As this wonderfully wild and competitive regular season winds down, and before we rev up for the Stanley Cup drive, it's time to single out some of this season's top performers.

Several of the categories feature tight competition. (For the record, the NHL's annual individual awards are based on the regular season -- not the playoffs -- and the winners will be announced on June 20 in Toronto.) Drum roll and envelope, please. Here are my choices:

HART TROPHY: Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames
It's difficult to choose a player from a non-playoff team, but how can you pass over this 24-year-old sensation? The Flames sniper already is going to skate away with the Art Ross (scoring) and Maurice Richard (goals) trophies, so why not add the Hart to his soon-to-be overflowing basket? To make his breakout season all the more impressive, Iginla posted his league-best totals with very little support -- other than from linemate Craig Conroy -- from his offensively-challenged Flames teammates.

Every night, facing an opponent's top checkers, Iginla finds a way to make an impact. On a team that has allowed more goals than it has scored, Iginla stands among the league-leaders with a sensational plus-28 rating. Yeah, you could make a case for Toronto captain Mats Sundin or goalies like Montreal's Jose Theodore and Phoenix's Sean Burke, but Iginla has just been too good to overlook.

NORRIS TROPHY: Chris Chelios, Detroit Red Wings
For Wings D Chris Chelios, maybe life really does begin at 40. The former Canadiens, Blackhawks and Team USA captain has been at his edgy, nasty, competitive best from the opening face-off of the 2001-02 season. A workout warrior in the offseason, Chelios leads the league (through April 2) with an awesome plus-41 rating. Yeah, I know he plays on the best team in the league. But, plus-41 is still plus-41. And, maybe the Red Wings wouldn't be the best team in the league if it weren't for Chelios, who brings a truckload of intangibles (leadership, grit and desire just to name a few) to the rink every night.

He's never been the biggest or the fastest or the most skilled, but he's usually among the smartest and toughest and he rarely gets outworked. While more-skilled teammate Nicklas Lidstrom, who took home the trophy last season, also deserves serious consideration, Chelios should add Norris No. 4 to his Hall of Fame resume.

VEZINA TROPHY: Jose Theodore, Montreal Canadiens
You could select any one of five or six goaltenders as this season's Vezina Trophy winner and you wouldn't be wrong. Phoenix's Sean Burke, Colorado's Patrick Roy, Detroit's Dominik Hasek, Tampa Bay's Nikolai Khabibulin and Boston's Byron Dafoe have all been super stoppers this year. But Theodore has faced more shots and tough scoring chances that any of the other candidates.

Despite that, he still leads the league with a .930 save percentage. And, he also has a 2.15 goals-against average and seven shutouts. The 25-year-old Theodore doesn't yet have the big reputation of some of his goaltending peers. He will.

CALDER TROPHY: Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Thrashers
Not since 1976, when Islanders center Bryan Trottier and Islanders goalie Chico Resch finished 1-2, respectively, in the Calder voting, have two freshmen teammates topped the Rookie of the Year balloting. This season, Thrashers super rookies Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley have been head-and-shoulder above their peers.

Kovalchuk, who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury on March 10, is the more dynamic of the two players. His combination of size and skill is flat-out scary. And, he doesn't turn 19 until April 15. Heatley, meanwhile, is a prototypical power forward with a sharp sense for the game. Someday, Heatley, 21, will have a "C" on his Thrashers sweater. It's a very tough call, but despite his injury, my vote still goes to Kovalchuk, who has the ability to be among the best of his era.

ADAMS AWARD: Brian Sutter, Chicago Blackhawks
This is the most competitive of all this season's individual awards. Just look around the league. The Coyotes' Bob Francis, the Bruins' Robbie Ftorek, the Islanders' Peter Laviolette, the Canadiens' Michel Therrien, the Avs' Bob Hartley and legendary Wings coach Scotty Bowman all have done great work. But no one has done more with less than first-year Blackhawks coach Brian Sutter, who won the honor as Blues coach in 1991 and was runner-up with the Bruins in '93.

With almost an identical roster to the one that finished a dreadful non-playoff 29-40-8-5 in 2000-01, Sutter has pushed the Blackhawks into the upper half of the Western Conference. Sutter has instilled a system of play, team pride and a hardcore work ethic. He's also pulled strong performances from the inconsistent likes of G Jocelyn Thibault, C Alexei Zhamnov and D Boris Mironov. From beginning to end, Brian Sutter has been the coach of the year.

SELKE TROPHY: Mike Modano, Dallas Stars
First of all, when is the league going to rename this trophy after Hall of Famer Bob Gainey? The league created the award in 1978 as a way to recognize Gainey, the game's quintessential two-way player. This year, hopefully, the voters will recognize another special two-way star, Dallas C Mike Modano. A gifted offensive player, Modano is among the very few stars who work equally hard on both sides of the ice. He should have won it last year.

LADY BYNG TROPHY: Ron Francis, Carolina Hurricanes
At 39, ageless Hurricanes C Ron Francis still stands among the best and smartest players in the league. A pro's pro, this would be his third Lady Byng Trophy.

E.J. Hradek writes puck for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ej.hradek@espnmag.com.