Art Ross Trophy

Art Ross Trophy
SportIce hockey
Awarded for"Player who leads the League in points at the end of the regular season."[1]
History
First award1947–48 NHL season
Most winsWayne Gretzky (10)
Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings
Most recentNikita Kucherov (2)
Tampa Bay Lightning

The Art Ross Trophy is awarded to the National Hockey League (NHL) player who leads the league in points at the end of the regular season. It was presented to the league by former player, general manager, and head coach Art Ross. The trophy has been awarded 70 times to 29 players since its introduction in the 1947–48 NHL season. Ross is also known for his design of the official NHL puck, with slightly bevelled edges for better control.

The current holder is Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

History

Main article: List of past NHL scoring leaders

The Art Ross Trophy was presented to the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1947 by Arthur Howey "Art" Ross, former general manager and head coach of the Boston Bruins and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee as a player.[1] Elmer Lach of the Montreal Canadiens was awarded the first Art Ross Trophy at the conclusion of the 1947–48 season.

Players from the Pittsburgh Penguins won the trophy 15 times and the Edmonton Oilers have won the trophy 13 times, while the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks are tied for third with nine times each. Although Joe Thornton, winner from the 2005–06 season, started the season playing for the Boston Bruins, he finished with the San Jose Sharks and the award counts for the Sharks. Therefore, Boston Bruins have seven players winning the trophy, fifth overall.

From 1951 to 2001, Jean Beliveau, Marcel Dionne, and Bryan Trottier were the only single-time winners of the scoring title, while Gordie Howe, Bernie Geoffrion, Dickie Moore, Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, Guy Lafleur, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Jaromir Jagr all won it on multiple occasions. For two decades, from 1981 to 2001, only three players won the Art Ross Trophy: Gretzky, Lemieux, and Jagr. The streak ended when Jarome Iginla won the trophy in 2002.

Gretzky has won the trophy a record ten times, seven consecutively, during his 20-year NHL career. Gordie Howe and Lemieux have each won it six times, while Esposito, Jagr and McDavid each have five. Jagr, from the Czech Republic, has won the award the most times as a non-Canadian. Patrick Kane is the only American-born player to win the trophy, doing so in 2016. Gretzky is the only player to win the trophy for more than one team, while Thornton is the only player to win it while playing for two different teams in one season. Stan Mikita is the only player in NHL history to win the Art Ross, Hart, and Lady Byng Trophies all in the same season, which he did twice (1966–67 and 1967–68, with Chicago; Gretzky, Bobby Hull, and Martin St. Louis all won each of those awards at least once and won a combination of two of them in the same season, but never all three together). Orr is the only defenseman to win the scoring title, doing so in 1970 and 1975 with Boston, and in 1970 he became the first player to capture four individual awards in a single season as he won the Hart, Norris, and Conn Smythe Trophies that year as well.[2]

In 2007, Sidney Crosby became the youngest player to win the Art Ross Trophy at age 19, and also became the youngest scoring champion in any major North American professional sport.[3] At almost twice Crosby's age, Martin St. Louis became the oldest player to capture the Art Ross at the age of 37, also having the longest gap between scoring titles (nine years). Henrik and Daniel Sedin are the only siblings to win the award, in 2010 and 2011, respectively.[4] Since 2001, only five players, Connor McDavid, Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, St. Louis and Nikita Kucherov have won the award more than once: Crosby in 2007 and 2014, Malkin in 2009 and 2012, St. Louis in 2004 and 2013, McDavid in 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023 and Kucherov in 2019 and 2024. McDavid and Gretzky are the only players to win multiple Art Ross trophies before age 21.

The NHL rules stipulate three tiebreakers in case two or more players are tied in points:[1]

  1. Player with most goals
  2. Player with fewer games played
  3. Player scoring first goal of the season

Scoring ties happened in the 1961–62, 1979–80, and 1994–95 seasons, all of them being decided by the first tiebreaker of scoring more goals. In those respective seasons, Hull won over Andy Bathgate, Dionne over Gretzky, and Jagr over Eric Lindros. The NHL's award to recognize the leading goal-scorer, the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, does not have a tiebreaker, allowing multiple winners to be recognized in any one season.

Winners

Wayne Gretzky, record ten-time winner and career leader in NHL scoring
Gordie Howe, six-time winner
Mario Lemieux, six-time winner
Phil Esposito, five-time winner
Jaromir Jagr, five-time winner
Connor McDavid, five-time winner
Stan Mikita, four-time winner
Guy Lafleur, three-time winner
Evgeni Malkin (left) and Sidney Crosby (right), both two-time winners
Henrik Sedin (top) and Daniel Sedin (bottom), back-to-back winners
  Player is still active in the NHL
  Eligible player not yet elected to Hockey Hall of Fame
  Inactive player not yet eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame

Bold Player with the most points ever scored in a season.

Art Ross Trophy winners
Season Winner Team Points Win #
1947–48 Elmer Lach Montreal Canadiens 061 1 (2)[a]
1948–49 Roy Conacher Chicago Black Hawks 068 1
1949–50 Ted Lindsay Detroit Red Wings 078 1
1950–51 Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings 086 1
1951–52 Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings 086 2
1952–53 Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings 095 3
1953–54 Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings 081 4
1954–55 Bernie Geoffrion Montreal Canadiens 075 1
1955–56 Jean Beliveau Montreal Canadiens 088 1
1956–57 Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings 089 5
1957–58 Dickie Moore Montreal Canadiens 084 1
1958–59 Dickie Moore Montreal Canadiens 096 2
1959–60 Bobby Hull Chicago Black Hawks 081 1
1960–61 Bernie Geoffrion Montreal Canadiens 095 2
1961–62 Bobby Hull Chicago Black Hawks 084 2
1962–63 Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings 086 6
1963–64 Stan Mikita Chicago Black Hawks 089 1
1964–65 Stan Mikita Chicago Black Hawks 087 2
1965–66 Bobby Hull Chicago Black Hawks 097 3
1966–67 Stan Mikita Chicago Black Hawks 097 3
1967–68 Stan Mikita Chicago Black Hawks 087 4
1968–69 Phil Esposito Boston Bruins 126 1
1969–70 Bobby Orr Boston Bruins 120 1
1970–71 Phil Esposito Boston Bruins 152 2
1971–72 Phil Esposito Boston Bruins 133 3
1972–73 Phil Esposito Boston Bruins 130 4
1973–74 Phil Esposito Boston Bruins 145 5
1974–75 Bobby Orr Boston Bruins 135 2
1975–76 Guy Lafleur Montreal Canadiens 125 1
1976–77 Guy Lafleur Montreal Canadiens 136 2
1977–78 Guy Lafleur Montreal Canadiens 132 3
1978–79 Bryan Trottier New York Islanders 134 1
1979–80 Marcel Dionne Los Angeles Kings 137 1
1980–81 Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers 164 1
1981–82 Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers 212 2
1982–83 Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers 196 3
1983–84 Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers 205 4
1984–85 Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers 208 5
1985–86 Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers 215 6
1986–87 Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers 183 7
1987–88 Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins 168 1
1988–89 Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins 199 2
1989–90 Wayne Gretzky Los Angeles Kings 142 8
1990–91 Wayne Gretzky Los Angeles Kings 163 9
1991–92 Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins 131 3
1992–93 Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins 160 4
1993–94 Wayne Gretzky Los Angeles Kings 130 9910
1994–95[b] Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh Penguins 70 1
1995–96 Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins 161 5
1996–97 Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins 122 6
1997–98 Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh Penguins 102 2
1998–99 Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh Penguins 127 3
1999–2000 Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh Penguins 096 4
2000–01 Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh Penguins 121 5
2001–02 Jarome Iginla Calgary Flames 096 1
2002–03 Peter Forsberg Colorado Avalanche 106 1
2003–04 Martin St. Louis Tampa Bay Lightning 094 1
2004–05[c] — — — —
2005–06 Joe Thornton Boston Bruins/San Jose Sharks 125 1
2006–07 Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh Penguins 120 1
2007–08 Alexander Ovechkin Washington Capitals 112 1
2008–09 Evgeni Malkin Pittsburgh Penguins 113 1
2009–10 Henrik Sedin Vancouver Canucks 112 1
2010–11 Daniel Sedin Vancouver Canucks 104 1
2011–12 Evgeni Malkin Pittsburgh Penguins 109 2
2012–13[d] Martin St. Louis Tampa Bay Lightning 60 2
2013–14 Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh Penguins 104 2
2014–15 Jamie Benn Dallas Stars 87 1
2015–16 Patrick Kane Chicago Blackhawks 106 1
2016–17 Connor McDavid Edmonton Oilers 100 1
2017–18 Connor McDavid Edmonton Oilers 108 2
2018–19 Nikita Kucherov Tampa Bay Lightning 128 1
2019–20[e] Leon Draisaitl Edmonton Oilers 110 1
2020–21[f] Connor McDavid Edmonton Oilers 105 3
2021–22 Connor McDavid Edmonton Oilers 123 4
2022–23 Connor McDavid Edmonton Oilers 153 5
2023–24 Nikita Kucherov Tampa Bay Lightning 144 2
  1. ^ Lach won a scoring title prior to the inception of the trophy, making this his second scoring title but only his first Art Ross Trophy win
  2. ^ Season shortened by the 1994–95 NHL lockout
  3. ^ Season canceled due to league lockout
  4. ^ Season shortened by the 2012–13 NHL lockout
  5. ^ Season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic
  6. ^ Season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic

See also

References

Specific

  1. ^ a b c "Art Ross Trophy". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved August 20, 2007.
  2. ^ "Bobby Orr – Biography". Legends of Hockey. Archived from the original on November 14, 2009. Retrieved September 19, 2007.
  3. ^ "Penguins' Crosby captures Art Ross Trophy as NHL scoring champion". National Hockey League. April 9, 2007. Archived from the original on August 8, 2007. Retrieved August 22, 2007.
  4. ^ Aykroyd, Lukas (April 11, 2011). "Daniel Sedin wins Art Ross". International Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2011.

General