19 Sep 2008 by Craig in NHL Trophies
The National Hockey League is known for embracing its history and showing all its fans the comparisons between the past, the future and the present. Annually the league hands out a slew of yearly awards for the years top players. Most of these awards are named after the greats in the game of hockey, and are great honors to win. The trophies are handed out in a lavish event following he Stanley Cup finals, the NHL holds a “Grammy Like” ceremony. A lot of the players are there along with hall of famers and NHL greats alike. For the people who are new to the league I am going to explain a few to you, and a little about the history of the awards.
The Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is awarded to the champion of the NHL, Lord Stanley’s Cup is obviously the most important award the National Hockey League hands out.
The Hart Trophy
The Hart is the NHL’s version of the Most Valuable Player in the league. A little different then most professional sports leagues the award is for the player who is most valuable to his team. The original trophy was donated to the league in 1923, and can be found in Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Wayne Gretzky won eight straight Hart’s between 1980 – 1987, Sydney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin won it the last two years respectively.
The Vezina Trophy
This is the goalie trophy, handed out to the net minder who has been the best that season. The trophy is a memorial to great Canadians goalie George Vezina and has been awarded annually since 1927. Martin Brodeur has won the award four of the last five seasons and the great Patrick Roy won the trophy three times.
The Calder Trophy
The NHL’s best rookie is awarded the Calder Trophy at years end. The trophy is named after Frank Calder, a former president of the National Hockey League. A lot of NHL greats have won this award and over history a lot of Hall of Famers win the Calder in there first season. NHL greats Terry Sawchuk, Bobby Orr, Mike Bossy, Mario Lemieux and Peter Forsberg have all won the trophy. Last year Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane won the Calder.
The Jack Adams Trophy
The coach judged to be the best that season wins the Jack Adams award. Jack Adams the man was a coach and manager in the Red Wings organization and the trophy was donated by NHL broadcasters. A lot of great coaches have won this award including Don Cherry, Scotty Bowman and Pat Burns. Last year there was a surprise winner when Washington Capitols head coach Bruce Boudreau took home the award.
The Norris Trophy
Named for the late owner and president of the Detroit Red Wings James Norris. The award is handed out annually to the leagues top defenceman. In recent history the award had been dominated by future Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom who has won the award an amazing six of the last seven years. Bobby Orr won the trophy a record eight times and Ray Bourque won it five times.
The Art Ross Trophy
This trophy is not voted on, it is given to the player who records the most points in the season. Art Ross a manger with the Boston Bruins donated the trophy in 1947. Guy Lafleur won the award three straight years in the 1970’s, Wayne Gretzky won the award an amazing ten times and Jaromir Jagr won it five times. Along with the Hart Alex Ovechkin won the Art Ross last season.
The Selke Trophy
The best defensive forward in the NHL is awarded the Selke Trophy. The award is in honor of Frank Selke who managed great NHL championship teams. The first four times the trophy was handed out it was won by Montreal Canadiens great Bob Gainey who was an excellent defensive forward. In recent years the award has been won by players like Steve Yzerman in 2000, Michael Peca in 2002 and Pavel Datsyuk last season.
Lester B. Pearson Trophy
The trophy is named after former Prime Minister of Canada Lester B. Pearson, and has awarded since 1971. This is a special award to a lot of players because it is voted by the players themselves. The players vote who they think the most valuable player of the league is. Last year it was won by Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby won in 2007. Dominik Hasek won the award in back to back years in 1997 – 1998 and Phil Esposito won the first award in 1971.
There are plenty more awards the NHL hands out, Maurice Richard Trophy (top goal scorer), Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP), Lady Byng Trophy (sportsmanship), Masterton Memorial Trophy (dedication to hockey) and the Jennings Trophy (fewest goals against average).
Teams can also receive awards like the Presidents’ Trophy (top regular season team), Clarence Campbell Bowl (western conference winners) and the Prince of Wales Trophy (eastern conference champions).
You can find all these trophies displayed at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The National Hockey league does a great job honoring its players. The league celebrates its past and respects all the people who were involved in the game. These trophies are ingrained in the game and young players dream of winning some of these awards. Most of these awards have a lot of history some of which have been around since the 1920’s. To win an award and look at the engraved names and see NHL icons and your idols alike. The National Hockey League treats its players like true celebrities on award night which is truly unique to the league. To be a true hockey fan you need to respect the past, because without the greats of this game there would be no game. If you have a chance check out the Hockey Hall of Fame, you will find this game is full of great stories and emotions and you will not be disappointed.
19 Sep 2008 by Craig in NHL History
When the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in 1967 it would be the last in the original six period. The league had become a success both financially and on television and faced pressure to expand. With the fear of competing leagues and the search for high priced television contracts the NHL added six teams for the 1967-1968 season. These six new teams would form their own division and compete with the already established original six. With the new teams playing in their own division it guaranteed one of the new teams would play for the Stanley Cup.
The six cities that were selected were California Seals , St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota North Stars and Philadelphia Flyers. Unlike other professional sports leagues in North America, the NHL choose add all teams in one season. The biggest fear upon expanding the league was that the play would weaken with double the amount of players in the league. To fill the new rosters the NHL held an Expansion Draft in the summer of 1967, and each of the new six teams would pick 20 players from the existing NHL rosters. Some big names found their way to new franchises the Los Angeles Kings selected the legendary Terry Sawchuk from Toronto, the Maple Leafs also lost Bob Baun to the California Seals. Bruins goalie Bernie Parent went to Philadelphia and Glenn Hall moved from Chicago to St. Louis. The NHL also increased it schedule having each team play 74 games, increased from 70 games. The top four teams from each division would make the playoffs, and you would have to win three seven game series to win the Cup.
When the 1967-1968 season started it was clear the original six teams were still by far the class of the league. The Montreal Canadians won the regular season title and ended up facing the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Final. Montreal easily beat St. Louis in four games to claim Lord Stanley’s Cup. The Chicago Blackhawks forward Stan Mikita led the league with 87 points and claimed Most Valuable Player honors, Rogatien Vachon and Gump Worsley of Montreal split the best goalie honor and Bobby Hull led the league with 44 goals. The Oakland Seals (California Seals) were the worst team in league finishing with only 15 wins and missed the playoffs by 22 points.
In the 1967 season a young defenseman from Boston named Bobby Orr won the Calder Trophy (top Rookie), but in the 1968 season you really saw what he was going to become. He won his first Norris Trophy (top defenseman) and he would go on to win eight straight Norris’. Orr’s skill and talent would go on to change the game for ever, and is widely considered the best defenseman in NHL history. He was faster and stronger then most NHL players and he used those skills to score the famous Cup winning goal in 1970.
The Original NHL expansion in 1967-1968 expansion was a success for the league. Four of the franchises still play in their original locations Philadelphia, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Pittsburgh. The Philadelphia Flyers won the first Cup from an expansion team in 1974 and once again in 1975 led by forward Bobby Clarke and goalie Bernie Parent. Philadelphia has become one of the best hockey markets in the world, with devoted fans who love their tough Flyers.
In 1970 the NHL expanded again and added the Vancouver Canucks and the Buffalo Sabres. The expansion continues in 1972-1973 adding the Atlanta Flames and the New York Islanders and once again in 1974-1975 adding the Kansas City Scouts and the Washington Capitols. By this time some of the franchises were having troubles and would be relocated. The league now had 18 teams located all over North America, but not all the locations were selected well. The California Golden Seals had to move to Cleveland and Kansas City had to move to Colorado. Even after the move the original California franchise, that was now in Cleveland was forced to merge with the North Stars in Minnesota. The 70’s was a turbulent time for the NHL, lots of new teams and current teams finding new locations.
The 1970’s were ruled by the Montreal Canadian’s dynasty, Montreal won multiple cups. Led by exciting forward Guy Lafleur, defenseman Larry Robinson and solid goaltending by Ken Dryden. Lafleur was a first overall pick by the Canadians and played his first season in the 1971-1972 season. By the 1974 season Guy had become one of the if not the best player in the NHL and was a fan favorite at the infamous Montreal Forum. In the 1974-1975 season Lafleur almost doubled his career high in points in a season recording over 50 goals and 100 points, he would go on repeat those numbers for the next 5 years. For six straight years Guy was on top and leading the best team in the NHL, on his way to becoming the highest scoring player in Canadians history. Marcel Dionne was another player who was on top of his game in the 70’s, playing with both the Red Wings and the Kings he scored 40 plus goals six times in the decade. Unlike Lafleur, Dionne never had the team success with Los Angeles or Detroit.
In 1967 the NHL decided to expand and really has never stopped since. The decision to put 6 teams in to the league in one season was controversial, but ultimately successful. Four of those original six expansion franchises exist in their original form. The NHL continued to expand to its original state, with some great moves and some moves that didn’t work out. The truth of the matter is that if the NHL doesn’t expand in the 60’s we will never know what would have happened, but you can be assured the league benefitted from it. The expansion years caused a changing of the guard in the NHL, new owners, new players and eventually the need for European players.