In addition to the regular season awards, the Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded annually to the most valuable player during the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs. Furthermore, the top coach in the league wins the Jack Adams Award as selected by a poll of the National Hockey League Broadcasters Association. The National Hockey League publishes the names of the top three vote getters for all awards, and then names the award winner during the NHL Awards Ceremony.[99]
The Hockey Hall of Fame in Downtown Toronto
One interesting aspect for the trophies in the NHL is that the same trophy is reused every year for each of its awards. The Stanley Cup, much like its CFL counterpart, is unique in this aspect, as opposed to the Vince Lombardi Trophy, Larry O'Brien Trophy, and Commissioner's Trophy, which have new ones made every year for that year's champion. Despite only one trophy being used, the names of the teams winning and the players are engraved every year on the Stanley Cup. The same can also be said for the other trophies reissued every year.
Players, coaches, officials, and team builders who have had notable careers are eligible to be voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Players cannot enter until three years have passed since their last professional game, the shortest such time period of any major sport. One unique consequence has been Hall of Fame members (specifically, Gordie Howe, Guy Lafleur, and Mario Lemieux) coming out of retirement to play once more.[100] If a player was deemed significant enough, the three-year wait would be waived; only ten individuals have been honoured in this manner.[101] In 1999, Wayne Gretzky joined the Hall and became the last player to have the three-year restriction waived.[101] After his induction, the Hall of Fame announced that Gretzky would be the last to have the waiting period waived.
Notable active players
The top five point scorers in the 2012–13 season were Martin St. Louis (60), Steven Stamkos (57), Sidney Crosby (56), Alex Ovechkin (56), and Patrick Kane (55). The top goal scorers were Ovechkin (32), Stamkos (29), John Tavares (28), Jeff Carter (26), and Kane (23). The top five scoring defencemen were P.K. Subban (38), Kris Letang (38), Ryan Suter (32), Keith Yandle (30), and Andrei Markov (30). The top goaltenders (by wins) were Niklas Backstrom (24), Henrik Lundqvist (24), Antti Niemi (24), Marc-Andre Fleury (23), and Evgeni Nabokov (23).
Origin of players
Wayne Gretzky in a New York Rangers uniform in 1997.
