One of the most tiresome things about the NHL awards is that we spend as much time debating their subjective parameters as we do which players and coaches should win them.
Should the Norris Trophy rely so heavily on a defenseman’s offensive output? How much should team success factor into the Vezina Trophy’s goaltending field? Is age nothing but a number for the Calder Trophy, or should an 18-year-old’s accomplishments be weighed favorably against those of a 25-year-old who played three seasons in the KHL?
Perhaps no trophy creates more handwringing than the Hart Trophy — understandable, given the prestige an MVP award carries throughout sports. Who should win, and for what reasons, is a question that vexes voters and flummoxes fans.
So I decided to ask an actual Hart Trophy winner to find out what he thought about the award and its arbitrary parameters.
As luck would have it, I work with one that won the award twice. Consider these Mark Messier’s Rules for Hockey MVPs.
Rule No. 1: Context is king
“I never thought about winning a Hart Trophy once, to be honest with you,” said Messier, ESPN analyst and Hockey Hall of Famer, who won the award in 1989-90 with Edmonton and in 1991-92 with the New York Rangers.
Right off the bat, this surprised me. One thinks of Mark Messier as a guy born with a captain’s ‘C’ on his chest, who literally has an annual award for leadership that bears his name. A guy for whom MVP honors would be obvious, if not obligatory.
But back when Messier was teammates with Wayne Gretzky on the 1980s Edmonton Oilers, he was a foundational player for their success but not the MVP. That was Gretzky, who won the award in eight straight seasons from 1979-80 to 1986-87.
“When I was playing with Wayne, I was playing a different role. So I never thought about the Hart Trophy. Just ways to try to win the Cup every year,” Messier said.
The 1989-90 Oilers were a team trying to climb back on the throne. Edmonton didn’t advance past the second round for the first time in seven seasons in the previous playoffs. Gretzky was off in Hollywood. While the Oilers still had a stacked roster, end of the dynasty proclamations were aplenty.
Messier’s role changed a bit, post-Gretzky.
“We had a solid year. My responsibility that year, when Wayne left, was to provide more offense than I had in the past,” he said. “And we found a real groove. We probably weren’t the most talented team that won the Cup, but we certainly played well as a team.”
But he “leveled up,”…
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