 | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Most Valuable Player to his team in regular season of theNational Hockey League |
| History | |
| First award | 1924 |
| First winner | Frank Nighbor |
| Most wins | Wayne Gretzky (9) |
| Most recent | Connor Hellebuyck Winnipeg Jets |
TheHart Memorial Trophy, originally known as theHart Trophy, is an annual award for themost valuable player to his team in theNational Hockey League (NHL), voted by the members of theProfessional Hockey Writers' Association. The original trophy was donated to the league in 1923 by David Hart, the father ofCecil Hart, the longtime head coach of theMontreal Canadiens. The Hart Trophy has been awarded 99 times to 61 different players since its beginnings in 1923–24.
The Hart Memorial Trophy is named in honour of Canadian Dr. David Hart. Dr. Hart, who donated the original trophy to the NHL, was the father ofCecil Hart, a former coach and general manager of theMontreal Canadiens. The trophy was first awarded at the conclusion of the1923–24 NHL season toFrank Nighbor of theOttawa Senators. The original Hart Trophy was retired to theHockey Hall of Fame in 1960, and the NHL began presenting a new trophy, which was dubbed the Hart Memorial Trophy in its place.[2]
Wayne Gretzky won the award a record nine times during his career, eight consecutively.[3] Gretzky and hisEdmonton Oilers teammateMark Messier are the only players to win the Hart Trophy with more than one team.[4]Eddie Shore andHerb Gardiner are the oldest winners of the award, each winning it at the age of 35.[5]
There have been two unanimous MVP wins, both with the Edmonton Oilers: Wayne Gretzky for the1981–82 NHL season andConnor McDavid during the2020–21 NHL season.[6][7]
Players from theMontreal Canadiens have won the award seventeen times; players from theBoston Bruins andEdmonton Oilers are second with thirteen winners.Joe Thornton became the only Hart Trophy winner to have switched clubs during his winning campaign during the2005–06 season, having played for both the Bruins andSan Jose Sharks that year. The defenseman with the most trophy victories isEddie Shore, who won four times with Boston. By contrast, it is rare for a goaltender to win the award; only eight different goaltenders have won the Hart Trophy, nine times, withBuffalo Sabres goaltenderDominik Hasek being the only two-time winner at that position.[4]
The voting is conducted at the end of the regular season by members of theProfessional Hockey Writers' Association, and each voter ranks their top five candidates on a 10-7-5-3-1 point(s) system.[8] Three finalists are named and the trophy is awarded at the NHL Awards ceremony after the playoffs.[9]
The closest the voting for the Hart Trophy has ever come was in the2001–02 season, whenJose Theodore andJarome Iginla tied in the total voting. The tiebreaker for choosing the Hart Trophy winner in such a case is number of first-place votes: Theodore claimed it as he had 86 first-place votes to Iginla's 82.[9]
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| ^ | Denotes player who is still active in the NHL |
| * | Denotes player inducted into theHockey Hall of Fame |
| ~ | Denotes inactive playernot yet eligible forHockey Hall of Fame consideration |
| † | Denotes player whose team won theStanley Cup that year |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player had won the Hart Trophy at that time |
| Team (X) | Denotes the number of times a player from this team had won at that time |
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