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Hockey writers are going to have some tough decisions this year when it comes to voting on the NHL awards. However, no decision is going to be tougher than picking the Hart Trophy winner for 2010.

Every year there are several worthwhile candidates, but most seasons there is a clear favorite who separates himself from the rest of the pack to clearly establish himself as the most valuable player to his team. 2010 is a whole different animal though.

This year there are four choices that could conceivably capture the title, and few would bat an eye if any one of them walked away from this spring’s NHL awards with the hardware.

Alexander Ovechkin

Ovechkin is the two-time defending Hart Trophy champion and at the midway point of the season most were picking him to make it a three-peat. He has had another dominant season, and has been among the league leaders in goals, points and plus-minus all season long. He also assumed the mantle of captain and has flourished in a leadership role. However, apart from his massive hit on Jaromir Jagr, Ovechkin had a relatively poor Olympics, and Team Russia’s failure at the games in Vancouver seems to have given Ovie a bit of a hangover ever since he returned to Washington.

He went into the Olympics with a healthy lead in the scoring race, and most were ready to hand him the Art Ross Trophy at that point. However, since he has returned he has seen Henrik Sedin erase the point spread between them, and it is now Ovechkin who is looking up, trailing Sedin by 3 points.

Even if he doesn’t win the scoring race Ovechkin still has a great shot at a 3rd consecutive Hart. His league-leading +43 rating, his league-leading points-per-game average, his leadership, and his punishing physical play will earn him plenty of votes in this year’s race. However, the fact that he gets to play with such stars as Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green and Alexander Semin on a nightly basis might weigh against him when the final votes are tallied.

Sidney Crosby

The 2009-10 season has been yet another compelling chapter in the ongoing debate about who is the best player in the game today. Crosby’s trophy case isn’t quite on par with Ovechkin’s personal hardware collection, but when he became the youngest player to captain his team to a Stanley Cup last spring he sure livened up the debate again.

This year, Crosby has completely reinvented his game, driving the net more, and shooting consistently rather than trying to look for a trailing player to dish the puck to. The result has been nothing short of spectacular. Crosby’s lack of scoring touch has often been pointed to as a weakness in his game in the past, but his naysayers are eating a large helping of crow right now. With 47 goals he is currently sitting first in the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy, and with several games still to play should have no problem reaching the magical 50 goal plateau for the first time in his career.

At this point it doesn’t look like Crosby can get his mitts on the Art Ross – he currently trails Henrik Sedin by 10 points - but he should finish in the top 3 in league scoring. With Evgeni Malkin having an off year Crosby’s offense has been of paramount importance to his team, and he has delivered consistently throughout the year, despite the fact that he has had to battle against the league’s toughest defensive forwards. As of now the Pittsburgh Penguins are currently sitting in first in the tough Atlantic division, and Crosby is the main reason for that. Remember, the Hart goes to the player deemed to be most valuable to his team, so despite Ovechkin’s and Sedin’s statistical edge I believe he is very much in the mix to capture the 2010 Hart Trophy.

Henrik Sedin

For years this Swedish star, along with twin brother Daniel Sedin, has been maligned by the press and fans alike for his inability to take his game to the next level and become one of the game’s true elite. Though he had been remarkably consistent over the course of his career he hadn’t been able to produce at better than a point a game clip.

All that changed with the start of the 2009-10 season. With the ink barely dry on a rich new contract, Henrik Sedin wasted no time showing his critics he was ready to assume the mantle of NHL superstar. Through the bulk of the season he has sat either first or second in league scoring. Even when brother Daniel went down with injury, Henrik kept producing with barely a blip, and over the season he, Daniel and Alex Burrows have arguably been the best line in the NHL.

At the time of this writing Sedin currently leads the NHL with 104 points, and with the way he has been putting points on the board lately (and the way Ovechkin has not) there is a very good chance he’ll make me eat my words – I wrote that Sedin had blown his shot at the Art Ross prior to the Olympic break – and become the first player in Vancouver Canucks history to win the NHL scoring title.

Add in a healthy +36 rating, and the fact that Sedin leads the league in assists by a wide margin and you’ve got some compelling arguments to hand Henrik Sedin the Hart Trophy. In my mind, this guy deserves it. Vancouver is a bona fide Stanley Cup contender with him in the lineup. Without him, I think they’d have their hands full making the playoffs. If he can stave off Ovechkin and win the scoring title he may just be able to add first Canuck to win the Hart Trophy as well.

Ryan Miller

Though some argue that goaltenders don’t belong in the Hart Race – that the Vezina should be enough for them – I think in special cases an exception should be made. Yes, if the definition of the Hart Trophy is adhered to – most valuable to his team – a goaltender should win the award every season. Obviously that is not the case, so other considerations come into play. However, if a goalie has such a dominant season that is abundantly clear that his team would be in dire straits without him, then a goalie should be considered. Miller’s Buffalo Sabres already saw that happen twice in the 90s when Dominik Hasek captured back to back Hart Trophies during the peak of his incredible career. Granted, Miller hasn’t quite been the brick wall that Hasek was, but he has been hands down the best goalie in the league this season, and is the sole reason Buffalo is not only in a playoff spot, but has a healthy lead in their division, putting them in the number 3 spot in the Eastern Conference. Yes, it would be a bit of a surprise if Miller took home the hardware, but don’t be shocked if he gets his fair share of votes along the way.

There you have it, the top 4 Hart Trophy favorites for the 2009-10 season. There are arguably more candidates, including another two goaltenders in Craig Anderson and Ilya Bryzgalov, but the vast majority of the first place votes will be split between these four guys. It will be very interesting to see which of them finishes on top this time around.

All business up front, party in the back. Perhaps no hairstyle in history has been as celebrated and as mocked as the humble mullet. Musicians like Billy Ray Cyrus and actors like David Faustino (Bud Bundy) have certainly done their part in raising mullet awareness. However, in no other facet of life is the mullet more prevalent than in the world of athletics. Legends like relief pitcher Dennis Eckersley, tennis ace Andre Agassi, and NFL linebacker Brian Bosworth (okay, maybe not so legendary) have all rocked the hairstyle in their time. However, if one sport can truly claim ownership of the mullet, it has to be hockey. In the 80s, short hair was the exception, not the rule, and most players had a magnificent mane flowing out from under the back of their helmets. The style became so popular the term “Hockey Hair” (pretty much interchangeable with “mullet”) was coined.

With so many players in the 80s and early 90s sporting this legendary hairdo, coming up with a list of the top 10 best hockey mullets was indeed a challenge. I think I’ve come up with the best of the era, but in the event I’ve overlooked some obvious candidate please feel free to point out my omission(s) in comments. Enjoy this trip down memory lane. I know I did.

10 – Wayne Gretzky

Not only is he the greatest hockey player of all time, but the man known as The Great One had a great mullet also back in the days of the high-flying Oilers. Though known as perhaps the smartest player to ever play the game, Gretzky proved he was just as dumb as many of his more cement-handed fellow NHLers when it came to personal grooming and style. Some of Gretz’s teammates like Marty McSorley tried to copy his hairdo, perhaps hoping his secret lay in his flowing locks. I wonder if that spectacular mane helped him land Janet Jones?

9 – Ron Duguay

There might be something to my theory that the mullet was instrumental in helping hockey players hook up with hot women. Wayne got Janet Jones, but Ron Duguay trumped him, meeting and eventually marrying supermodel Kim Alexis. I firmly believe that had helmets been mandatory back in his playing days Ron Duguay would have hung up his hockey stick, and pursued a different career path that would let him flaunt his God-given gift. Thankfully for the fans, such a rule was not in place, so we were treated to Duguay in his full resplendence. Really, who needs a helmet when you have all that hair to protect you?

8 – Brian Engblom

This former Montreal Canadien and Washington Capital star defenseman is a rare specimen indeed. He actually rocked a better mullet as an analyst than he ever did as a hockey player. I mean, just look at that thing. That is a work of art! Best of all is the fact that he refused to let the mullet die, wearing it proudly long after the 80s had come and gone. Whether his stand was bravery, stubbornness, or just pure naivety is up to you to decide, but I for one applaud him. I just never get tired of looking at that picture.

7 – Wendel Clark

Pound for pound I don’t believe there was a tougher man to ever play the game than Wendel Clark. Well, to be fair, you’d have to be tough to get away with a hairdo like that. Hard to believe that is a draft day picture. He must have hit puberty when he was seven years old! Wendel gets bonus points for rocking the rare, but impressive mullet mustache combo. Whatever you do, don’t get in the way of him and his Chunky!

6 – Michal Handzus

I don’t know if this falls under the traditional definition of the mullet, as it is longer up front than your typical example of the hairdo. Still, even if the “business up front” has a pretty lax dress code the massive “party going on in the back” more than makes up for it. Handzus also gets some bonus points as one of the brave souls sporting a 2000s era mullet. Must have a great respect for the history of hockey I guess.

5 – Mike Ricci

The man that topped our previous list of the Top 10 Ugly Hockey Players definitely had some help from his hair in nabbing that dubious title. It may seem like I am unfairly picking on Ricci here, but to be honest he is one of my favorite hockey players of all time, and I respect him immensely for the gritty effort he put forth on the ice each and every night. However, this list is supposed to be completely objective, and regardless of the admiration I have for him as a hockey player it would be a glaringly obvious oversight if I were to leave him off this list.

4 - Ryan Smyth

This inclusion was a no-brainer for the list of the top 10 best hockey mullets of all time. No other hockey player has worn a mullet with as much pride as the (sadly former) Captain Canada. During his playing days as an Edmonton Oiler Ryan Smyth was an enormous fan favorite. Some might claim this was because of his clutch play, his fearlessness, his skill and his unearthly determination. Sure, all that played a role, but the main reason has to be his obstinate refusal to cut his hair in the face of ridicule. Way to wear that mullet with pride, Ryan!

3 – Al Iafrate

One of the biggest characters in the sport of hockey in his day, Al Iafrate refused to let male pattern baldness dictate his hair style of choice. Undaunted when the bulk of the hair fell out of the top of his head, Iafrate kept the party going in the back, helping forge a new brand of mullet – the skullet. What really put the cherry on top of that legendary hairdo was the little island of hair he left at the front – like a little Charlie Brown squiggle. Yes, he may have had one of the hardest slapshots of all time, but his greatest achievement inarguably has to be the cultivation of that magnificent do.

2 – Barry Melrose

As good as the other entrants on the list are this battle of the mullets was really a two horse race all the way along. Though Melrose did have a brief NHL career as a player, playing 300 games in the show with the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings he really became a rock star back in the 90s as the bench boss of the Wayne Gretzky-led Los Angeles Kings. His hairdo from that era is as pure a definition of a mullet as you will ever find. When his coaching days he moved to the broadcast booth, and he certainly gives fellow former player turned broadcaster Brian Engblom a run for his money for best hockey analyst mullet.

1 – Jaromir Jagr

Sorry Barry but even you can’t compete with that. That is more than a mullet. Using the French pronunciation (Moo-lay) might get you closer to the true magnificence of Jagr’s hair. Pillowy soft the top seems to defy gravity, and no doubt there was never a shortage of women lining up to run their hands through that dark waterfall cascading down his back. Yes, it might not adhere to the classic definition like Melrose’s, but its greatness can’t be denied and makes Jagr an easy choice for the title of best hockey mullet of all time.