Forsberg caps season with MVP award

"I've been very fortunate to play for a good team for a long time."

Peter Forsberg, NHL's most valuable player

Peter Forsberg's stellar return to the NHL following an injury that forced him to miss an entire regular season culminated with him being chosen as the league's most valuable player on Thursday night.

Forsberg won the scoring title with 106 points and became the first Swedish player to capture the Hart Memorial Trophy. It was presented during the league's annual awards ceremonies.

Forsberg, 29, had a remarkable comeback last season after missing the previous campaign recuperating from injuries and contemplating his future.

"I've been very fortunate to play for a good team for a long time," Forsberg said.

The other finalists were New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur and Vancouver forward Markus Naslund.

Three days after leading the Devils to the Stanley Cup and being passed over as playoff MVP, Brodeur won his first Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie. The Vezina is chosen by the league's general managers. All other player awards handed out Thursday night were voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.

Brodeur was not given the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs despite posting an NHL-record seven shutouts in the postseason -- including three in the seven-game finals against Anaheim.

Mighty Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere became just the fifth player from a non-Stanley Cup-winning team to capture the Conn Smythe.

Detroit's Nicklas Lid-strom became the first player since Bobby Orr to be chosen as the NHL's top defenseman for three straight years. Orr won eight consecutive Norris Trophies from 1968-75.

Lidstrom led players in average ice time -- 29 minutes, 20 seconds -- and was third with a plus-40. He was third in scoring among defensemen with 62 points.

It was the sixth straight year he was a finalist for the Norris. He was second for three years in a row before winning in 2001.

Al MacInnis of the St. Louis Blues and Derian Hatcher of the Dallas Stars were the other finalists.

In other awards announced Thursday, St. Louis defenseman Barrett Jackman won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year; Toronto forward Alexander Mogilny earned the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the most gentlemanly player; Steve Yzerman, of Detroit, received the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey; Minnesota's Jacques Lemaire won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year; and Jere Lehtinen of Dallas Stars won the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the top defensive forward.

Brodeur has been a big part of the Devils' success the last nine years. New Jersey won its third Cup in that span by beating Anaheim 3-0 on Monday night. He had 41 regular-season victories and nine shutouts _ both league highs.

He finished second to Dominik Hasek in Vezina voting in 1997 and 1998 and was third in 2001 when Hasek won it again.