The Hart Trophy (National Hockey League)

1923-Present

The Hart Memorial Trophy is named after Cecil Hart. The trophy was donated to the NHL in 1923 by Dr. David Hart, father of Cecil. It is the oldest trophy awarded by the NHL. David Hart was a remarkable individual. In addition to being a Jewish Doctor, he was also the first president of Montreals Zionist Society. He was a captain in the Prince of Wales Fusiliers during the Fenian Raids of (1866-1870) and was a distinguished Mason. In 1921 his son Cecil was instrumental in engineering the Montreal Canadians’ sale and was later named a director to the team. In 1924 Cecil had a short tenure as a general manager with the cross-town rival Montreal Maroons; due to infighting within the organization, he was forced to resign. Cecil coached the Canadians from 1926-1932, winning two Stanley Cups in 1930 and 1931. He retired at the end of the 1932 season but was coerced into returning to the team in 1936, retiring from coaching due to illness and the team’s decline in the standings during the 1938-39 season; Hart died the following year in 1940.

Trophy Design

The original Hart Trophy was constructed of a square wooden base that supported an elongated silver vase with two handles on either side. Each side of the square base adorned 9 square silver plaques with the winning player’s name inscribed. Early tradition has it that any player who accomplishes a “hat trick” of wins can be granted ownership of the trophy: which would be presented to that player by Dr. David Hart to the National Hockey League for the most valuable player/that won it three times before a player can own the trophy.

In 1960 the original Hart Trophy was retired to the Hockey Hall of Fame; in its place, the league established the Hart Memorial Trophy. The new award looks nothing like the original; the new revamped version has an octagon-shaped base with each side containing eight rectangular plaques with the winner’s names inscribed. Affixed to the base is a narrow stem with a large silver heart wrapped partially in gold leaves.

The first winner of the award was Frank Nighbor of the Ottawa Senators in 1923-24; he won it by a single vote over Montreal Canadians Sprague Cleghorn. In 2001-02 goaltender Jose Theodore of the Montreal Canadians tied in voting with Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames, requiring a tie-breaker which Theodore won due to receiving 86 first-place votes to Iginla’s 82. The hard-ware has been awarded 92 times to 56 different players since its inception in 1924. The winner is determined by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association who vote on which player was the most valuable to his team during the regular season.

Every player who won the Hart and has since retired has been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame with three exceptions, Tommy Anderson, Al Rollins, and Jose Theodore.

Wayne Gretzky won the Hart award every year from 1979-80 until 1986-87, Mario Lemieux broke the streak, winning in 1987-88. In 1988-89, Wayne Gretzky won the Hart for a record ninth time, this time with the Los Angeles Kings; Gretzky and former team-mate Mark Messier are the only two players to have ever won the Hart Award with two different teams.

The Winners List, the Hart Trophy.

Season	Winner	Team	Position	Win #
1923–24	Frank Nighbor	Ottawa Senators	C	1
1924–25	Billy Burch	Hamilton Tigers	C	1
1925–26	Nels Stewart	Montreal Maroons	C	1
1926–27	Herb Gardiner	Montreal Canadiens	D	1
1927–28	Howie Morenz	Montreal Canadiens	C	1
1928–29	Roy Worters	New York Americans	G	1
1929–30	Nels Stewart	Montreal Maroons	C	2
1930–31	Howie Morenz	Montreal Canadiens	C	2
1931–32	Howie Morenz	Montreal Canadiens	C	3
1932–33	Eddie Shore	Boston Bruins	D	1
1933–34	Aurele Joliat	Montreal Canadiens	LW	1
1934–35	Eddie Shore	Boston Bruins	D	2
1935–36	Eddie Shore	Boston Bruins	D	3
1936–37	Babe Siebert	Montreal Canadiens	D	1
1937–38	Eddie Shore	Boston Bruins	D	4
1938–39	Toe Blake	Montreal Canadiens	LW	1
1939–40	Ebbie Goodfellow	Detroit Red Wings	D	1
1940–41	Bill Cowley	Boston Bruins	C	1
1941–42	Tommy Anderson	Brooklyn Americans	D	1
1942–43	Bill Cowley	Boston Bruins	C	2
1943–44	Babe Pratt	Toronto Maple Leafs	D	1
1944–45	Elmer Lach	Montreal Canadiens	C	1
1945–46	Max Bentley	Chicago Black Hawks	C	1
1946–47	Maurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens	RW	1
1947–48	Buddy O’Connor	New York Rangers	C	1
1948–49	Sid Abel	Detroit Red Wings	C	1
1949–50	Chuck Rayner	New York Rangers	G	1
1950–51	Milt Schmidt	Boston Bruins	C	1
1951–52	Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	RW	1
1952–53	Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	RW	2
1953–54	Al Rollins	Chicago Black Hawks	G	1
1954–55	Ted Kennedy	Toronto Maple Leafs	C	1
1955–56	Jean Beliveau	Montreal Canadiens	C	1
1956–57	Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	RW	3
1957–58	Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	RW	4
1958–59	Andy Bathgate	New York Rangers	RW	1
1959–60	Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	RW	5
1960–61	Bernie Geoffrion	Montreal Canadiens	RW	1
1961–62	Jacques Plante	Montreal Canadiens	G	1
1962–63	Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	RW	6
1963–64	Jean Beliveau	Montreal Canadiens	C	2
1964–65	Bobby Hull	Chicago Black Hawks	LW	1
1965–66	Bobby Hull	Chicago Black Hawks	LW	2
1966–67	Stan Mikita	Chicago Black Hawks	C	1
1967–68	Stan Mikita	Chicago Black Hawks	C	2
1968–69	Phil Esposito	Boston Bruins	C	1
1969–70	Bobby Orr	Boston Bruins	D	1
1970–71	Bobby Orr	Boston Bruins	D	2
1971–72	Bobby Orr	Boston Bruins	D	3
1972–73	Bobby Clarke	Philadelphia Flyers	C	1
1973–74	Phil Esposito	Boston Bruins	C	2
1974–75	Bobby Clarke	Philadelphia Flyers	C	2
1975–76	Bobby Clarke	Philadelphia Flyers	C	3
1976–77	Guy Lafleur	Montreal Canadiens	RW	1
1977–78	Guy Lafleur	Montreal Canadiens	RW	2
1978–79	Bryan Trottier	New York Islanders	C	1
1979–80	Wayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	C	1
1980–81	Wayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	C	2
1981–82	Wayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	C	3
1982–83	Wayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	C	4
1983–84	Wayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	C	5
1984–85	Wayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	C	6
1985–86	Wayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	C	7
1986–87	Wayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	C	8
1987–88	Mario Lemieux	Pittsburgh Penguins	C	1
1988–89	Wayne Gretzky	Los Angeles Kings	C	9
1989–90	Mark Messier	Edmonton Oilers	C	1
1990–91	Brett Hull	St. Louis Blues	RW	1
1991–92	Mark Messier	New York Rangers	C	2
1992–93	Mario Lemieux	Pittsburgh Penguins	C	2
1993–94	Sergei Fedorov	Detroit Red Wings	C	1
1994–95	Eric Lindros	Philadelphia Flyers	C	1
1995–96	Mario Lemieux	Pittsburgh Penguins	C	3
1996–97	Dominik Hasek	Buffalo Sabres	G	1
1997–98	Dominik Hasek	Buffalo Sabres	G	2
1998–99	Jaromir Jagr	Pittsburgh Penguins	RW	1
1999–2000	Chris Pronger	St. Louis Blues	D	1
2000–01	Joe Sakic	Colorado Avalanche	C	1
2001–02	Jose Theodore	Montreal Canadiens	G	1
2002–03	Peter Forsberg	Colorado Avalanche	C	1
2003–04	Martin St. Louis	Tampa Bay Lightning	RW	1
2004–05^[a]	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Joe Thornton	Boston Bruins/San Jose Sharks	C	1
2006–07	Sidney Crosby	Pittsburgh Penguins	C	1
2007–08	Alexander Ovechkin	Washington Capitals	LW	1
2008–09	Alexander Ovechkin	Washington Capitals	LW	2
2009–10	Henrik Sedin	Vancouver Canucks	C	1
2010–11	Corey Perry	Anaheim Ducks	RW	1
2011–12	Evgeni Malkin	Pittsburgh Penguins	C	1
2012–13	Alexander Ovechkin	Washington Capitals	RW	3
2013–14	Sidney Crosby	Pittsburgh Penguins	C	2
2014–15	Carey Price	Montreal Canadiens	G	1
2015–16	Patrick Kane	Chicago Blackhawks	RW	1
2016–17	Connor McDavid	Edmonton Oilers	C	1
2017–18	Taylor Hall	New Jersey Devils	LW	1
2018–19	Nikita Kucherov	Tampa Bay Lightning	RW	1
2019–20	Leon Draisaitl	Edmonton Oilers	C	1