Ted Lindsay Award
The Ted Lindsay Award, formerly known as the Lester B. Pearson Award, is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's most outstanding player in the regular season as judged by the members of the NHL Players' Association. First awarded in 1971, it is a companion to the Hart Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the League's Most Valuable Player, as judged by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. The award was renamed in 2010 after Ted Lindsay of the Detroit Red Wings.[1]
| Ted Lindsay Award | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Given for | National Hockey League's outstanding player in the regular season as judged by the members of the NHL Players Association |
| History | |
| First award | 1971–72 NHL season |
| First winner | Phil Esposito |
| Most wins | Wayne Gretzky (5) |
| Most recent | Leon Draisaitl Edmonton Oilers |
History
The award was first handed out at the conclusion of the 1970–71 NHL season. It was named in honour of Lester B. Pearson, who was Prime Minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968, the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize, and a former player and coach for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's ice hockey team.[2]
On April 29, 2010, the National Hockey League Players' Association announced that the award would be reintroduced as the Ted Lindsay Award to honor Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay for his skill, tenacity, leadership, and role in establishing the original Players' Association.[1] The voting for the trophy is conducted at the end of the regular season by the members of the NHL Players Association.[2]
Wayne Gretzky won the award five times during his career. Members of the Pittsburgh Penguins have won the award the most number of times, with ten winners, followed by the Edmonton Oilers, with nine winners.[2] The Lindsay Award is considered to be the companion of the Hart Memorial Trophy—seventeen players have won both trophies for the same season: Guy Lafleur, Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier, Brett Hull, Sergei Fedorov, Eric Lindros, Dominik Hasek, Jaromir Jagr, Joe Sakic, Martin St. Louis, Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Carey Price, Patrick Kane, Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov and Leon Draisaitl.[3] Of those eighteen, only Lafleur, Gretzky, Lemieux, Jagr, St. Louis, Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Kane, McDavid, Kucherov and Draisaitl have also won the Art Ross Trophy for the same season and completed a Hart-Pearson/Lindsay-Art Ross sweep,[4] (while Hasek and Price are the only goaltenders to win the Hart-Pearson/Lindsay double to date) and Bobby Orr won the Norris-Pearson-Art Ross Triple and is the only defenceman to win the Pearson/Lindsay) . Of that list, only Ovechkin has also won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy for top goal-scorer in the same year, completing what is to date the only Hart-Pearson-Art Ross-Richard sweep. Had the Richard Trophy existed formally during the years they completed their Hart-Pearson-Art Ross sweeps, however, Lafleur would have achieved the four-award sweep once, Lemieux twice, and Gretzky five times.
Winners
| C | Centre | D | Defence | RW | Right Wing | LW | Left Wing | G | Goaltender |
References
- The Canadian Press (2010-04-29). "NHLPA officially renames Pearson Award after Ted Lindsay". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
- "Lester B. Pearson Award history". Legendsofhockey.net. Archived from the original on 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- "Hart Memorial Trophy". NHL.com. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
- "NHL releases list of trophy finalists". Canadian Press. Archived from the original on 2007-08-23. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
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