Hart Memorial Trophy

The Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, the "oldest and most prestigious individual award in hockey", is awarded annually to the Most Valuable Player in the National Hockey League. The Hart Memorial Trophy has been awarded 82 times to 50 different players since its beginnings in 1924. Each year, members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association vote to determine the player who was the most valuable to his team during the regular season.
==History==
The Hart Memorial Trophy is named in honour of Dr. David Hart. Dr. Hart, who donated the original trophy to the NHL, was the father of Cecil Hart, a former Coach and General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens hockey club. The Hart Trophy was first awarded at the conclusion of the 1923-24 NHL season. The winner of the first Hart Trophy was Frank Nighbor of the Ottawa Senators. The original "Hart Trophy" was retired in Hockey Hall of Fame in 1960, and the NHL began presenting a new trophy, which was dubbed the "Hart Memorial Trophy" in its place. With the exceptions of Tommy Anderson and Al Rollins, every eligible player who won the Hart Trophy has been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Wayne Gretzky won the award a record nine times during his career, eight consecutively. He has been named MVP more times than any other player in the history of the other three Major Professional Leagues (Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, and National Football League). Barry Bonds is second, having won the MVP award seven times in Major League Baseball. Gretzky and his Edmonton Oilers teammate Mark Messier are the only players to win the Hart Trophy for more than one team. The defenseman with the most trophy victories is Eddie Shore, who has four. By contrast, it is rare for a goaltender to win the award, which has happened only eight times in its history by 7 different goaltenders; Buffalo Sabres goaltender Dominik Hašek is the only two-time winner.
Players from the Montreal Canadiens have won the award sixteen times; players from Boston Bruins are second with twelve winners, and the Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers have seen players win the award nine times. Joe Thornton became the first Hart Trophy winner to switch clubs during his winning campaign in 2005-06 NHL season, having played for both the Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks that year.
The voting is conducted at the end of the regular season by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and each individual voter ranks their top five candidates on a 10-7-5-3-1 points system. Three finalists are named and the trophy is awarded at the NHL Awards ceremony after the playoffs.
The closest the voting for the Hart Trophy has ever come was in the 2001–02 season, when José Théodore and Jarome Iginla tied in the total voting. The tiebreaker for choosing the Hart Trophy winner in such a case is number of first-place votes: Théodore, who had 86 first-place votes to Iginla's 82, claimed it.
==Winners==
Positions Key
C	Centre	LW	Left Wing	D	Defence	RW	Right Wing	G	Goaltender
Season 	Winner	Team 	Position	Win #
1923–24	 	Ottawa Senators 	C 	1
1924–25	 	Hamilton Tigers 	C 	1
1925–26	 	Montreal Maroons 	C 	1
1926–27	 	Montreal Canadiens	D 	1
1927–28	 	Montreal Canadiens	C 	1
1928–29	 	New York Americans	G 	1
1929–30	 	Montreal Maroons 	C 	2
1930–31	 	Montreal Canadiens	C 	2
1931–32	 	Montreal Canadiens	C 	3
1932–33	 	Boston Bruins 	D 	1
1933–34	 	Montreal Canadiens	LW 	1
1934–35	 	Boston Bruins 	D 	2
1935–36	 	Boston Bruins 	D 	3
1936–37	 	Montreal Canadiens	D 	1
1937–38	 	Boston Bruins 	D 	4
1938–39	 	Montreal Canadiens	LW 	1
1939–40	 	Detroit Red Wings 	D 	1
|-
| 1940–41
| 
| Boston Bruins
| C
| 1
|-
| 1941–42
| 
| Brooklyn Americans
| D
| 1
|-
| 1942–43
| 
| Boston Bruins
| C
| 2
|-
| 1943–44
| 
| Toronto Maple Leafs
| D
| 1
|-
| 1944–45
| 
| Montreal Canadiens
| C
| 1
|-
| 1945–46
| 
| Chicago Black Hawks
| C
| 1
|-
| 1946–47
| 
| Montreal Canadiens
| RW
| 1
|-
| 1947–48
| 
| New York Rangers
| C
| 1
|-
| 1948–49
| 
| Detroit Red Wings
| C
| 1
|-
| 1949–50
| 
| New York Rangers
| G
| 1
|-
| 1950–51
| 
| Boston Bruins
| C
| 1
|-
| 1951–52
| 
| Detroit Red Wings
| RW
| 1
|-
| 1952–53
| 
| Detroit Red Wings
| RW
| 2
|-
| 1953–54
| 
| Chicago Black Hawks
| G
| 1
|-
| 1954–55
| 
| Toronto Maple Leafs
| C
| 1
|-
| 1955–56
| 
| Montreal Canadiens
| C
| 1
|-
| 1956–57
| 
| Detroit Red Wings
| RW
| 3
|-
| 1957–58
| 
| Detroit Red Wings
| RW
| 4
|-
| 1958–59
| 
| New York Rangers
| RW
| 1
|-
| 1959–60
| 
| Detroit Red Wings
| RW
| 5
|-
| 1960–61
| 
| Montreal Canadiens
| RW
| 1
|-
| 1961–62
| 
| Montreal Canadiens
| G
| 1
|-
| 1962–63
| 
| Detroit Red Wings
| RW
| 6
|-
| 1963–64
| 
| Montreal Canadiens
| C
| 2
|-
| 1964–65
| 
| Chicago Black Hawks
| LW
| 1
|-
| 1965–66
| 
| Chicago Black Hawks
| LW
| 2
|-
| 1966–67
| 
| Chicago Black Hawks
| C
| 1
|-
| 1967–68
| 
| Chicago Black Hawks
| C
| 2
|-
| 1968–69
| 
| Boston Bruins
| C
| 1
|-
| 1969–70
| 
| Boston Bruins
| D
| 1
|-
| 1970–71
| 
| Boston Bruins
| D
| 2
|-
| 1971–72
| 
| Boston Bruins
| D
| 3
|-
| 1972–73
| 
| Philadelphia Flyers
| C
| 1
|-
| 1973–74
| 
| Boston Bruins
| C
| 2
|-
| 1974–75
| 
| Philadelphia Flyers
| C
| 2
|-
| 1975–76
| 
| Philadelphia Flyers
| C
| 3
|-
| 1976–77
| 
| Montreal Canadiens
| RW
| 1
|-
| 1977–78
| 
| Montreal Canadiens
| RW
| 2
|-
| 1978–79
| 
| New York Islanders
| C
| 1
|-
| 1979–80
| 
| Edmonton Oilers
| C
| 1
|-
| 1980–81
| 
| Edmonton Oilers
| C
| 2
|-
| 1981–82
| 
| Edmonton Oilers
| C
| 3
|-
| 1982–83
| 
| Edmonton Oilers
| C
| 4
|-
| 1983–84
| 
| Edmonton Oilers
| C
| 5
|-
| 1984–85
| 
| Edmonton Oilers
| C
| 6
|-
| 1985–86
| 
| Edmonton Oilers
| C
| 7
|-
| 1986–87
| 
| Edmonton Oilers
| C
| 8
|-
| 1987–88
| 
| Pittsburgh Penguins
| C
| 1
|-
| 1988–89
| 
| Los Angeles Kings
| C
| 9
|-
| 1989–90
| 
| Edmonton Oilers
| C
| 1
|-
| 1990–91
| 
| St. Louis Blues
| RW
| 1
|-
| 1991–92
| 
| New York Rangers
| C
| 2
|-
| 1992–93
| 
| Pittsburgh Penguins
| C
| 2
|-
| 1993–94
| 
| Detroit Red Wings
| C
| 1
|-
| 1994–95
| 
| Philadelphia Flyers
| C
| 1
|-
| 1995–96
| 
| Pittsburgh Penguins
| C
| 3
|-
| 1996–97
| 
| Buffalo Sabres
| G
| 1
|-
| 1997–98
| 
| Buffalo Sabres
| G
| 2
|-
| 1998–99
| 
| Pittsburgh Penguins
| RW
| 1
|- 
| 1999–2000
| 
| St. Louis Blues
| D
| 1
|-
| 2000–01
| 
| Colorado Avalanche
| C
| 1
|- 
| 2001–02
| 
| Montreal Canadiens
| G
| 1
|-
| 2002–03
| 
| Colorado Avalanche
| C
| 1
|- 
| 2003–04
| 
| Tampa Bay Lightning
| RW
| 1
|-
| 2004–05
| 
| -
| -
| -
|- bgcolor="#CFECEC"
| 2005–06
| 
| Boston Bruins/San Jose Sharks
| C
| 1
|- bgcolor="#CFECEC"
| 2006–07
| 
| Pittsburgh Penguins
| C
| 1
|- bgcolor="#CFECEC"
| 2007–08
| 
| Washington Capitals
| LW
| 1
|- bgcolor="#CFECEC"
| 2008–09
| 
| Washington Capitals
| LW
| 2
|- 
| 2009–10
| 
| Vancouver Canucks
| C
| 1
|- bgcolor="#CFECEC"
| 2010–11
| 
| Anaheim Ducks
| RW
| 1
|- bgcolor="#CFECEC"
| 2011–12
| 
| Pittsburgh Penguins
| C
| 1
|- bgcolor="#CFECEC"
| 2012–13
| 
| Washington Capitals
| RW
| 3
|- bgcolor="#CFECEC"
| 2013–14
| 
| Pittsburgh Penguins
| C
| 2
|- bgcolor="#CFECEC"
| 2014–15
| 
| Montreal Canadiens
| G
| 1
|- bgcolor="#CFECEC"
| 2015–16
| 
| Chicago Blackhawks
| RW
| 1
|- bgcolor="#CFECEC"
| 2016–17
| 
| Edmonton Oilers
| C
| 1
|- bgcolor="#CFECEC"
| 2017–18
| 
| New Jersey Devils
| LW
| 1
|- bgcolor="#CFECEC"
| 2018–19
| 
| Tampa Bay Lightning
| RW
| 1
|- bgcolor="#CFECEC"
| 2019–20
| 
| Edmonton Oilers
| LW
| 1
|}
==References==
;General
*Hart Memorial Trophy history at NHL.com
;Specific
==See Also==
*List of NHL players
Category:NHL trophies and awards