of the last seven seasons.

Chara's Boston organization friends were also lauded Thursday as Tim Thomas won the best goaltender award (Vezina Trophy) and Claude Julien was named the NHL's best coach.
Thomas, along with teammate Manny Fernandez, also earned the William M. Jennings Trophy which is given to the goaltenders who have the fewest goals scored against them in the regular season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, who were surprise winners of the NHL playoff championship, didn't garner much attention on awards night except for Malkin's hardware haul.

Malkin led the league with 35 goals and 113 points to collect the Art Ross Trophy as the league's top point getter. He also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff's MVP. Both awards were known in advance.

Datsyuk was another prominent face on the podium taking home the sportsmanship award (Lady Byng Trophy) and best defensive forward (Frank J. Selke Trophy).

Columbus goaltender Steve Mason won the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie. He beat out Anaheim rising star Bobby Ryan and Chicago sparkplug Kris Versteeg.

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