Blake, Selanne on Ballots for Norris, Byng Trophies

King defenseman Rob Blake and Mighty Duck winger Teemu Selanne were in familiar positions Wednesday when finalists for the NHL’s 1999-2000 awards were announced.

Blake, a Norris Trophy winner two seasons ago, joined St. Louis’ Chris Pronger and Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom as finalists for the award, which is given annually to the league’s top defenseman.

Selanne is a finalist for the Lady Byng Award, given to the player judged to have exhibited the highest standard of conduct combined with playing ability. Lidstrom and St. Louis’ Pavol Demitra are the other Lady Byng finalists.

Pronger--also a finalist for the Hart Trophy, awarded to the player judged most valuable to his team--appears to be Blake’s toughest competition for the Norris. He led the league in plus/minus rating, a plus-52; and was second among defensemen with 62 points. Blake finished with 57 points and 18 goals.

Selanne is a Lady Byng finalist for the fifth consecutive year but has not won the award. He had 85 points, fifth in the NHL, and received only 12 penalty minutes.

Joining Pronger as Hart finalists are Pittsburgh’s Jaromir Jagr and Florida’s Pavel Bure.

The league also announced finalists for its other awards:

. The Calder, for rookie of the year: Scott Gomez of New Jersey, Brad Stuart of San Jose and Mike York of the New York Rangers.

The Selke, for outstanding defensive forward: Michal Handzus of the Blues, Mike Ricci of the Sharks and Steve Yzerman of the Red Wings.

The Vezina, for goaltending: Curtis Joseph of Toronto, Olaf Kolzig of Washington and Roman Turek of St. Louis.

The Adams, for coaching: Joel Quenneville of St. Louis, Alain Vigneault of Montreal and Ron Wilson of Washington.

The awards will be announced June 15.

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Staff writer Jim Hodges contributed to this story.