Capitals star captures Pearson, Hart Trophy
A stellar regular season for the Capitals was acknowledged at the NHL Awards ceremony in Las Vegas on Thursday night.
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Star left wing Alex Ovechkin won the Hart Trophy for the second year in a row. The award goes to the NHL’s most valuable player and Ovechkin is the first player to win it in consecutive seasons since goalie Dominik Hasek did so for the Buffalo Sabres in 1997 and 1998. Only 10 other men have won the Hart in back-to-back seasons and Ovechkin is the third-youngest to do so.
Meanwhile, Mike Green was a finalist for the Norris Trophy — awarded to the NHL’s best defenseman — but lost out to Boston’s Zdeno Chara. Green would have been just the second Caps’ player to win the Norris, joining Rod Langway, and would have been the third-youngest of all-time. Green finished with 31 goals, most by any NHL defenseman since 1993, despite playing in just 68 games.
Ovechkin also won the Lester B. Pearson Award, voted on annually by the NHL players themselves and awarded to the player they judge as league’s most outstanding. He is the first player since Jaromir Jagr in 1999 and 2000 to win that award in back-to-back seasons. Only five other NHL players have won it in consecutive years since the award was created in 1971. Ovechkin is the first Russian player to win either the Hart or the Pearson more than once.
Ovechkin, who finished the season with 56 goals and 54 assists, also picked up the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for the second year in a row. That goes to the NHL player who leads the league in goals scored. He was named first-team All-NHL for the fourth year in a row. Ovechkin joins Bill Durnan, a Montreal Canadiens goalie, as the only players to do so in each of their first four seasons.
