# Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award

The Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award is an accolade presented annually to a print newspaper columnist or reporter in recognition of their achievements covering the game of ice hockey. The award is "to recognize distinguished members of the newspaper profession whose words have brought honor to journalism and to hockey."
The Hockey Hall of Fame established the accolade in 1984 and named it after the Montreal-based Canadian newspaper sports journalist Elmer Ferguson. Early in the year, the recipient is chosen by a committee of members from the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. The winner receives the award from the Hockey Hall of Fame at a ceremony held at BCE Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Each recipient receives a 12 by 12 feet (3.7 by 3.7 m) glass plaque that is put on display on two glass columns in the media section of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The ceremony associated with the accolade takes place separately to the induction of players into the Hockey Hall of Fame as -- despite widespread confusion on the issue -- media honorees are not considered full inductees.
During the 37 years the award has been active, there have been a total of 62 winners. The first 17 recipients -- Jacques Beauchamp, Jim Burchard, Red Burnett, Dink Carroll, Jim Coleman, Ted Damata, Marcel Desjardins, Jack Dulmage, Milt Dunnell, Ferguson, Tom Fitzgerald, Trent Frayne, Al Laney, Joe Nichols, Basil O'Meara, Jim Vipond and Lewis Walter -- were honored in 1984. At least two journalists were named winners each year until 1990. There was no winner in each of 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2021.
Helene Elliott, a writer for the Los Angeles Times, became the first female recipient in 2005. She was also the first woman to be honored in the media section of one of the Big Four team Sports Halls of Fame. The award has been presented posthumously on eight occasions, seven of the initial 23 honourees over the first two classes (1984, 1985), and Dave Fay in 2007 (award ceremony held four months after his death). Journalists who have worked for the Toronto Star have been recognised seven times, followed by The Globe and Mail reporters with six and Le Journal de Montréal on five occasions. Each of the 62 winners have been journalists from either Canada or the United States.

## Recipients

Key :
| † | Indicates posthumous award |
Recipients of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award :
| Year | Recipient | Publication(s) |
| 1984 | Jacques Beauchamp | Montréal-Matin/Le Journal de Montréal |
| 1984 | Jim Burchard | New York World-Telegram |
| 1984 | Red Burnett† | Toronto Star |
| 1984 | Dink Carroll | Montreal Gazette |
| 1984 | Jim Coleman | Southam Newspapers |
| 1984 | Ted Damata | Chicago Tribune |
| 1984 | Marcel Desjardins | La Presse |
| 1984 | Jack Dulmage | Windsor Star |
| 1984 | Milt Dunnell | Toronto Star |
| 1984 | Elmer Ferguson† | Montréal Herald/Montréal Star |
| 1984 | Tom Fitzgerald† | The Boston Globe |
| 1984 | Trent Frayne | Toronto Telegram/The Globe and Mail/Toronto Sun |
| 1984 | Al Laney | New York Herald Tribune |
| 1984 | Joe Nichols | The New York Times |
| 1984 | Basil O'Meara† | Montréal Star |
| 1984 | Jim Vipond | The Globe and Mail |
| 1984 | Lewis Walter† | Detroit Times |
| 1985 | Charlie Barton† | Buffalo Courier-Express |
| 1985 | Red Fisher | Montréal Star/Montreal Gazette |
| 1985 | George Gross | Toronto Telegram/Toronto Sun |
| 1985 | Zotique Lespérance | Le Journal de Montréal/La Petit Journal |
| 1985 | Charles Mayer† | Le Petit Journal/La Patrie |
| 1985 | Andy O'Brien | Weekend Magazine |
| 1986 | Dick Johnston | The Buffalo News |
| 1986 | Leo Monahan | Boston Daily Record/Record-American/Boston Herald American |
| 1986 | Tim Moriarty | UPI/Newsday |
| 1987 | Bill Brennan | The Detroit News |
| 1987 | Rex MacLeod | The Globe and Mail/Toronto Star |
| 1987 | Ben Olan | Associated Press |
| 1987 | Francis Rosa | The Boston Globe |
| 1988 | Jim Proudfoot | Toronto Star |
| 1988 | Scott Young | The Globe and Mail/Toronto Telegram |
| 1989 | Claude Larochelle | Le Soleil |
| 1989 | Frank Orr | Toronto Star |
| 1990 | Bertrand Raymond | Le Journal de Montréal |
| 1991 | Hugh Delano | New York Post |
| 1993 | Al Strachan | The Globe and Mail/Toronto Star |
| 1995 | Jack Gatecliff | St. Catharines Standard |
| 1997 | Ken McKenzie | The Hockey News |
| 1998 | Yvon Pedneault | La Presse/Le Journal de Montréal |
| 1999 | Russ Conway | The Eagle-Tribune |
| 2000 | Jim Matheson | Edmonton Journal |
| 2001 | Eric Duhatschek | Calgary Herald |
| 2002 | Kevin Dupont | The Boston Globe |
| 2003 | Michael Farber | Montreal Gazette/Sports Illustrated |
| 2004 | Jim Kelley | The Buffalo News |
| 2005 | Helene Elliott | Los Angeles Times |
| 2006 | Scott Morrison | Toronto Sun/Sportsnet |
| 2007 | Dave Fay† | The Washington Times |
| 2008 | Neil Stevens | The Canadian Press |
| 2009 | Dave Molinari | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
| 2010 | Marc de Foy | Le Journal de Montréal/RueFrontenac.com |
| 2011 | Terry Jones | Edmonton Sun |
| 2012 | Roy MacGregor | The Globe and Mail/National Post/Ottawa Citizen/Toronto Star/Maclean's |
| 2013 | Jay Greenberg | Philadelphia Daily News |
| 2014 | Kevin Allen | USA Today |
| 2015 | Bob McKenzie | TSN/The Hockey News |
| 2016 | Bob Verdi | Chicago Tribune |
| 2017 | Cam Cole | Edmonton Journal/National Post/Vancouver Sun |
| 2018 | Larry Brooks | New York Post |
| 2019 | Frank Brown | Associated Press/New York Daily News |
| 2020 | Tony Gallagher | The Province |
| 2022 | Al Morganti | Philadelphia Inquirer, NBC Sports |
| 2023 | Mark Mulvoy | Sports Illustrated |
| 2024 | Scott Burnside | Windsor Star, ESPN.com, The Athletic |

## Statistics

Multiple award recipients by publication :
| Name | Awards |
| Toronto Star | 7 |
| The Globe and Mail | 6 |
| Le Journal de Montréal | 5 |
| Montreal Gazette | 3 |
| Montréal Star | 3 |
| The Boston Globe | 3 |
| Toronto Sun | 3 |
| Toronto Telegram | 3 |
| Associated Press | 2 |
| Chicago Tribune | 2 |
| Edmonton Journal | 2 |
| La Presse | 2 |
| National Post | 2 |
| New York Post | 2 |
| The Hockey News | 2 |