ESPN.com's columnists weigh in with their picks for the Hart Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the player "judged to be the most valuable to his team," by vote of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.

The trophy was presented by the NHL in 1960 after the original Hart Trophy was retired to the Hockey Hall of Fame. The original Hart Trophy was donated to the NHL in 1923 by Dr. David A. Hart, father of Cecil Hart, former manager-coach of the Montreal Canadiens.

Terry Frei, Denver Post

	Patrick Roy Goaltender Colorado Avalanche Profile
	2001-2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM W L T SV% GAA 60 32 21 7 .926 1.92

Patrick Roy, Colorado Avalanche: Jarome Iginla's season has been one of the compelling stories of the year, and the argument that the MVP has to come from a winning team is overplayed. Within the context of the NHL's offensive doldrums, Iginla's season is worthy of the Hart, and it wouldn't be a travesty if he won. It's always funny when folks react to tough choices as if the "other" guy is being trashed, and that's not the case here at all. As a team, the Avalanche have been awful for stretches this season, but managed to remain among the elite. With only a typical regular season from Roy, who has made his image when it counts (in the playoffs), the defending champions would be fighting for a playoff spot -- and might even be on the outside, looking in. So Roy is the pick, with the asterisk that either Iginla and Brendan Shanahan are worthy choices as well.

Mike Heika, Dallas Morning News
Patrick Roy, Colorado Avalanche: This is the most difficult award the NHL distributes, because the technical definition is to give it to the player who is deemed most valuable to his team. But history indicates the award should be given to the best player in the league. That's where things get foggy. The best player might be Calgary's Jarome Iginla, who has clearly outscored the rest of the NHL both in points and goals. What's more, he's clearly been valuable to his team. But the value is he's moved the Flames from 15th in the West to 11th.

In Patrick Roy, we have a player who is clearly the best at his position and also has helped carry his team to an important spot in the standings. All you have to do is look at how the Avalanche was able to get out of a rut early in the season despite scoring two goals a game. Roy carried his team at the time, and that's the definition of a Hart Trophy winner.

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Boston Globe

	Ron Francis Center Carolina Hurricanes Profile
	2001-2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM G A PTS +/- PIM 77 25 50 75 5 18

Ron Francis, Carolina Hurricanes: Never have there been so many candidates but so few obvious ones. Do you vote for Jarome Iginla and his great season despite the fact the Calgary Flames won't make the playoffs? Do you vote for Colorado's Patrick Roy, even though there has been a reluctance among the voters to give the award to a netminder (Dominik Hasek apparently excepted)? Do you give it to Brendan Shanahan, even though the Red Wings' roster is so ridiculously loaded with talent? What about Joe Sakic, who has had to shoulder so much of the Avalanche's offensive load with Peter Forsberg sidelined for the season?

The man who most deserves it plays in a city where NASCAR and college basketball are king. If Carolina center Ron Francis, who is having an amazing year at the ripe old age of 39, played in any high-profile NHL city there's no question he would be a strong candidate for the award. But toiling in relative obscurity means Francis doesn't get the recognition or appreciation he deserves. Between Francis and Adam Oates, it's hard to say who's been the most underrated throughout their careers. As one NHL veteran -- who has played in both conferences in his career -- put it when asked about Francis' legitimacy as an MVP candidate: "I never would have thought of him," he said. "But it's a great pick."

George Johnson, Calgary Herald

	Jarome Iginla Right Wing Calgary Flames Profile
	2001-2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM G A PTS +/- PIM 76 47 41 88 28 73

Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames: No, the Calgary Flames aren't going to qualify for the playoffs. Still, try to imagine where this franchise struggling to stay afloat would be without Jarome Iginla. Go on, try. Try hard. And then try to keep down that tuna salad sandwich you ate at lunch.

He's going to lead the league in goals and points. He only scores 25 percent of Calgary's goals. He only has a statistical stake in 43 percent of all its offense. He hits, he fights when the need arises, he's in the top 10 in plus-minus despite being on a sub-.500 team.

There is legal precedent for the centerpiece of a non-playoff team being voted the Hart -- Mario Lemieux in 1988, so PHWA voters shouldn't feel uneasy about doling out the most coveted piece of individual hardware to someone who's season is over mid-April.

In Montreal, they're talking up goaltender Jose Theodore for the Hart. And justifiably so. He has the Canadiens still heavily involved in the playoff tussle very late into the day. Colorado's ageless Patrick Roy deserves consideration, too.

But Iginla has burst onto the NHL stage -- not to forget the world stage after his two-goal gold-medal game in Salt Lake City -- in a big way, and, Calgary record be damned, deserves to add the Hart Trophy to the Art Ross and Maurice Richard trinkets he'll pick up this season.

Rob Parent, Delaware County Times

	Brendan Shanahan Left Wing Detroit Red Wings Profile
	2001-2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM G A PTS +/- PIM 76 37 37 74 26 116

Brendan Shanahan, Detroit Red Wings: It's not commonplace when the NHL's most coveted individual award is open to everybody's guess...How could Colorado ever get this far without Peter Forsberg, unless Joe Sakic was having an MVP season? Despite his team's fall out of the playoff chase, should Calgary's Jarome Iginla be so recognized for leading the scoring race from wire to wire? How about Jeremy Roenick getting a nod for keeping the Flyers on top of the East most of the season? Or have Billy Guerin's contributions in Boston been more significant?

And the division might be a bad one, but Carolina doesn't come close to winning the Southeast if 39-year-old Ron Francis doesn't have such a terrific season. So many questions, but fewer questions than possible answers ... Markus Naslund of Vancouver? Mats Sundin of Toronto? Alexei Yashin of the Islanders? Maybe one of the candidates in the Norris or Vezina votings instead?

How about Brendan Shanahan? Yeah, Steve Yzerman is a great leader and Dominik Hasek is a great goalie and the Red Wings are a great team. So be it. They're all part of a club which will smoothly put together a season of better than 50 wins and perhaps more than 120 points. And Shanahan was the most significant common denominator (and not Dominator) between this year's President's Trophy team and the two-time Stanley Cup winners of the late 1990s.