Hart Trophy

Connor McDavid, David Pastrnak, and Matthew Tkachuk announced as finalists for 2023 Hart Trophy as NHL MVP

The National Hockey League announced the three finalists for the 2023 Hart Trophy on Friday. The Hart Trophy is given out annually “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.” In more simpler terms, the league’s MVP.

Connor McDavid, David Pastrnak, and Matthew Tkachuk received the most ballots in the end-of-season voting and are the three finalists vying for the award.

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By Chris Cerullo 5 months ago

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Connor McDavid is the second unanimous winner of the NHL’s MVP award in league history. It’s a very rare accomplishment in sports.

Connor McDavid was named the NHL’s Hart Trophy winner on Tuesday as the “player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.” McDavid posted a ridiculous 105 points in the pandemic-shortened, 56-game season, scoring 33 goals and tallying 72 assists.

It’s the second time the shifty and speedy Edmonton Oilers center has won the NHL’s MVP award. He previously won the Hart in 2017 after hitting the century mark in points (100) in his second season pro.

But the biggest takeaway is that voting for McDavid was unanimous – a rare feat that neither Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin have achieved. McDavid received all 100 first-place votes on all 100 ballots despite a strong season from Auston Matthews who lead the league in goals (41, Rocket Richard winner).

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By Ian Oland 2 years ago

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For a staggering 14th time in his career, Alex Ovechkin received votes for the Hart Trophy as league MVP

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.

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By Ian Oland 3 years ago

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Alex Ovechkin passed over in Hart Trophy voting

This season, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin won the seventh Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy of his career after leading the league with 49 goals during his age 32 season. After declaring the Caps “were not going to be suck” in the preseason, Ovechkin backed up his talk and wore a shirt with that quote adorned on it, guiding his team to a third straight Metropolitan Division title. The Capitals finished third overall in the Eastern Conference (105 standings points) despite losing several key depth players during the offseason and both Barry Trotz and Brian MacLellan in the final years of their contracts.

Ovechkin scored 19 percent of the Capitals’ goals this season (49 out of 259 total goals), highest in the league, yet when the three finalists in Hart Trophy voting were announced Friday night, as voted by the Pro Hockey Writers’ Association, the Russian machine was no where to be found.

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By Ian Oland 5 years ago

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Who won the NHL’s Hart Trophy this year? If you ask this anchor in Australia, the answer is not Alex Ovechkin. For more anti-Russian bias from countries that were at one time under the rule of the United Kingdom, read on.

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By Ian Oland 10 years ago

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Adam Oates Says Alex Ovechkin “Checked His Ego at the Door” to Win Third Hart Trophy

Alex Ovechkin was awarded his third Hart trophy on Saturday night, a feat accomplished by only eight other NHL legends: Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr, Bobby Clarke, Eddie Shore, and Howie Morenz. Fine company for Ovi, a point not lost on our friends in Canada.

Speaking to The Washington Post’s Katie Carrera on Saturday night, Washington Capitals head coach Adam Oates heaped a truckload of praise on the Capitals captain for his willingness to change positions, especially after playing on the left side his entire career in the NHL and Russia.

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By Ian Oland 10 years ago

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Alex Ovechkin Accepts Third Career Hart Trophy From Paris, French Open Cheering Heard in Background (Video)

Photo by Margaret McGuire

Tonight, Alex Ovechkin was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s MVP. It’s the third time in his career he’s won the award.

It’s a big freaking deal, especially if we consider the context of the local sports landscape. According to CSN’s Ben Raby, no DC-based athlete of any of the major four sports has ever won the MVP more than twice (the Senators’ Walter Johnson did so in 1913 and 1924). As much as Redskins fans love RGIII, this may even be a feat even he cannot accomplish.

Ovi, of course, looked relaxed when making his acceptance speech. With Paris in the background, Ovi thanked everyone from the coaches to the trainers and also credited his move to right wing as the catalyst that led to his huge year. The video seems to have been recorded when he was in Paris with fiancée Maria Kirilenko for the French Open, with cheering heard in the background and some lovely architecture behind him.

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By Ian Oland 10 years ago

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It’s now officially time for you to print this sign out and hang it up in your wall as celebration.

During the fall, the NHL lockout was excruciating for fans. It wiped out 34 games and made both the NHL and NHLPA look petty, as both sides were unwilling to make actual compromise until a drop dead date for the entire season was announced in January. The sport rebounded well when it started up again. Attendance surged in the 48-game shortened season and the NHL is currently enjoying its greatest ratings ever in a Stanley Cup Final since 1997.

But the NHL awards so far have been a disaster. Because of the compressed schedule, the league was forced to cancel its postseason award show in Las Vegas. Instead, the NHL is announcing its winners on TV and letting the players know days beforehand so that they could either fly out to Chicago or do video acceptance speeches. On Friday, the first batch of award winners were announced on the NHL Network during rush-hour traffic. Tonight, the second batch of awards, which includes the Calder, Hart, Norris, Lindsay, and Vezina, will be announced at 7pm on NBC an hour before game two of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin is up for both the Hart and Lindsay awards.

Naturally, because of the advanced notice, there have been leaks. Several days ago, it was reported PK Subban won the Norris. Bob McKenzie is reporting that Jonathan Huberdeau has won the Calder. And now TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that Ovechkin has won the Hart trophy as the NHL’s MVP.

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By Ian Oland 10 years ago

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Alex Ovechkin is a Hart Finalist

Screengrab by NHL Beardsoffs

In a surprise to absolutely no one, unless you were to time-travel back to February– in case it would be a surprise to everyone, Alex Ovechkin has been named a finalist for the Hart Trophy, awarded each year to the player deemed most valuable to his team by a bunch of snooty professional hockey writers with their cocky strides and musky odors.

Ovechkin scored a league-high 32 goals in 2013 and added another 24 assists. His shot total (4.6 shots a game) was a bounce back from recent years. Plus he got to grow facial hair again.

The two other finalists are NYI’s John Tavares and Sidney Crosby.

The Hart Trophy winner will be announced in Las Vegas this summer.

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By Peter Hassett 10 years ago

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Why It’s Important to Chant ‘MVP’ For Alex Ovechkin

Photo credit: Paul Chiasson

Over the next five days, the Capitals will finish the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season with three home games. The Caps’ match-ups with Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Boston will not only determine if Washington wins the Southeast Division and makes the playoffs, they’ll also sort out the trophy races that Alex Ovechkin is involved in. Ovechkin, after not winning any hardware since 2010, is in contention for four awards: the Ted Lindsey trophy for players’ MVP, the Art Ross trophy (for most points), the Maurice Richard trophy (for most goals), and the Hart trophy (for most valuable player).

While The Great Eight and his peers control his destiny with three of these four awards, the esteemed members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association will decide the Hart Trophy. This is the same media that in the last three years has literally flogged Ovechkin with a spiked 2 x 4 painted with a red maple leaf and dripping with Tim Horton’s coffee. Because when every great player gets older and his team becomes less aggressive, it’s the media’s moral obligation to antagonize him to casual fans and excoriate him at every turn.

I mean, look at some of this stuff.

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By Ian Oland 10 years ago

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Hart Trophy

Connor McDavid, David Pastrnak, and Matthew Tkachuk announced as finalists for 2023 Hart Trophy as NHL MVP

Connor McDavid is the second unanimous winner of the NHL’s MVP award in league history. It’s a very rare accomplishment in sports.

For a staggering 14th time in his career, Alex Ovechkin received votes for the Hart Trophy as league MVP

Alex Ovechkin passed over in Hart Trophy voting

Australians Think “Aleister Ochvekin” Won the Hart Trophy

Adam Oates Says Alex Ovechkin “Checked His Ego at the Door” to Win Third Hart Trophy

Alex Ovechkin Accepts Third Career Hart Trophy From Paris, French Open Cheering Heard in Background (Video)

Darren Dreger Says Alex Ovechkin “Believed to Be” Hart Trophy Winner

Alex Ovechkin is a Hart Finalist

Why It’s Important to Chant ‘MVP’ For Alex Ovechkin