NHL AWARDS Thornton edges Jagr to capture Hart Trophy

Washington's Alex Ovechkin won rookie honors over Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Joe Thornton edged out Jaromir Jagr again.
Thornton, who beat out Jagr for the scoring title by two points, took the Hart Trophy as the NHL's MVP on Thursday with Jagr again relegated to runner-up.
"I was a big hockey fan so I would always watch these awards and Wayne [Gretzky] would always take it home and obviously Mario [Lemieux] and Mark [Messier] as well," Thornton said after accepting the award from Messier at the league's annual award ceremony. "It's just very humbling just knowing I'm going to be on the same page as these guys."
San Jose's center already had the Art Ross Trophy tucked away as the league's top scorer, thanks to a 125-point regular season. Thornton won the MVP in a close vote of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, finishing with 1,058 points to Jagr's 974. Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff was a distant third with 561 votes.
Thornton, acquired by the Sharks from Boston in a trade on Nov. 30, led San Jose into the playoffs with 29 goals and 96 assists. He scored 20 goals and set up 72 others in 58 games with San Jose, lifting his team to the fifth seed in the Western Conference and helping linemate Jonathan Cheechoo win the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the league's leader with 56 goals.
Other awards
Jagr, who won the Hart in 1999 with Pittsburgh, did win his third Lester B. Pearson Award as players' choice for most outstanding player.
"With this award you get voted on by the players you play against every night and I think they understand the game better than the media," Jagr said.
Kiprusoff won his first Vezina Trophy as top NHL goaltender, ending Martin Brodeur's run at two in a row.
Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin beat out fellow freshmen scoring sensation Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and hard-hitting Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf for the Calder Memorial Trophy as top NHL rookie.
The 20-year-old Ovechkin led all rookies with 106 points while becoming just the second rookie in NHL history to score 50 goals and 100 points after Teemu Selanne did it in 1992-93. He was third in the league overall in goals and points.
Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom won his fourth Norris Trophy as top defenseman ahead of Anaheim's Scott Neidermayer, who won in 2004, and Dallas' Sergei Zubov.
After losing out to Carolina's Peter Laviolette in the Eastern Conference final in Game 7, Buffalo Sabres' coach Lindy Ruff edged out the Hurricanes bench boss by a single vote for his first Jack Adams award as coach of the year.
Three days after accepting the Stanley Cup from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Carolina captain Rod Brind'Amour accepted the Selke Trophy as the league's top defensive forward.
Detroit's Pavel Datysuk won the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship, beating out San Jose's Patrick Marleau and Tampa Bay's Brad Richards.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.