Hockey’s elite gather at Palms for NHL Awards show

In one of the most contentious NHL Stanley Cup Finals ever, fingers were bitten, vertebrae were fractured, concussions were incurred and a war of words was waged this season between the Bruins and Canucks.

But when the seven-game series ended last week, players from champion Boston and runner-up Vancouver put the bad blood behind them, lined up and shook each other's hands in one of hockey's most enduring and endearing traditions.

The NHL is the only major North American professional sports league to feature a formal handshake.

"I think it's a good thing because at the end of the day hockey is just a sport. You compete in the stadium, but once it's over, it's let bygones be bygones," Bruins goalie Tim Thomas said Tuesday at the Palms, where the NHL Awards show will take place today at the Pearl Theater.

A tradition older than the NHL, the hockey handshake takes place at the end of each hard-fought playoff series.

"Every series is a battle. After the series, win or lose, you've got to show the other team respect," said Vancouver left wing Daniel Sedin, who led the NHL in scoring this season, with 104 points, and is a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded to the league's Most Valuable Player.

Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo said he has avoided watching highlights from the Finals because it would be too painful. But he didn't dare skip the handshake line after losing Game 7.

"I liked it more in the first three rounds than the last one. It was much more fun," he joked. "But you've got to give credit where credit is due. They won the Cup and we've just got to congratulate them.

''They outplayed us. It came down to one game and they beat us," Luongo said.

Luongo criticized Thomas' goaltending style during the series and the two Vezina Trophy finalists engaged in a bit of verbal sparring. But Luongo said they made their peace in the handshake line.

"I think everything's cool," Luongo said. "We had a few words after the series was over … Nothing specific, just congratulations and we made sure there was no animosity there.

"I've always had a lot of respect for him. I wish him all the best (today) and I hope he enjoys the Vezina, because he's probably going to win it."

Thomas said he tried to say something positive to every Canucks player in line.

"Because they left their all on the ice, too. It was Game 7 and a very tight series," he said. "You don't have much time and you're exhausted from playing the game, but I was trying to let them know how much I respect them as athletes."

■ NOTE -- Award nominees and presenters will walk the red carpet in front of the Palms today from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Nominees include Thomas, Luongo, Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Zdeno Chara, Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos, Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler and Niklas Lidstrom. Presenters scheduled to attend include "Mad Men" actor Jon Hamm, show host Jay Mohr, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Kevin Smith, illusionist Criss Angel and former NHL stars Mark Messier, Jeremy Roenick, Luc Robitaille and Ted Lindsay.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.