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NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and D.C., 18 years and older, who are the owners of the property depicted in the photo. Begins: 9:00 a.m. C.T. on 5/15/13. Ends: 11:59 p.m. C.T. on 6/15/13. Subject to Official Rules at www.fansided.com. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: FanSided. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

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Do you remember the NHL Lockout? The feeling of dread and despair stemming from the possibility of not having any NHL hockey. The countless hours invested in reading about salary caps, contract length, players’ share, etc. etc. All that useless knowledge that made being a hockey fan feel like you were studying for your CPA exam. Remember?

The NHL Lockout was a dark time for many hockey fans, myself included. It was like the NHL was black-tar heroin and the lockout was your dealer getting busted. Hockey fans had to resort lesser product like college hockey, the Word Junior’s tournament, the AHL, to get their fix. It did the job but it was like picking up a bum bag, that is probably cut with drain-o or something, from the homeless guy on the corner. It temporarily satisfied that urge but in the end it left you feeling empty and wanting more. (wow, that analogy is terrible. If I had an editor he/she would probably slap me in the face before commandeering the delete button on my computer.)

What I am getting at is this, the NHL Lockout sucked but it had one thing going for it that made it bearable. At the bottom of the darkest depth of lockout related despair, there was always hope. Essentially my entire experience of the lockout was this:

There was hope that the two sides would settle their differences and there was hope that hockey would eventually be played this year. There was also the hope that when hockey did return, the Florida Panthers would pick up where they left off last season and continue to thrill their fans with a brand of playoff caliber hockey not seen in South Florida for many long years. Here is where I almost get a bit nostalgic for the lockout. Once the games started Panther fans’ hopes were quickly and brutally anesthetized by the realities of wins and losses.

The worst part about the Panthers season was how it started, with a thrilling win. That 5-1 scoreline indicated that there was so much more to come. Newcomers Jonathan Huberdeau and Alex Kovalev had three points each and the goaltending was spectacular. But from there, things went south. What was at the time thought to be a starting point on a long upwards journey instead turned out to be the summit. The elevator had reached to top floor and instead of bursting through the ceiling to heights not yet imagined, the cable snapped and what followed was a free fall into the darkness of the pit below.

Had the Panthers come out and dropped an egg in their home opener against Carolina, we would have at least known what to expect. Our expectations would have been tempered and our hopes dashed quickly like ripping a band-aid off your skin, the pain only lasting for a second. Instead the Panthers told a joke, made us laugh, then ripped off the band-aid, and then punched us in the gut for good measure.

James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

Florida Panthers rookie Jonathan Huberdeau was named one of the three finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy awarded to the league’s rookie of the year. Huberdeau will be up against Brendan Gallagher of the Montreal Canadiens and Brandon Saad of the Chicago Blackhawks. The winner of the award will be announced during the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals.

It is really no surprise that Huberdeau has been named a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy, whether or not he actually wins the award is another story. Huberdeau finished tied with Nail Yakupov for the rookie scoring lead with 31 points off 14 goals and 17 assists. Gallagher, a fifth round draft pick by the Canadiens in the 2010 NHL Draft, finished the year with 28 points (15 goals, 13 assists) while Saad finished with 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists).

As is often the case with these subjective end of season awards that are decided by a media vote, who you vote on depends on how you interpret the meaning of the award (just as Gary Washburn). The NHL defines the award as follows: “The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League”. This sounds very simple and straightforward but when you delve deeper you get into questions such as, “how do you define proficient?” and “how does your definition of proficiency manifest itself on the ice?” in other words “what factors do you take into account when make your pick”?

Jonathan Huberdeau led these three finalists in the main counting stats so if that is what you value than he would be the clear choice. But wait a minute: Nail Yakupov had tied Huberdeau for the rookie scoring title and he also led all rookies with 17 goals but he did not even get nominated! So its clear that the award is not solely based on numbers.

So what do voters value? Is it ice-time? quality of competition? helping your team advance to the playoffs? or could it be WOW moments? If your making the case for Huberdeau, it would go as follows: He played for a team that was crippled by injuries and managed to be productive despite the fact that most of his shifts came against opponents top players. While the other rookies benefitted from playing on deep teams with other star players that their opponents had to focus on stopping, Huberdeau was often the main focus in opponents defensive game plans. Jonathan also displayed excellent puck handling ability, deft passes, mind boggling dekes,and an intrinsic knowledge of the game that cannot be taught.

It may sound cliche but it doesn’t really matter who wins the rookie of the year award. What matters for the Panthers is that Huberdeau had a fantastic rookie season and has a bright future ahead of him. That being said Huberdeau’s being nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy is a continuation of the best story of the season for the Panthers and we will take an in depth look at Huby’s chances off winning as we get closer to the announcement.