At the halfway point of the NHL season, the skating Penguins owner is the pre-eminent on-ice story.

	Mario Lemieux is on his way to another Hart Trophy -- if he can stay healthy.

At 37, Mario Lemieux still has the ability to steal your breath as well as a game. If his skills weren't so transcendent, his individual dominance of the sport would be an insulting indictment of the NHL in the early 21st century. At this stage of his life, after all he has been through, and even given his ancillary motives as a businessman protecting his portfolio in a troubled league and a shaky Pittsburgh market, Lemieux shouldn't be able to be so much better than everyone else.

But he is.

Still, and once again, he is.

In the context of his continuing tenancy at the top of the NHL scoring list, his recent bout with that most ubiquitous and nagging of hockey injuries -- the groin problem, which sometimes even is a groin problem and nothing more -- doesn't seem ominous. At least not yet.

His one-time gaping lead in the scoring race has narrowed, and Markus Naslund and Joe Thornton are legitimate in-the-wings candidates if Lemieux starts sitting out games in bunches. Lemieux's puzzling and counterproductive preference of the Canadian Olympic team over the Penguins (and their paying customers) last season was galling, and the rationalizations were both hollow and inadequate.

Yet as tempted as we were to toss out a Devil's advocate alternative (whether it was New Jersey's Martin Brodeur or anyone else) to Lemieux as the Hart Trophy frontrunner at the midway point, common sense won out. If the season ended today, the Penguins wouldn't be in the playoffs, but that wouldn't matter in terms of voting or evaluation. The Penguins at least are in the hunt, and that's remarkable under the circumstances. Jarome Iginla should have been the MVP last season, despite the Flames' absence from the playoffs, and this time around, Lemieux would (and should) get the nod.

Without Lemieux in the picture, Naslund -- the quiet yet compelling leader of the overachieving Canucks -- would be the pick. In fact, if it ever reaches the point where the Penguins are all but mathematically eliminated from the playoff field and Lemieux sits out games with frequency, the hunt for a fallback candidate should begin in earnest -- even if Lemieux manages to hold onto the scoring lead. In that event, someone like Naslund would be a better choice.

For now, though, Lemieux is the pick, with Naslund as the fallback.

And that leads us to the choices for the other awards, if the season ended now.

Adams Award
This one's tougher.

Marc Crawford has done wonders with the Canucks, and the Flyers haven't yet turned into crybabies about Ken Hitchcock's systematic inflexibility. With the help of ownership's checkbook, Dave Tippett has the Stars back among the elite. Although the inevitable slide has started at Minnesota, there's no way Jacques Lemaire's work with the Wild can be belittled. And that doesn't even cover all the worthy candidates -- including the most worthy of all, Ottawa's Jacques Martin.

If he keeps the Senators rolling through all the soap-opera bubbles, red ink, delayed paychecks and all the other travails that normally come with coaching in the Canadian capital, Martin deserves to win in a landslide.

It's his trophy to lose.

Norris Trophy
Nicklas Lidstrom probably deserved to win the award sooner than he did, and now it's becoming a dynasty. He hasn't slipped a bit this season, playing nearly 30 minutes a game for the Red Wings and continuing his solid-and-better play at both ends of the ice. Adam Foote has been the rock amid a disappointing start at Colorado, Derian Hatcher has shown that the alleged opening-up of the game wasn't the death knell for the sometimes lumbering American, and Al MacInnis has been as staunch as ever and has helped the Blues survive Chris Pronger's absence. Sergei Gonchar continues to be underrated at Washington, and Tomas Kaberle has been strong for the Leafs.

But Lidstrom is in a line to win it again.

Vezina Trophy
Patrick Roy and Jose Theodore, the top two a season ago, have been off. Martin Brodeur has gotten back to his larcenous ways for the Devils and has a team that seemingly was poised to slip farther back near the top of the conference standings, and in the picture as a Cup threat. Marty Turco has proven more than capable of stepping into the spotlight at Dallas. It's folly to overlook Jocelyn Thibault's ironman work in Chicago, as the Blackhawks -- against all odds -- hang in there. And with the Senators playing so well, Patrick Lalime's work -- and his numbers -- catch the eye.

But the choice here is the guy we love to knock, the man so often with the befuddled expression and even the billion-dollar challenge, the goalie ultimately scapegoated for the Stars' problems last season and all but exiled to Elba Island.

Yes, Eddie Belfour, who has come on for the Maple Leafs.

Calder Trophy
Tyler Arnason. The Blackhawks should be able to hold onto the young center -- and the second-generation NHL player -- for a few more seasons, at least.

Selke Trophy
Brian Rolston, Boston. His speed, his faceoff prowess, his general defensive proficiency, and his penalty-killing work, all combined with his ability to be a bona fide scorer so far this season, make him an obvious choice. This award shouldn't have to go to "the best scorer who also plays some defense," as has happened in the past, but Rolston is a top-notch two-way, all-around contributor whose increasing offensive production doesn't diminish his defensive work.

But the polls still are open.

Terry Frei is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. His book, "Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming," was released in December by Simon and Schuster.