Earlier this year, Alex Ovechkin clinched his ninth career Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the league’s top scorer after tying David Pastrnak in goals with 48. Somehow, Ovechkin has bucked the aging curve and remains one of the greatest and most consistent hockey players of all-time.
Ovechkin, who scored four hat tricks and was on pace for 57 goals before the coronavirus pandemic cut the season short, arguably had one of the best five campaigns of his career at age 34.
The Great 8 continues to shatter norms for a player in his mid-thirties and once again garnered consideration for the Hart Trophy as league MVP.
Ovechkin received one fourth-place vote and three fifth-place votes for MVP, finishing in 13th place. Capitals defenseman John Carlson, who was runner up for the Norris Trophy, got votes for the Hart Trophy as well and placed twelfth.
For Ovechkin, it marked, incredibly, the 14th time in 15 career seasons that he’s received votes for the Hart Trophy and the eighth season in a row since his age 26 season. Ovechkin has received first-place votes in seven different seasons and been named MVP three different years (2008, 2009, 2013).
Alex Ovechkin Hart Trophy voting
| Year | Place | Points | 1st Place Votes | Vote % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 6th | 109 pts | 1 | 8.5% |
| 2006 | 22nd | 1 pt | 0 | 0.1% |
| 2008 | 1st | 1,313 pts | 128 | 97.9% |
| 2009 | 1st | 1,264 pts | 115 | 95% |
| 2010 | 2nd | 834 pts | 40 | 62.7% |
| 2011 | 14th | 19 pts | 0 | 1.5% |
| 2012 | — | — | — | — |
| 2013 | 1st | 1,090 pts | 40 | 60.9% |
| 2014 | 23rd | 1 pt | 0 | 0.1% |
| 2015 | 2nd | 888 pts | 8 | 56.6% |
| 2016 | 6th | 212 pts | 2 | 14.1% |
| 2017 | 12th | 7 pts | 0 | 0.4% |
| 2018 | 9th | 37 pts | 0 | 2.3% |
| 2019 | 7th | 213 pts | 0 | 12.5% |
| 2020 | 13th | 6 pts | 0 | N/A |
Stats via Hockey Reference
That’s incredible.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
