Conn Smythe Trophy

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Conn Smythe Trophy
Established	1964-65 NHL season
Current holder	Henrik Zetterberg
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 43 times to 37 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 the Maple Leaf Gardens Limited to honor Conn Smythe, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder, and the former owner, general manager, and coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.^[1] The trophy's design is similar to the Maple Leaf Gardens, the arena in which the Maple Leafs played their home games from 1931 to 1999.^[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 three exceptions, the winners of the Conn Smythe Trophy have all been Canadian. The three non-Canadian winners are American Brian Leetch, who won it in 1994, 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

Patrick Roy, three-time winner.

Mario Lemieux, two-time winner.

Brian Leetch, one-time winner.

Nicklas Lidstrom, one-time winner.

Henrik Zetterberg, one-time winner.

     Player is still active

Notes

Note 1: Member of the defeated team in the Stanley Cup Final.

References

See also

• List of NHL players
• List of Stanley Cup champions
• List of NHL statistical leaders