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Conn Smythe Trophy
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Established 1964–65 NHL season
Current holder(s) Ryan O'Reilly
Awarded to the "most valuable player for his team" in the National Hockey League playoffs[1]

The Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded annually to the player judged most valuable to his team during the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup playoffs. The Conn Smythe Trophy has been awarded 45 times to 39 players since the 1964–65 NHL season. Each year, at the conclusion of the final game of the Stanley Cup finals, members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association vote to elect the player deserving of the trophy.[1] The trophy is handed out prior to the presentation of the Stanley Cup by the NHL commissioner.

History[]

The Conn Smythe Trophy was introduced in 1964 by Maple Leaf Gardens Limited to honor Conn Smythe, the former owner, general manager, and coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder.[1] The trophy's design is similar to Maple Leaf Gardens, the arena in which the Maple Leafs played their home games from 1931 to 1999, with a botanically-correct maple leaf further embellishing it as well.[2]

The first winner of the award was centre Jean Béliveau of the Montreal Canadiens for his performance in the 1965 Stanley Cup playoffs. The first player to win it twice was Bobby Orr in 1972. Goaltender Bernie Parent and centres Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux also won it twice, and Patrick Roy is the only player who has won it three times. Roy is also the only player to win the trophy for more than one team. The trophy has been won nine times by Montreal Canadiens players, five times by Detroit Red Wings players, and four times by Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, and New York Islanders players.

The trophy has been awarded to members of a losing team five times, the most recent being Jean-Sebastien Giguere of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 2003, when his team lost to the New Jersey Devils in a seven-game series. The only non-goaltender to win the award in a losing cause is Philadelphia's Reggie Leach, who won it in 1976 when the Canadiens swept his Flyers.

With four exceptions, the winners of the Conn Smythe Trophy have all been Canadian. The four non-Canadian winners are American Brian Leetch, who won it in 1994, Russian Evgeni Malkin, who won it in 2009, and Swedes Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg, who won it in 2002 and 2008, respectively.

Only three players have won the Conn Smythe Trophy and the Hart Memorial Trophy for most valuable player during the regular season in the same year: Bobby Orr in 1970 and 1972, Guy Lafleur in 1977 and Wayne Gretzky in 1985.[1][3]

Winners[]

1968-69-Orr pose

Bobby Orr, first two-time winner.

Patrick Roy 1999

Patrick Roy, the only three-time winner. As of 2020, the only player in NHL history to win the award with more than one team.

Mario Lemieux 2001

Mario Lemieux, two-time winner. Second player to win the award in consecutive years.

Brleetch

Brian Leetch, first non-Canadian winner.

NicklasLidstrom

Nicklas Lidström, first Swedish winner.

Positions key
C Centre
LW Left Wing
D Defence
RW Right Wing
G Goaltender
     Player is still active in the NHL
     Player was a member of the defeated team in the Stanley Cup Finals
Conn Smythe Trophy winners
Year Winner Team Position Win # Team win #
1965 Beliveau, JeanJean Beliveau Montreal Canadiens C 1 1
1966 Crozier, RogerRoger Crozier Detroit Red Wings G 1 1
1967 Keon, DaveDave Keon Toronto Maple Leafs C 1 1
1968 Hall, GlennGlenn Hall St. Louis Blues G 1 1
1969 Savard, SergeSerge Savard Montreal Canadiens D 1 2
1970 Orr, BobbyBobby Orr Boston Bruins D 1 1
1971 Dryden, KenKen Dryden Montreal Canadiens G 1 3
1972 Orr, BobbyBobby Orr Boston Bruins D 2 2
1973 Cournoyer, YvanYvan Cournoyer Montreal Canadiens RW 1 4
1974 Parent, BernieBernie Parent Philadelphia Flyers G 1 1
1975 Parent, BernieBernie Parent Philadelphia Flyers G 2 2
1976 Leach, ReggieReggie Leach Philadelphia Flyers RW 1 3
1977 Lafleur, GuyGuy Lafleur Montreal Canadiens RW 1 5
1978 Robinson, LarryLarry Robinson Montreal Canadiens D 1 6
1979 Gainey, BobBob Gainey Montreal Canadiens LW 1 7
1980 Trottier, BryanBryan Trottier New York Islanders C 1 1
1981 Goring, ButchButch Goring New York Islanders C 1 2
1982 Bossy, MikeMike Bossy New York Islanders RW 1 3
1983 Smith, BillyBilly Smith New York Islanders G 1 4
1984 Messier, MarkMark Messier Edmonton Oilers C 1 1
1985 Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers C 1 2
1986 Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy Montreal Canadiens G 1 8
1987 Hextall, RonRon Hextall Philadelphia Flyers G 1 4
1988 Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers C 2 3
1989 MacInnis, AlAl MacInnis Calgary Flames D 1 1
1990 Ranford, BillBill Ranford Edmonton Oilers G 1 4
1991 Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins C 1 1
1992 Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins C 2 2
1993 Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy Montreal Canadiens G 2 9
1994 Leetch, BrianBrian Leetch New York Rangers D 1 1
1995 Lemieux, ClaudeClaude Lemieux New Jersey Devils RW 1 1
1996 Sakic, JoeJoe Sakic Colorado Avalanche C 1 1
1997 Vernon, MikeMike Vernon Detroit Red Wings G 1 2
1998 Yzerman, SteveSteve Yzerman Detroit Red Wings C 1 3
1999 Nieuwendyk, JoeJoe Nieuwendyk Dallas Stars C 1 1
2000 Stevens, ScottScott Stevens New Jersey Devils D 1 2
2001 Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy Colorado Avalanche G 3 2
2002 Lidstrom, NicklasNicklas Lidstrom Detroit Red Wings D 1 4
2003 Giguere, Jean-SebastienJean-Sebastien Giguere Anaheim, Mighty Ducks ofMighty Ducks of Anaheim G 1 1
2004 Richards, BradBrad Richards Tampa Bay Lightning C 1 1
2005 No winner due to the
2004–05 NHL lockout
- - -
2006 Ward, CamCam Ward Carolina Hurricanes G 1 1
2007 Niedermayer, ScottScott Niedermayer Anaheim Ducks D 1 2
2008 Zetterberg, HenrikHenrik Zetterberg Detroit Red Wings C 1 5
2009 Malkin, EvgeniEvgeni Malkin Pittsburgh Penguins C 1 3
2010 Toews, JonathanJonathan Toews Chicago Blackhawks C 1 1
2011 Thomas, TimTim Thomas Boston Bruins G 1 3
2012 Quick, JonathanJonathan Quick Los Angeles Kings G 1 1
2013 Kane, PatrickPatrick Kane Chicago Blackhawks RW 1 2
2014 Williams, JustinJustin Williams Los Angeles Kings RW 1 2
2015 Keith, DuncanDuncan Keith Chicago Blackhawks D 1 3
2016 Crosby, SidneySidney Crosby Pittsburgh Penguins C 1 4
2017 Crosby, SidneySidney Crosby Pittsburgh Penguins C 2 5
2018 Ovechkin, AlexanderAlexander Ovechkin Washington Capitals LW 1 1
2019 O'Reilly, RyanRyan O'Reilly St. Louis Blues C 1 2

See Also[]

References[]

General
Specific
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Conn Smythe Trophy. National Hockey League. Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
  2. Conn Smythe Trophy History. Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
  3. Hart Memorial Trophy. National Hockey League. Retrieved on 2007-08-17.


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Conn Smythe Trophy. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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