Art Ross Trophy - History

History

The Art Ross Trophy was presented to the National Hockey League in 1947 by Arthur Howie "Art" Ross, former general manager and head coach of the Boston Bruins and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee as a player. Elmer Lach was the winner of the first Art Ross Trophy, which was awarded at the conclusion of the 1947–48 NHL season.

Wayne Gretzky won the Art Ross Trophy 10 times, including seven consecutive, during his 20-year NHL career. Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux each won it six times, while Phil Esposito and Jaromir Jagr each have five. The non-Canadian player with the most awards is Czech Jaromir Jagr. Gretzky is the only player to win the trophy for more than one team and Joe 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 — and he did it twice (1966–67 and 1967–68).

Players from the Pittsburgh Penguins have won the trophy 14 times (within 24 seasons); players from the Montreal Canadiens have won it nine times; and the Chicago Blackhawks have seen players win the award eight times. From 1963 to 2001, Marcel Dionne and Bryan Trottier were the only single-time winners of the scoring title, while Stan Mikita, Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, Guy Lafleur, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Jaromir Jagr had won it on multiple occasions. For two decades, from 1980 to 2001, only three players won the Art Ross Trophy — Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Jaromir Jagr. The streak ended when Jarome Iginla won the trophy in 2002. In 2007, 19-year-old Sidney Crosby became the youngest player to win the Art Ross Trophy and the youngest scoring champion in any major North American professional sport by scoring 120 points. Only one defenseman has won the NHL scoring title: Bobby Orr did it in 1969–70 and 1974–75. Henrik and Daniel Sedin are the only siblings to win the award, in 2009–10 and 2010–11, respectively. Since 2001, only one player, Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, has won the award more than one time, doing so twice in 2008–09 and 2011–12.

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

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. Interestingly, the NHL's award to recognize the leading goal-scorer, the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, does not have a tiebreaker so multiple winners can be recognized in one season.