Tuesday, October 21, 2014

4 Hart Trophy Winners From The Detroit Red Wings


sid abel detroit red wings 1939-40 o-pee-chee
For the 1926-27 National Hockey League season, the Victoria Cougars were moved to Detroit, Michigan. The team remained the Cougars until a name change to the Falcons in 1930. In 1932, the team was renamed again, this time to the Red Wings. In that time, the franchise has had four different players awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as NHL most valuable player. One of the four won the Hart on six occasions. Notably absent from this list is Steve Yzerman, probably the most deserving player to have a Hart Trophy sitting on his mantle. Yet, Yzerman was denied throughout his long and successful career with the Red Wings.

Ebbie Goodfellow


Ebbie Goodfellow was the first Detroit player to win the Hart Trophy. In 1939-40, the defenseman totaled 28 points in 43 regular season game, big numbers for a blue liner in the day. The Red Wings squeaked into the Stanley Cup playoffs, finishing sixth in the seven team NHL. Detroit beat the New York Americans in the first round before losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second.

Goodfellow played in the NHL from 1923-30 to 1942-43, all with the Detroit. His first year was with the Cougars, followed by two with the Falcons before becoming a true Red Wing. For two seasons in the early 1950’s, Ebbie coached the Chicago Black Hawks but the team won just 30 of 140 games with him behind the bench. In 1963, Ebbie Goodfellow was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Sid Abel


Sid Abel won the Hart Trophy in 1948-49 while leading the league in goals and finishing third in the race for the Art Ross Trophy. Sid scored 28 and totaled 54 points in 60 games for the Red Wings. Detroit finished first overall that season but was swept in the Stanley Cup finals by the fourth seed Toronto Maple Leafs.

Abel played with the Red Wings from 1938-39 until 1951-52 before spending two seasons as player/coach of the Chicago Black Hawks. Sid was nearly as unsuccessful behind the Chicago bench as Ebbie Goodfellow was. He returned to coaching in 1957-58 with the Red Wings and was head coach until the end of the 1967-68 season. During that time, Detroit lost in the Stanley Cup finals four times. Abel became a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969.

Gordie Howe


Along came Gordie Howe. Howe won his first of six Hart Memorial Trophies in 1951-52, the last year Sid Abel played for the team. Gordie won the Hart again the following year then in 1956-57, 1957-58, 1959-60 and 1962-63. On four of those occasions, Howe also won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s top point producer.

Gordie played for Detroit from 1946-47 to 1970-71. He is considered by many to be the best hockey player of all-time. In 1971, Howe was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He returned to the game as a player in 1973-74 and spent six years in the World Hockey Association before a swan-song appearance with the NHL’s Hartford Whalers in 1979-80.

Sergei Federov


Sergei Federov is the most recent Red Wing to win the Hart Memorial Trophy. Federov earned the prize in 1993-94, while scoring 56 goals and accumulating 120 points. He finished third in goal scoring behind Pavel Bure of the Vancouver Canucks and Brett Hull of the St. Louis Blues. It was just Wayne Gretzky ahead of him in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, finishing ten points ahead.

Sergei played over 1,200 regular season and nearly 200 playoff games in the National Hockey League, many with Detroit.

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