Colorado's MacKinnon wins Hart and Lindsay awards as the NHL's top player

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon was the big winner at Thursday's NHL awards show, taking home the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP and the Ted Lindsay Award as the league’s most outstanding player as decided by the NHL Players Association.

MacKinnon, who helped lead the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup championship two years ago and was a finalist for the Hart for the fourth time and the second time for the Lindsay, had never won either award.

“Every player I grew up idolizing has their name on these things,” MacKinnon said. “To be a part of that company is surreal. It hasn't really sunk in and it's a special thing.”

Three other major awards where handed out earlier Thursday.

Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard was selected as the league's top rookie, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy. Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets won the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie, and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks was named winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the top defenseman.

MacKinnon had a career-high 140 points this season. He opened the season with a 35-game point streak at home, second all-time only to Wayne Gretzky.

Gretzky, who won the Hart eight times and Lindsay five times, and Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby congratulated McKinnon after he won those awards. Crosby has won the Hart twice and the Lindsay three times.

“That's always pretty cool to see Wayne Gretzky pop up on your phone,” MacKinnon said. “Seeing his name like 100 times on (the Hart Trophy).”

MacKinnon finished the season with 54 goals and 89 assists.

He beat out Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers for the Hart and Kucherov and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the Lindsay.

MacKinnon received 137 first-place votes and 1,740 points in the Hart voting by the media. Kucherov was second with 50 first-place votes and 1,269 points.

“I think once you get there, you really want to win it,” MacKinnon said. “A couple of times I was nominated, it was never even close I was going to win it. I just wanted to enjoy my week here, and I didn't know if it was going to happen.”

Bedard, one of the most-hyped prospects in recent years, was last year's No. 1 overall draft pick by the Blackhawks and led all rookies with 61 points. He also was first with 22 goals and his 39 assists tied for the lead as well despite missing 14 games with a broken jaw.

Bedard, who turns 19 on July 17, is too young to drink legally to celebrate winning the trophy. He also isn't experiencing with as much as attention as last year when Bedard entered the draft as the unquestioned top draft pick.

“It's been more quiet this summer, which has been pretty nice,” Bedard said.

Brock Faber of the Minnesota Wild and Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils were the other contenders.

Hellebuyck, who also won the Vezina in 2020, allowed 2.39 goals were per game, had a .921 save percentage and recorded five shutouts. Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers and Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks were the other finalists.

Hughes, won the Norris Trophy for the first time, led all defenseman with 92 points and 75 assists. He also scored 17 goals. Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators and Cale Makar of the Avalanche were the other contenders.

Hughes has two brothers, Jack and Luke also in the NHL.

“I probably love watching my brothers play most, but you’re next on that list,” Hughes said of the other finalists.

Awards announced earlier include:

— Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov won the Selke Trophy as the top defensive forward for the second time in four years.

— Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, awarded for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct. He also won it in 2021.

— Rick Tocchet received the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year. He led the Vancouver Canucks to the Pacific Division title.

— Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill was named the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award winner.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Auston Matthews arrives for hockey's NHL Awards, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/L.E. Baskow)

Sergei Bobrovsky arrives for hockey's NHL Awards, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/L.E. Baskow)

Nikita Kucherov arrives for hockey's NHL Awards, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/L.E. Baskow)

Anders Lee arrives for hockey's NHL Awards, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/L.E. Baskow)

Quinn and Luke Hughes arrive for hockey's NHL Awards, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/L.E. Baskow)

Thatcher Demko arrives for hockey's NHL Awards, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/L.E. Baskow)

Cale Makar arrives for hockey's NHL Awards, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/L.E. Baskow)

Connor Hellebuyk arrives for hockey's NHL Awards, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/L.E. Baskow)

Florida Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola, left, and left wing Ryan Lomberg, right, hug after winning the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers, Monday, June 24, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

PARIS (AP) — Voters across mainland France have been casting ballots Sunday in the first round of an exceptional parliamentary election that could put France’s government in the hands of nationalist, far-right parties for the first time since the Nazi era.

The outcome of the two-round election, which will wrap up July 7, could impact European financial markets, Western support for Ukraine, and how France’s nuclear arsenal and global military force are managed.

Many French voters are frustrated about inflation and economic concerns, as well as President Emmanuel Macron’s leadership, which they see as arrogant and out-of-touch with their lives. Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Rally party has tapped and fueled that discontent, notably via online platforms like TikTok, and dominated all preelection opinion polls.

A new coalition on the left, the New Popular Front, is also posing a challenge to the pro-business Macron and his centrist alliance Together for the Republic.

There are 49.5 million registered voters who will choose 577 members of the National Assembly, France's influential lower house of parliament, during the two-round voting.

Turnout at midday at the first round stood at 25.9 % according to interior ministry figures, which is higher from the 2022 legislative elections at this time of the day. It was 18.43% at midday two years ago.

Macron voted in a Paris voting station along with his wife, Brigitte Macron. Earlier, Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s resurgent National Rally, cast her ballot in her party’s stronghold in northern France.

The vote takes place during the traditional first week of summer vacation in France, and absentee ballot requests were at least five times higher than in the 2022 elections.

After a blitz campaign marred by rising hate speech, voting began early in France’s overseas territories, and polling stations opened in mainland France at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) Sunday. The first polling projections are expected at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), when the final polling stations close, and early official results are expected later Sunday night.

The voting is taking place during the traditional first week of summer vacation in the country, and absentee ballot requests were at least five times higher than in the 2022 elections, according to figures from the interior ministry.

Voters who turned out in person at a Paris polling station on Sunday had issues from immigration to inflation and the rising cost of living on their minds as the country has grown more divided between the far right and far left blocs with a deeply unpopular and weakened president in the political center.

“People don't like what has been happening,” said Cynthia Justine, a 44-year-old voter in Paris. “People feel they've lost a lot in recent years. People are angry. I am angry.”

She added that with “the rising hate speech,” it was necessary for people to express their frustrations with those holding and seeking power and cast their ballots.

“It is important for me because I am a woman and we haven't always had the right to vote," Justin said. “Because I am a Black woman, it's even more important. A lot is at stake on this day.”

Pierre Leclaer, a 78-year-old retiree, said he cast his ballot for the simple reason of “trying to avoid the worst," which for him is "a government that is from the far right, populist, not liberal and not very Republican.”

Macron called the early election after his party was trounced in the European Parliament election earlier in June by the National Rally, which has historic ties to racism and antisemitism and is hostile toward France’s Muslim community. It was an audacious gamble that French voters who were complacent about the European Union election would be jolted into turning out for moderate forces in a national election to keep the far right out of power.

Instead, preelection polls suggest that the National Rally is gaining support and has a chance at winning a parliamentary majority. In that scenario, Macron would be expected to name 28-year-old National Rally President Jordan Bardella as prime minister in an awkward power-sharing system known as “cohabitation.”

In the restive French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, polls already closed at 5 p.m. local time due to an 8 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew that authorities on the archipelago have extended until July 8.

Violence flared on May 13, leaving nine people dead after two weeks of unrest, due to attempts by Macron’s government to amend the French Constitution and change voting lists in New Caledonia, which the Indigenous Kanaks feared would further marginalize them. They have long sought to break free from France, which first took the Pacific territory in 1853.

Voters in France’s other overseas territories from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana, French Polynesia and those voting in offices opened by embassies and consular posts across the Americas cast their ballots on Saturday.

While Macron has said he won’t step down before his presidential term expires in 2027, cohabitation would weaken him at home and on the world stage.

The results of the first round will give a picture of overall voter sentiment, but not necessarily of the overall makeup of the next National Assembly. Predictions are extremely difficult because of the complicated voting system, and because parties will work between the two rounds to make alliances in some constituencies or pull out of others.

In the past, such tactical maneuvers helped keep far-right candidates from power. But now support for Le Pen's party has spread deep and wide.

Bardella, who has no governing experience, says he would use the powers of prime minister to stop Macron from continuing to supply long-range weapons to Ukraine for the war with Russia. His party has historical ties to Russia.

The party has also questioned the right to citizenship for people born in France, and wants to curtail the rights of French citizens with dual nationality. Critics say this undermines fundamental human rights and is a threat to France's democratic ideals.

Meanwhile, huge public spending promises by the National Rally and especially the left-wing coalition have shaken markets and ignited worries about France's heavy debt, already criticized by EU watchdogs.

Surk contributed from Nice, France.

Follow AP's coverage of elections at https://apnews.com/hub/global-elections

A woman walks past campaign boards for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Paris, Thursday June 27, 2024. Voters will choose lawmakers for the National Assembly in two rounds on June 30 and July 7. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

People gather on the Republique Plaza during a rally in Paris, Thursday June 27, 2024. Anti-racism groups joined French unions and left-wing coalition in protests against the surging nationalist far right as French President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections following the defeat of his centrist alliance at European Union elections earlier this month. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

FILE - Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right National Front party, arrives at the Eurosatory Defense and security exhibition, Wednesday, June 19, 2024 in Villepinte, north of Paris. The perspective of a defeat in parliamentary elections mean he may have to share power with a prime minister from rival political party — that could possibly be far-right National Rally's president Jordan Bardella. Macron defeated twice the National Rally's leader Marine Le Pen in the presidential election, both in 2017 and 2022.( AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron, right, meets French far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally) leader Marine Le Pen at the Elysee Palace on June 21, 2022 in Paris. The perspective of a defeat in parliamentary elections mean he may have to share power with a prime minister from rival political party — that could possibly be far-right National Rally's president Jordan Bardella. Macron defeated twice the National Rally's leader Marine Le Pen in the presidential election, both in 2017 and 2022. (Ludovic Marin/Pool photo via AP, File)