Sunday, June 2, 2013

June 2, 1948: The NHL Announces The Art Ross Trophy Will Be Given To The Scoring Leader

On June 2, 1948, at the NHL's annual meeting in Montreal it was announced that the Art Ross Trophy would be awarded annually to the league's scoring leader. Elmer Lach of the Montreal Canadiens took home the first prize with a 61 point campaign. Lach also led the league in scoring three years before the trophy came to fruition. Lach led a hall of fame career, he was a 3 time Stanley Cup Champion that got to play beside the likes of Maurice Richard and Toe Blake, the trio became known as the famous Punch Line.The trophy was named after another Montreal Candiens player and Hall of Famer Art Ross, Ross won 2 Stanley Cup championships as a player then would go onto lead a successful career as a coach and a general manager, primarily with the Boston Bruins. The trophy has been awarded  61 times to 25 players, with the latest being Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 37 year old St. Louis is the oldest player to win the trophy. Wayne Gretzky has taken it home 10 times, Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux both won it 6 times, and Phil Esposito and Jaromir Jagr took home the hardware 5 times.

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