The Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, is awarded annually to the "player judged most valuable to his team”. Below are the stat-lines and a paragraph or two on every player nominated for what is considered to be likely the most prestigious award in the LGHL. Congratulations to all nominees for having great seasons all in their own right, but without further ado, let’s get onto the candidates. Criteria To Consider: Playoff Teams: Philadelphia, NYR, NYI, Carolina, Columbus, Montreal, Boston, Ottawa, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Arizona, Anaheim, San Jose, Los Angeles, Edmonton Bubble Teams: Pittsburgh, Toronto, Chicago, Winnipeg, Vegas Non-Playoff Teams: Washington, New Jersey, Detroit, Tampa, Florida, Buffalo, Nashville, St. Louis, Calgary, Vancouver Givemedings16 (RW/C) 22-5-1 90points 36goals 54assists +37 322GA 100TA FO% 53.8% Versus Playoff Teams (10-4-1) Goals:18 Assists:17 Points:35 PPG:2.33 Versus Fringe Teams (3-0-0) Goals:2 Assists:6 Points:8 PPG:2.67 Versus Non Playoff Teams (9-1-0) Goals:13 Assists:24 Points:37 PPG:3.7 The league-leader in points by a hefty margin is none other than Givemedings16. Dings spent all season with the Rangers, compiling a fantastic 22-5-1 record while putting up 36 goals, 54 assists, and reaching the 100 takeaway margin for the second time in his career. This season was huge for Dings, crushing prior personal records in goals, assists, plus-minus, shooting percentage, all en-route to being one of the big parts of the Rangers’ success in Season 31. Dings managed to rattle off all but one week over .500, having four separate weeks where he went either 3-0 or 4-0. Dings ranked 11th in the league in goals and 2nd in the league in assists, putting up what ended off as a fantastic season for our first candidate. Sitful (C) 21-6-1 75points 27goals 48assists +33 451GA 66TA FO%59.9 Versus Playoff Teams (9-6-1) Goals:6 Assists:18 Points:24 PPG:1.5 Versus Fringe Teams (3-0-0) Goals:4 Assists:9 Points:13 PPG:4.33 Versus Non Playoff Teams (9-0-0) Goals:17 Assists:21 Points:38 PPG:4.22 Next up, we have Sitful. Sitful had what is considered a dominant season altogether, rattling off a 60% face-off percentage while tallying 75 points, including 27 goals and 48 assists. This season was incredible for Sit, giving him his personal record in points, assists, plus-minus, shots, hits, face-off percentage, all while compiling a fantastic 21 win season to help lead the Coyotes to the President’s Trophy, capturing the Pacific Division and the Western Conference with 122 points. Sitful was a massive part of the ‘Yotes success and you can see that very clearly with just a quick glance at his dominant season. Sit also ended up playing 16 games against playoff teams, which tied for the most of any of the skater candidates in this voting. PureRippin (C) 23-1-3 59points 25goals 34assists +32 259 GA 83 TA FO% 52.7% Versus Playoff Teams (10-0-1) Goals:10 Assists:16 Points:26 PPG:2.36 Versus Fringe Teams (4-1-1) Goals:4 Assists:9 Points:13 PPG:2.16 Versus Non Playoff Teams (9-0-1) Goals:11 Assists:9 Points:20 PPG:2.00 PureRippin is our next candidate and frankly, this guy had one hell of a season. Rip held a regulation point streak through his first 25 games, losing only one time against the Maple Leafs in regulation all season in a game where he put up a hat trick to try to will the boys to victory. Rip had an unreal season, showing off a model of consistency throughout playoff teams, fringe teams, and non playoff teams, even performing just slightly better against playoff teams than any other group which is semi-unusual especially for a forward of his caliber. Rip was a huge part of the Senators success, putting up 23 of the Sens’ 45 wins, even willing them to a huge playoff victory over the Bruins. Rip didn’t have the best start to the season as a $12.75 million bid, but he ended up making the best out of a mediocre situation and taking the Senators much further than anyone would’ve previously imagined. Dannyy Briere (RD) 21-6-1 32points 7goals 25assists +26 241GA 85TA Versus Playoff Teams (13-3-0) Goals:6 Assists:15 Points:21 PPG:1.31 Versus Fringe Teams (5-3-0) Goals:1 Assists:5 Points:6 PPG:0.75 Versus Non Playoff Teams (3-0-1) Goals:0 Assists:5 Points:5 PPG:1.25 Big game Briere lands himself in the Hart Trophy conversation after putting up a really, really great season for the Canadiens. His 13-3 record against playoff teams is the best of any of the candidates in this voting, being over a point-per-game as a defenseman, tallying 7 goals and 25 assists, both of which tie for 2nd most of any defenseman in the league this season. Briere was a model of consistency on a Canadiens team that wasn’t expected to be as good as they were, putting up the best numbers against the best quality group of teams, which is a feat in itself. Briere also locked down defensively against playoff teams, allowing an average of just 1.63 goals-per-game against playoff teams and 2.25 goals-per-game against fringe playoff teams, landing himself as a serious Hart Trophy candidate. o S m i i t t y (G) 37-7-6 87.3 SV% 1.26 GAA 13 Shutouts Versus Playoff Teams (17-4-5) SV%: .873 GAA: 1.37 SO: 3 Versus Fringe Teams (3-2-1) SV%: .813 GAA: 1.47 SO: 1 Versus Non-Playoff Teams (17-1-0) SV%: .890 GAA: 1.04 SO: 9 Dominance in net is what Smitty was about this season, posting an unbelievable .873 save percentage en route to being widely considered the most dominant goaltender in the league for Season 31. Rattling off one of the best goalie seasons in many, many seasons of the LGHL, Smitty put the Flyers on his back and compiled 13 shutouts while only giving up 67 goals in 50 games between the pipes. Smitty ended up leading the league in wins, goals against average, and finished second by just three tenths of a percentage in save percentage to come ever-so-close to winning the “goalie triple crown”, leading the league in shutouts as well. In terms of goaltenders this season, Smitty finds himself as an extremely appealing Hart Candidate for his ability to take over games and steal wins for the Flyers this season. Make sure to vote above on who you believe deserves to win the Hart Memorial Trophy for Season 31!
Don! Appreciate the write-up and words brother! All these guys are more than deserving! Best of luck to everyone Thanks
