Hart trophy (99.1% complete historical data)

Hockey Outsider · Jun 26, 2015

Introduction

I have nearly the complete Hart trophy voting results from the 1946-47 season until present (2022-23 season). The data is 99.1% complete (and I'll prove how I know this). Why start in 1947? From a practical standpoint, the complete voting results aren't available for most seasons prior to that year. Also, 1947 is probably the first season after WWII where the league returned to normal (a substantial number of players joined the Armed Forces, which meant the seasons were of much lower quality).

Standard disclaimers - the Hart trophy voting doesn't take into account the playoffs or international tournaments. The voters may or may not actually be intelligent, objective hockey fans.

Still, despite those issues, I think there's enough interesting information that it's worth reviewing the 76 years worth of data.

For the sake of not destroying HFBoards servers, I'm not posting all the data. I'd like to think I've posted everything that would be interesting to a passionate (but not insane) fan. If you want more information, ask me.

Note 1: there's a lot of data here. I've tried my best to ensure everything is consistent but let me know if you see any errors.

Note 2: I often refer to "Hart trophy share". This equals the number of votes a player earned, divided by the maximum number possible votes. So a player who wins a unanimous Hart trophy would have a 100% share, and it scales down from there.

Hockey Outsider · Jun 26, 2015

Detailed results by player - 5% threshold

This table shows the following:

Column 1: year
Column 2: player name
Column 3: votes earned
Column 4: maximum possible number of votes that could have been earned that year
Column 5: Hart shares
Column 6: rank during the year

Year	Player	Points	Max	Share	Rank
1993	Adam Oates	28	250	11.2%	4
2003	Al MacInnis	46	620	7.4%	6
1953	Al Rollins	25	90	27.8%	2
1954	Al Rollins	80	180	44.4%	1
2021	Aleksander Barkov	125	1000	12.5%	6
2008	Alex Kovalev	94	1340	7.0%	8
2006	Alexander Ovechkin	109	1290	8.4%	6
2008	Alexander Ovechkin	1313	1340	98.0%	1
2009	Alexander Ovechkin	1264	1340	94.3%	1
2010	Alexander Ovechkin	834	1330	62.7%	2
2013	Alexander Ovechkin	1090	1790	60.9%	1
2015	Alexander Ovechkin	888	1570	56.6%	2
2016	Alexander Ovechkin	212	1500	14.1%	6
2019	Alexander Ovechkin	213	1710	12.5%	7
1999	Alexei Yashin	226	560	40.4%	2
2021	Andrei Vasilevsky	57	1000	5.7%	7
1957	Andy Bathgate	51	180	28.3%	3
1958	Andy Bathgate	70	180	38.9%	2
1959	Andy Bathgate	133	180	73.9%	1
1962	Andy Bathgate	31	180	17.2%	5
2018	Anze Kopitar	551	1640	33.6%	3
2020	Artemi Panarin	889	1700	52.3%	3
2021	Auston Matthews	600	1000	60.0%	2
2022	Auston Matthews	1630	1950	83.6%	1
1955	Bernie Geoffrion	16	180	8.9%	7
1961	Bernie Geoffrion	84	180	46.7%	1
1974	Bernie Parent	114	240	47.5%	2
1975	Bernie Parent	54	270	20.0%	4
1951	Bert Olmstead	6	54	11.1%	6
1960	Bert Olmstead	27	180	15.0%	5
1949	Bill Durnan	36	54	66.7%	2
1950	Bill Durnan	6	54	11.1%	5
1958	Bill Gadsby	9	180	5.0%	6
1966	Bob Pulford	10	180	5.6%	6
1973	Bobby Clarke	158	240	65.8%	1
1974	Bobby Clarke	54	240	22.5%	4
1975	Bobby Clarke	127	270	47.0%	1
1976	Bobby Clarke	246	270	91.1%	1
1977	Bobby Clarke	83	270	30.7%	2
1978	Bobby Clarke	27	270	10.0%	6
1960	Bobby Hull	55	180	30.6%	2
1962	Bobby Hull	53	180	29.4%	3
1964	Bobby Hull	58	180	32.2%	2
1965	Bobby Hull	103	180	57.2%	1
1966	Bobby Hull	145	180	80.6%	1
1967	Bobby Hull	21	180	11.7%	3
1968	Bobby Hull	32	120	26.7%	3
1969	Bobby Hull	12	180	6.7%	5
1971	Bobby Hull	28	210	13.3%	3
1967	Bobby Orr	11	180	6.1%	6
1968	Bobby Orr	29	120	24.2%	4
1969	Bobby Orr	44	180	24.4%	3
1970	Bobby Orr	156	180	86.7%	1
1971	Bobby Orr	151	210	71.9%	1
1972	Bobby Orr	126	210	60.0%	1
1973	Bobby Orr	63	240	26.3%	3
1974	Bobby Orr	73	240	30.4%	3
1975	Bobby Orr	73	270	27.0%	3
1977	Borje Salming	40	270	14.8%	4
2017	Brad Marchand	184	1670	11.0%	7
2019	Brad Marchand	322	1710	18.8%	5
2021	Brad Marchand	134	1000	13.4%	5
1976	Brad Park	15	270	5.6%	5
1978	Brad Park	31	270	11.5%	5
2016	Braden Holtby	292	1500	19.5%	4
2017	Brent Burns	273	1670	16.3%	4
1990	Brett Hull	80	315	25.4%	3
1991	Brett Hull	277	330	83.9%	1
1992	Brett Hull	49	345	14.2%	3
1960	Brono Horvath	20	180	11.1%	6
1978	Bryan Trottier	99	270	36.7%	2
1979	Bryan Trottier	201	255	78.8%	1
1982	Bryan Trottier	130	315	41.3%	2
1984	Bryan Trottier	54	310	17.4%	3
1948	Buddy O'Connor	36	54	66.7%	1
1999	Byron Dafoe	40	560	7.1%	9
2011	Carey Price	90	1330	6.8%	7
2015	Carey Price	1498	1570	95.4%	1
1964	Charlie Hodge	43	180	23.9%	4
1965	Charlie Hodge	16	180	8.9%	5
1947	Charlie Rayner	7	54	13.0%	4
2000	Chris Pronger	396	580	68.3%	1
1949	Chuck Rayner	3	54	5.6%	7
1950	Chuck Rayner	36	54	66.7%	1
2012	Claude Giroux	458	1490	30.7%	4
2014	Claude Giroux	435	1370	31.8%	3
2018	Claude Giroux	546	1640	33.3%	4
2020	Connor Hellebuyck	283	1700	16.6%	6
2017	Connor McDavid	1604	1670	96.0%	1
2018	Connor McDavid	270	1640	16.5%	5
2019	Connor McDavid	465	1710	27.2%	3
2020	Connor McDavid	309	1700	18.2%	5
2021	Connor McDavid	1000	1000	100.0%	1
2022	Connor McDavid	1111	1950	57.0%	2
2023	Connor McDavid	1951	1960	99.5%	1
2011	Corey Perry	1043	1330	78.4%	1
1999	Curtis Joseph	118	560	21.1%	4
1985	Dale Hawerchuk	91	315	28.9%	2
2006	Daniel Alfredsson	119	1290	9.2%	5
2011	Daniel Sedin	960	1330	72.2%	2
1980	Danny Gare	20	315	6.3%	5
1955	Danny Lewicki	10	180	5.6%	9
1978	Darryl Sittler	67	270	24.8%	3
1963	Dave Keon	11	180	6.1%	6
1971	Dave Keon	20	210	9.5%	4
2020	David Pastrnak	369	1700	21.7%	4
2023	David Pastrnak	1053	1960	53.7%	2
1975	Denis Potvin	16	270	5.9%	7
1976	Denis Potvin	75	270	27.8%	2
1978	Denis Potvin	24	270	8.9%	7
1979	Denis Potvin	46	255	18.0%	4
1983	Denis Savard	67	315	21.3%	3
1988	Denis Savard	21	315	6.7%	5
2015	Devan Dubnyk	410	1570	26.1%	4
1959	Dickie Moore	11	180	6.1%	5
1994	Dominik Hasek	86	270	31.9%	2
1995	Dominik Hasek	23	75	30.7%	3
1997	Dominik Hasek	519	540	96.1%	1
1998	Dominik Hasek	499	540	92.4%	1
1999	Dominik Hasek	172	560	30.7%	3
2001	Dominik Hasek	42	620	6.8%	8
1978	Don Edwards	34	270	12.6%	4
1949	Doug Bentley	4	54	7.4%	4
1987	Doug Gilmour	30	270	11.1%	5
1993	Doug Gilmour	99	250	39.6%	2
1994	Doug Gilmour	50	270	18.5%	4
1955	Doug Harvey	18	180	10.0%	5
1956	Doug Harvey	11	180	6.1%	5
1957	Doug Harvey	17	180	9.4%	5
1958	Doug Harvey	41	180	22.8%	3
1962	Doug Harvey	60	180	33.3%	2
2001	Doug Weight	61	620	9.8%	6
1991	Ed Belfour	63	330	19.1%	3
2004	Ed Belfour	59	1050	5.6%	10
1968	Ed Giacomin	8	120	6.7%	7
1957	Ed Litzenberger	13	180	7.2%	6
1967	Eddie Giacomin	57	180	31.7%	2
1969	Eddie Giacomin	9	180	5.0%	7
1950	Edgar Laprade	3	54	5.6%	7
1948	Elmer Lach	13	54	24.1%	3
1952	Elmer Lach	46	90	51.1%	2
1995	Eric Lindros	63	75	84.0%	1
1996	Eric Lindros	213	540	39.4%	3
1997	Eric Lindros	30	540	5.6%	9
1999	Eric Lindros	77	560	13.8%	6
2006	Eric Staal	121	1290	9.4%	4
2017	Erik Karlsson	258	1670	15.4%	5
2008	Evgeni Malkin	659	1340	49.2%	2
2009	Evgeni Malkin	787	1340	58.7%	2
2012	Evgeni Malkin	1473	1490	98.9%	1
2018	Evgeni Malkin	97	1640	5.9%	7
2008	Evgeni Nabokov	109	1340	8.1%	7
1948	Frank Brimsek	18	54	33.3%	2
1961	Frank Mahovlich	41	180	22.8%	4
1963	Frank Mahovlich	23	180	12.8%	5
1975	Gary Smith	20	270	7.4%	6
1948	Gaye Stewart	3	54	5.6%	8
1953	Gerry McNeil	16	90	17.8%	4
1973	Gilbert Perreault	25	240	10.4%	5
1977	Gilbert Perreault	26	270	9.6%	7
1958	Glenn Hall	37	180	20.6%	5
1960	Glenn Hall	44	180	24.4%	3
1961	Glenn Hall	25	180	13.9%	5
1962	Glenn Hall	25	180	13.9%	6
1963	Glenn Hall	42	180	23.3%	4
1964	Glenn Hall	25	180	13.9%	6
1966	Glenn Hall	21	180	11.7%	4
1951	Gordie Howe	11	54	20.4%	3
1952	Gordie Howe	62	90	68.9%	1
1953	Gordie Howe	58	90	64.4%	1
1954	Gordie Howe	33	180	18.3%	4
1955	Gordie Howe	18	180	10.0%	5
1957	Gordie Howe	111	180	61.7%	1
1958	Gordie Howe	105	180	58.3%	1
1959	Gordie Howe	60	180	33.3%	2
1960	Gordie Howe	118	180	65.6%	1
1961	Gordie Howe	66	180	36.7%	3
1962	Gordie Howe	40	180	22.2%	4
1963	Gordie Howe	111	180	61.7%	1
1964	Gordie Howe	50	180	27.8%	3
1965	Gordie Howe	35	180	19.4%	3
1966	Gordie Howe	24	180	13.3%	3
1967	Gordie Howe	10	180	5.6%	7
1968	Gordie Howe	16	120	13.3%	5
1969	Gordie Howe	12	180	6.7%	5
1988	Grant Fuhr	106	315	33.7%	2
1996	Grant Fuhr	52	540	9.6%	6
1956	Gump Worsley	72	180	40.0%	3
1963	Gump Worsley	9	180	5.0%	7
1975	Guy Lafleur	43	270	15.9%	5
1976	Guy Lafleur	62	270	23.0%	3
1977	Guy Lafleur	177	270	65.6%	1
1978	Guy Lafleur	145	270	53.7%	1
1979	Guy Lafleur	84	255	32.9%	2
1980	Guy Lafleur	44	315	14.0%	4
1967	Harry Howell	14	180	7.8%	5
1954	Harry Lumley	31	180	17.2%	5
1955	Harry Lumley	61	180	33.9%	2
1958	Henri Richard	40	180	22.2%	4
1963	Henri Richard	9	180	5.0%	7
1965	Henri Richard	15	180	8.3%	6
1967	Henri Richard	16	180	8.9%	4
2012	Henrik Lundqvist	556	1490	37.3%	3
2010	Henrik Sedin	894	1330	67.2%	1
2022	Igor Shesterkin	738	1950	37.8%	3
2010	Ilya Bryzgalov	354	1330	26.6%	5
2004	Ilya Kovalchuk	59	1050	5.6%	10
2023	Ilya Sorokin	127	1960	6.5%	9
2023	Jack Hughes	138	1960	7.0%	8
1962	Jacques Plante	94	180	52.2%	1
1971	Jacques Plante	16	210	7.6%	5
2016	Jamie Benn	637	1500	42.5%	3
2002	Jarome Iginla	434	620	70.0%	1
2004	Jarome Iginla	253	1050	24.1%	2
2008	Jarome Iginla	565	1340	42.2%	3
1995	Jaromir Jagr	27	75	36.0%	2
1996	Jaromir Jagr	156	540	28.9%	4
1998	Jaromir Jagr	308	540	57.0%	2
1999	Jaromir Jagr	543	560	97.0%	1
2000	Jaromir Jagr	395	580	68.1%	2
2001	Jaromir Jagr	210	620	33.9%	3
2006	Jaromir Jagr	974	1290	75.5%	2
2023	Jason Robertson	356	1960	18.2%	4
2012	Jason Spezza	134	1490	9.0%	6
1955	Jean Beliveau	21	180	11.7%	4
1956	Jean Beliveau	94	180	52.2%	1
1957	Jean Beliveau	58	180	32.2%	2
1959	Jean Beliveau	36	180	20.0%	3
1960	Jean Beliveau	28	180	15.6%	4
1964	Jean Beliveau	102	180	56.7%	1
1966	Jean Beliveau	59	180	32.8%	2
1968	Jean Beliveau	43	120	35.8%	2
1969	Jean Beliveau	47	180	26.1%	2
1972	Jean Ratelle	55	210	26.2%	4
1977	Jean Ratelle	16	270	5.9%	8
1992	Jeremy Roenick	29	345	8.4%	5
1996	Jim Carey	32	540	5.9%	8
1952	Jim Henry	14	90	15.6%	3
2014	Joe Pavelski	71	1370	5.2%	7
1996	Joe Sakic	52	540	9.6%	6
2001	Joe Sakic	585	620	94.4%	1
2002	Joe Sakic	41	620	6.6%	7
2004	Joe Sakic	144	1050	13.7%	7
2003	Joe Thornton	131	620	21.1%	4
2006	Joe Thornton	1058	1290	82.0%	1
2007	Joe Thornton	230	1430	16.1%	5
2008	Joe Thornton	157	1340	11.7%	6
2016	Joe Thornton	267	1500	17.8%	5
1997	John LeClair	66	540	12.2%	6
1998	John LeClair	34	540	6.3%	7
2013	John Tavares	916	1790	51.2%	3
2015	John Tavares	739	1570	47.1%	3
1986	John Vanbiesbrouck	16	300	5.3%	5
1994	John Vanbiesbrouck	74	270	27.4%	3
1961	Johnny Bower	71	180	39.4%	2
1962	Johnny Bower	16	180	8.9%	7
2019	Johnny Gaudreau	442	1710	25.8%	4
2022	Johnny Gaudreau	617	1950	31.6%	4
1956	Johnny Wilson	10	180	5.6%	6
2022	Jonathan Huberdeau	506	1950	25.9%	5
2012	Jonathan Quick	357	1490	24.0%	5
2011	Jonathan Toews	107	1330	8.0%	6
2013	Jonathan Toews	886	1790	49.5%	4
2002	Jose Theodore	434	620	70.0%	1
1972	Ken Dryden	89	210	42.4%	2
1973	Ken Dryden	53	240	22.1%	4
1976	Ken Dryden	29	270	10.7%	4
2022	Kirill Kaprizov	126	1950	6.5%	7
1992	Kirk McLean	37	345	10.7%	4
1977	Larry Robinson	28	270	10.4%	5
1955	Leo Labine	10	180	5.6%	9
2020	Leon Draisaitl	1309	1700	77.0%	1
2023	Leon Draisaitl	139	1960	7.1%	7
1977	Marcel Dionne	28	270	10.4%	5
1979	Marcel Dionne	47	255	18.4%	3
1980	Marcel Dionne	166	315	52.7%	2
1981	Marcel Dionne	24	315	7.6%	3
1986	Mario Lemieux	163	300	54.3%	2
1987	Mario Lemieux	34	270	12.6%	4
1988	Mario Lemieux	292	315	92.7%	1
1989	Mario Lemieux	187	315	59.4%	2
1992	Mario Lemieux	29	345	8.4%	5
1993	Mario Lemieux	248	250	99.2%	1
1996	Mario Lemieux	439	540	81.3%	1
1997	Mario Lemieux	181	540	33.5%	3
2001	Mario Lemieux	272	620	43.9%	2
1983	Mark Howe	20	315	6.3%	5
1986	Mark Howe	32	300	10.7%	3
1990	Mark Messier	227	315	72.1%	1
1992	Mark Messier	341	345	98.8%	1
1996	Mark Messier	275	540	50.9%	2
2000	Mark Recchi	30	580	5.2%	6
2002	Markus Naslund	64	620	10.3%	5
2003	Markus Naslund	342	620	55.2%	2
2004	Markus Naslund	176	1050	16.8%	5
1997	Martin Brodeur	115	540	21.3%	4
1998	Martin Brodeur	115	540	21.3%	4
2001	Martin Brodeur	64	620	10.3%	5
2003	Martin Brodeur	311	620	50.2%	3
2004	Martin Brodeur	213	1050	20.3%	3
2007	Martin Brodeur	763	1430	53.4%	3
2008	Martin Brodeur	239	1340	17.8%	5
2004	Martin St. Louis	1016	1050	96.8%	1
2011	Martin St. Louis	332	1330	25.0%	3
2004	Marty Turco	87	1050	8.3%	8
2002	Mats Sundin	35	620	5.6%	8
2004	Mats Sundin	55	1050	5.2%	12
2023	Matthew Tkachuk	741	1960	37.8%	3
1947	Maurice Richard	48	54	88.9%	1
1950	Maurice Richard	18	54	33.3%	3
1951	Maurice Richard	28	54	51.9%	2
1954	Maurice Richard	44	180	24.4%	3
1955	Maurice Richard	36	180	20.0%	3
1947	Max Bentley	12	54	22.2%	3
1948	Max Bentley	10	54	18.5%	4
2004	Miikka Kiprusoff	193	1050	18.4%	4
2006	Miikka Kiprusoff	561	1290	43.5%	3
1981	Mike Bossy	20	315	6.3%	4
1982	Mike Bossy	34	315	10.8%	3
1981	Mike Liut	237	315	75.2%	2
1987	Mike Liut	39	270	14.4%	3
1997	Mike Modano	44	540	8.1%	7
2003	Mike Modano	43	620	6.9%	7
1979	Mike Palmateer	18	255	7.1%	5
2023	Mikko Rantanen	142	1960	7.2%	6
1947	Milt Schmidt	28	54	51.9%	2
1948	Milt Schmidt	3	54	5.6%	8
1950	Milt Schmidt	6	54	11.1%	5
1951	Milt Schmidt	40	54	74.1%	1
1952	Milt Schmidt	13	90	14.4%	4
2018	Nathan MacKinnon	1194	1640	72.8%	2
2019	Nathan MacKinnon	265	1710	15.5%	6
2020	Nathan MacKinnon	1162	1700	68.4%	2
2021	Nathan MacKinnon	313	1000	31.3%	3
2023	Nathan MacKinnon	275	1960	14.0%	5
2001	Nicklas Lidstrom	38	620	6.1%	10
2003	Nicklas Lidstrom	41	620	6.6%	8
2006	Nicklas Lidstrom	106	1290	8.2%	7
2008	Nicklas Lidstrom	246	1340	18.4%	4
2017	Nikita Kucherov	119	1670	7.1%	8
2018	Nikita Kucherov	166	1640	10.1%	6
2019	Nikita Kucherov	1677	1710	98.1%	1
1965	Norm Ullman	96	180	53.3%	2
1966	Norm Ullman	14	180	7.8%	5
2000	Olaf Kolzig	139	580	24.0%	4
2000	Owen Nolan	62	580	10.7%	5
1993	Pat Lafontaine	52	250	20.8%	3
2014	Patrice Bergeron	137	1370	10.0%	5
2013	Patrick Kane	157	1790	8.8%	6
2016	Patrick Kane	1395	1500	93.0%	1
2017	Patrick Kane	206	1670	12.3%	6
2019	Patrick Kane	125	1710	7.3%	8
1992	Patrick Roy	105	345	30.4%	2
1994	Patrick Roy	26	270	9.6%	5
1997	Patrick Roy	31	540	5.7%	8
2002	Patrick Roy	283	620	45.6%	3
2001	Patrik Elias	61	620	9.8%	6
1986	Paul Coffey	29	300	9.7%	4
1995	Paul Coffey	15	75	20.0%	4
1996	Paul Kariya	28	540	5.2%	9
1997	Paul Kariya	239	540	44.3%	2
1999	Paul Kariya	48	560	8.6%	8
1949	Paul Ronty	4	54	7.4%	4
2000	Pavel Bure	346	580	59.7%	3
2001	Pavel Bure	41	620	6.6%	9
2009	Pavel Datsyuk	404	1340	30.1%	3
2011	Pekka Rinne	175	1330	13.2%	4
1985	Pelle Lindbergh	56	315	17.8%	3
1983	Pete Peeters	159	315	50.5%	2
1998	Peter Bondra	40	540	7.4%	6
1999	Peter Forsberg	61	560	10.9%	7
2003	Peter Forsberg	508	620	81.9%	1
1968	Phil Esposito	11	120	9.2%	6
1969	Phil Esposito	133	180	73.9%	1
1971	Phil Esposito	127	210	60.5%	2
1972	Phil Esposito	57	210	27.1%	3
1973	Phil Esposito	96	240	40.0%	2
1974	Phil Esposito	149	240	62.1%	1
1984	Ray Bourque	17	310	5.5%	5
1985	Ray Bourque	21	315	6.7%	5
1987	Ray Bourque	95	270	35.2%	2
1990	Ray Bourque	225	315	71.4%	2
1994	Ray Bourque	18	270	6.7%	6
1969	Red Berenson	38	180	21.1%	4
1970	Red Berenson	12	180	6.7%	3
1951	Red Kelly	11	54	20.4%	3
1952	Red Kelly	6	90	6.7%	6
1953	Red Kelly	25	90	27.8%	2
1954	Red Kelly	74	180	41.1%	2
1955	Red Kelly	15	180	8.3%	8
1956	Red Kelly	25	180	13.9%	4
1961	Red Kelly	18	180	10.0%	6
1955	Red Sullivan	10	180	5.6%	9
1984	Rick Middleton	31	310	10.0%	4
2004	Roberto Luongo	167	1050	15.9%	6
2007	Roberto Luongo	801	1430	56.0%	2
1967	Rod Gilbert	10	180	5.6%	7
1983	Rod Langway	30	315	9.5%	4
1984	Rod Langway	102	310	32.9%	2
1985	Rod Langway	28	315	8.9%	4
1965	Roger Crozier	24	180	13.3%	4
1975	Rogie Vachon	113	270	41.9%	2
1977	Rogie Vachon	45	270	16.7%	3
2001	Roman Cechmanek	89	620	14.4%	4
2022	Roman Josi	241	1950	12.4%	6
2000	Roman Turek	30	580	5.2%	6
2002	Ron Francis	48	620	7.7%	6
1949	Roy Conacher	5	54	9.3%	3
2013	Ryan Getzlaf	96	1790	5.4%	7
2014	Ryan Getzlaf	877	1370	64.0%	2
2015	Ryan Getzlaf	124	1570	7.9%	6
2011	Ryan Kesler	69	1330	5.2%	8
2010	Ryan Miller	505	1330	38.0%	4
2004	Scott Niedermayer	70	1050	6.7%	9
2006	Scott Niedermayer	66	1290	5.1%	8
2002	Sean Burke	172	620	27.7%	4
2014	Semyon Varlamov	256	1370	18.7%	4
1979	Serge Savard	13	255	5.1%	6
2013	Sergei Boborvsky	311	1790	17.4%	5
2017	Sergei Boborvsky	469	1670	28.1%	3
1994	Sergei Fedorov	194	270	71.9%	1
1996	Sergei Fedorov	68	540	12.6%	5
1949	Sid Abel	43	54	79.6%	1
1950	Sid Abel	10	54	18.5%	4
2007	Sidney Crosby	1225	1430	85.7%	1
2009	Sidney Crosby	103	1340	7.7%	6
2010	Sidney Crosby	729	1330	54.8%	3
2013	Sidney Crosby	1058	1790	59.1%	2
2014	Sidney Crosby	1341	1370	97.9%	1
2015	Sidney Crosby	138	1570	8.8%	5
2016	Sidney Crosby	800	1500	53.3%	2
2017	Sidney Crosby	1104	1670	66.1%	2
2019	Sidney Crosby	739	1710	43.2%	2
2021	Sidney Crosby	223	1000	22.3%	4
1963	Stan Mikita	54	180	30.0%	2
1964	Stan Mikita	30	180	16.7%	5
1965	Stan Mikita	14	180	7.8%	7
1967	Stan Mikita	168	180	93.3%	1
1968	Stan Mikita	52	120	43.3%	1
1970	Stan Mikita	11	180	6.1%	4
2009	Steve Mason	266	1340	19.9%	4
1988	Steve Yzerman	64	315	20.3%	4
1989	Steve Yzerman	109	315	34.6%	3
2012	Steven Stamkos	598	1490	40.1%	2
1948	Syl Apps	7	54	13.0%	5
2018	Taylor Hall	1264	1640	77.1%	1
1948	Ted Kennedy	7	54	13.0%	5
1950	Ted Kennedy	23	54	42.6%	2
1951	Ted Kennedy	8	54	14.8%	5
1952	Ted Kennedy	5	90	5.6%	7
1953	Ted Kennedy	12	90	13.3%	5
1955	Ted Kennedy	86	180	47.8%	1
1948	Ted Lindsay	7	54	13.0%	5
1949	Ted Lindsay	4	54	7.4%	4
1950	Ted Lindsay	3	54	5.6%	7
1997	Teemu Selanne	70	540	13.0%	5
1998	Teemu Selanne	247	540	45.7%	3
1999	Teemu Selanne	111	560	19.8%	5
1978	Terry O'Reilly	19	270	7.0%	8
1952	Terry Sawchuk	13	90	14.4%	4
1957	Terry Sawchuk	35	180	19.4%	4
1959	Terry Sawchuk	34	180	18.9%	4
1963	Terry Sawchuk	44	180	24.4%	3
1995	Theo Fleury	7	75	9.3%	5
2009	Tim Thomas	100	1340	7.5%	7
2011	Tim Thomas	171	1330	12.9%	5
1956	Tod Sloan	86	180	47.8%	2
1959	Tod Sloan	10	180	5.6%	6
2003	Todd Bertuzzi	100	620	16.1%	5
1970	Tony Esposito	110	180	61.1%	2
1972	Tony Esposito	12	210	5.7%	6
1974	Tony Esposito	16	240	6.7%	5
1980	Tony Esposito	64	315	20.3%	3
1947	Turk Broda	7	54	13.0%	4
2014	Tyler Seguin	84	1370	6.1%	6
1972	Vic Hadfield	18	210	8.6%	5
2007	Vincent Lecavalier	362	1430	25.3%	4
1980	Wayne Gretzky	211	315	67.0%	1
1981	Wayne Gretzky	242	315	76.8%	1
1982	Wayne Gretzky	315	315	100.0%	1
1983	Wayne Gretzky	266	315	84.4%	1
1984	Wayne Gretzky	306	310	98.7%	1
1985	Wayne Gretzky	303	315	96.2%	1
1986	Wayne Gretzky	281	300	93.7%	1
1987	Wayne Gretzky	255	270	94.4%	1
1988	Wayne Gretzky	73	315	23.2%	3
1989	Wayne Gretzky	267	315	84.8%	1
1990	Wayne Gretzky	16	315	5.1%	4
1991	Wayne Gretzky	220	330	66.7%	2
1998	Wayne Gretzky	46	540	8.5%	5
2009	Zach Parise	257	1340	19.2%	5
2009	Zdeno Chara	79	1340	5.9%	8

Note that I'm only showing years where a player earned at least 5.0% percent of the maximum possible votes. This weeds out years where a player only receives a few throwaway votes.

A note on ties - I'm treating players as having the same rank as long as they have the same number of voting points. In reality, the NHL uses the number of first-place votes (then second-place, etc) as the tie-breaker. I only have data regarding the total number of votes. It would be very time-consuming to input all the detailed results, so I'm not going to do that. The most obvious distortion this causes is I've treated Iginla as co-winning the 2002 Hart trophy (he earned the same number of voting points as Jose Theodore, the actual winner, but Iginla had fewer first-place votes). I'm presenting the data as is, with this note, to be consistent and transparent about what I've done.

Hockey Outsider · Jun 26, 2015

All-time Hart trophy rankings - 5% threshold

This table shows the number of times each player finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. in Hart voting. Once again I'm cutting off the data once we get to players with less than a 5.0% vote share. This means I'm posting the top five almost every year, the top seven in a bit under half the years, and down to as low as 12th place on rare occasions.

Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10+	Total
Gordie Howe	6	1	5	2	3		1				18
Wayne Gretzky	9	1	1	1	1						13
Sidney Crosby	2	4	1	1	1	1					10
Mario Lemieux	3	3	1	1	1						9
Bobby Orr	3		4	1		1					9
Jean Beliveau	2	4	1	2							9
Bobby Hull	2	2	4		1						9
Alexander Ovechkin	3	2				2	1				8
Connor McDavid	3	1	1		2						7
Jaromir Jagr	1	4	1	1							7
Red Kelly		2	1	1		2		1			7
Martin Brodeur			3	2	2						7
Glenn Hall			1	2	2	2					7
Bobby Clarke	3	1		1		1					6
Phil Esposito	2	2	1			1					6
Dominik Hasek	2	1	2					1			6
Guy Lafleur	2	1	1	1	1						6
Stan Mikita	2	1		1	1		1				6
Ted Kennedy	1	1			3		1				6
Maurice Richard	1	1	3								5
Milt Schmidt	1	1		1	1			1			5
Joe Thornton	1			1	2	1					5
Nathan MacKinnon		2	1		1	1					5
Ray Bourque		2			2	1					5
Doug Harvey		1	1		3						5
Bryan Trottier	1	2	1								4
Evgeni Malkin	1	2					1				4
Andy Bathgate	1	1	1		1						4
Eric Lindros	1		1			1			1		4
Patrick Kane	1					2		1			4
Joe Sakic	1					1	2				4
Marcel Dionne		1	2		1						4
Tony Esposito		1	1		1	1					4
Patrick Roy		1	1		1			1			4
Denis Potvin		1		1			2				4
Terry Sawchuk			1	3							4
Henri Richard				2		1	1				4
Nicklas Lidstrom				1			1	1		1	4
Mark Messier	2	1									3
Jarome Iginla	1	1	1								3
Brett Hull	1		2								3
Nikita Kucherov	1					1		1			3
Rod Langway		1		2							3
Ken Dryden		1		2							3
Doug Gilmour		1		1	1						3
Markus Naslund		1			2						3
Ryan Getzlaf		1				1	1				3
Paul Kariya		1						1	1		3
Claude Giroux			1	2							3
Teemu Selanne			1		2						3
Ted Lindsay				1	1		1				3
Brad Marchand					2		1				3
Auston Matthews	1	1									2
Al Rollins	1	1									2
Martin St. Louis	1		1								2
Sid Abel	1			1							2
Jacques Plante	1				1						2
Sergei Fedorov	1				1						2
Peter Forsberg	1						1				2
Bernie Geoffrion	1						1				2
Carey Price	1						1				2
Chuck Rayner	1						1				2
Leon Draisaitl	1						1				2
Elmer Lach		1	1								2
Mike Liut		1	1								2
Rogie Vachon		1	1								2
David Pastrnak		1		1							2
Bernie Parent		1		1							2
Bill Durnan		1			1						2
Norm Ullman		1			1						2
Harry Lumley		1			1						2
Grant Fuhr		1				1					2
Tod Sloan		1				1					2
Roberto Luongo		1				1					2
Eddie Giacomin		1					1				2
Johnny Bower		1					1				2
John Tavares			2								2
Mike Bossy			1	1							2
Red Berenson			1	1							2
Steve Yzerman			1	1							2
Max Bentley			1	1							2
Miikka Kiprusoff			1	1							2
Sergei Boborvsky			1		1						2
Denis Savard			1		1						2
John Vanbiesbrouck			1		1						2
Mark Howe			1		1						2
Gump Worsley			1				1				2
Pavel Bure			1						1		2
Ed Belfour			1							1	2
Paul Coffey				2							2
Johnny Gaudreau				2							2
Frank Mahovlich				1	1						2
Charlie Hodge				1	1						2
Dave Keon				1		1					2
Jonathan Toews				1		1					2
Jean Ratelle				1				1			2
Brad Park					2						2
Bert Olmstead					1	1					2
Gilbert Perreault					1		1				2
Tim Thomas					1		1				2
John LeClair						1	1				2
Mike Modano							2				2
Scott Niedermayer								1	1		2
Mats Sundin								1		1	2
Henrik Sedin	1										1
Corey Perry	1										1
Buddy O'Connor	1										1
Jose Theodore	1										1
Taylor Hall	1										1
Chris Pronger	1										1
Frank Brimsek		1									1
Dale Hawerchuk		1									1
Daniel Sedin		1									1
Steven Stamkos		1									1
Pete Peeters		1									1
Alexei Yashin		1									1
Matthew Tkachuk			1								1
Igor Shesterkin			1								1
Pat Lafontaine			1								1
Jamie Benn			1								1
Pelle Lindbergh			1								1
Darryl Sittler			1								1
Jim Henry			1								1
Anze Kopitar			1								1
Artemi Panarin			1								1
Henrik Lundqvist			1								1
Roy Conacher			1								1
Pavel Datsyuk			1								1
Adam Oates				1							1
Kirk McLean				1							1
Gerry McNeil				1							1
Charlie Rayner				1							1
Semyon Varlamov				1							1
Curtis Joseph				1							1
Don Edwards				1							1
Eric Staal				1							1
Olaf Kolzig				1							1
Vincent Lecavalier				1							1
Paul Ronty				1							1
Devan Dubnyk				1							1
Pekka Rinne				1							1
Steve Mason				1							1
Doug Bentley				1							1
Turk Broda				1							1
Rick Middleton				1							1
Braden Holtby				1							1
Brent Burns				1							1
Roger Crozier				1							1
Borje Salming				1							1
Roman Cechmanek				1							1
Ryan Miller				1							1
Jason Robertson				1							1
Sean Burke				1							1
Syl Apps					1						1
Zach Parise					1						1
Ilya Bryzgalov					1						1
Dickie Moore					1						1
Larry Robinson					1						1
Mike Palmateer					1						1
Jonathan Quick					1						1
Harry Howell					1						1
Theo Fleury					1						1
Owen Nolan					1						1
Patrice Bergeron					1						1
Erik Karlsson					1						1
Daniel Alfredsson					1						1
Jeremy Roenick					1						1
Danny Gare					1						1
Todd Bertuzzi					1						1
Vic Hadfield					1						1
Jonathan Huberdeau					1						1
Gary Smith						1					1
Ed Litzenberger						1					1
Tyler Seguin						1					1
Brono Horvath						1					1
Jason Spezza						1					1
Bob Pulford						1					1
Connor Hellebuyck						1					1
Patrik Elias						1					1
Aleksander Barkov						1					1
Roman Josi						1					1
Mikko Rantanen						1					1
Serge Savard						1					1
Johnny Wilson						1					1
Peter Bondra						1					1
Bill Gadsby						1					1
Doug Weight						1					1
Roman Turek						1					1
Ron Francis						1					1
Al MacInnis						1					1
Mark Recchi						1					1
Joe Pavelski							1				1
Rod Gilbert							1				1
Ed Giacomin							1				1
Andrei Vasilevsky							1				1
Kirill Kaprizov							1				1
Evgeni Nabokov							1				1
Edgar Laprade							1				1
Marty Turco								1			1
Terry O'Reilly								1			1
Gaye Stewart								1			1
Jack Hughes								1			1
Jim Carey								1			1
Alex Kovalev								1			1
Zdeno Chara								1			1
Ryan Kesler								1			1
Leo Labine									1		1
Ilya Sorokin									1		1
Danny Lewicki									1		1
Red Sullivan									1		1
Byron Dafoe									1		1
Ilya Kovalchuk										1	1

Note that many of these players (most notably M. Richard) played several years before I started tracking the data (but the "war years" immediately prior 1947 had a watered down talent pool, as most of the best players served in the Armed Forces). The table obviously doesn't represent players from the previous generation (Shore, Morenz, etc).

I actually thought it would be closer between Howe and Gretzky. Yes, Gretzky dominated the Hart voting to a greater extent (we'll see that in the next chart) but Howe had a Hart calibre season a staggering 18 times during his career! He earned at least a 5% vote share five seasons in a row (1951-1955), had an "off year" in 1956, then earned that share thirteen consecutive seasons (1957-1969).

There have been six players who were serious candidates for the Hart trophy 5+ times but never won, the closest being Red Kelly (7 "significant" seasons as I've defined it, with two of those as runner-up). (2023 update - Nathan MacKinnon joins this list)

The Hart has historically been heavily biased in favour of forwards. Of the 25 players with 5+ seasons with a 5% vote share, 18 are forwards. There are just four such defensemen (Orr, Kelly, Bourque, Harvey) and three goalies (Brodeur, Hall, Hasek).

There are six "one season wonders" - players who won the Hart and never again had a significant season (from the perspective of Hart voting). Some, of course, are far from one season wonders (Pronger is an obvious Hall of Famer) but Jose Theodore and Buddy O'Connor really stand out.

Best player to never have a significant Hart season? At a first glance, I'd say Peter Stastny, but let me know if I missed anybody better. (The best player to never receive any Hart votes at all - probably Luc Robitaille).

Hockey Outsider · Jun 26, 2015

All-time Hart trophy shares

See description of Hart trophy shares in the first post. I'm not filtering the data (so players might gain a few points in years where they have few throwaway votes).

Wayne Gretzky	901
Gordie Howe	615
Sidney Crosby	500
Mario Lemieux	486
Connor McDavid	414
Alexander Ovechkin	413
Jaromir Jagr	403
Bobby Orr	357
Bobby Hull	294
Jean Beliveau	289
Dominik Hasek	289
Phil Esposito	276
Bobby Clarke	276
Mark Messier	223
Maurice Richard	222
Evgeni Malkin	213
Stan Mikita	206
Guy Lafleur	205
Nathan MacKinnon	202
Martin Brodeur	200
Bryan Trottier	179
Andy Bathgate	168
Milt Schmidt	162
Joe Thornton	155
Auston Matthews	146
Eric Lindros	143
Ted Kennedy	142
Jarome Iginla	141
Red Kelly	136
Ray Bourque	134
Glenn Hall	131
Joe Sakic	131
Brett Hull	124
Martin St. Louis	124
Patrick Kane	123
Nikita Kucherov	117
Carey Price	104
Tony Esposito	103
Peter Forsberg	103
Sid Abel	100
John Tavares	100
Marcel Dionne	97
Patrick Roy	96
Claude Giroux	96
Mike Liut	94
Doug Harvey	92
Leon Draisaitl	90
Sergei Fedorov	89
Markus Naslund	85
Terry Sawchuk	85
Teemu Selanne	85
Corey Perry	81
Ryan Getzlaf	79
Bill Durnan	78
Ken Dryden	77
Taylor Hall	77
Elmer Lach	77
David Pastrnak	76
Roberto Luongo	76
Henrik Sedin	74
Al Rollins	74
Chris Pronger	73
Chuck Rayner	72
Daniel Sedin	72
Jose Theodore	71
Doug Gilmour	70
Jacques Plante	69
Steve Yzerman	69
Bernie Parent	68
Denis Potvin	67
Pavel Bure	67
Buddy O'Connor	67
Norm Ullman	64
Jonathan Toews	63
Miikka Kiprusoff	62
Rogie Vachon	59
Paul Kariya	58
Bernie Geoffrion	58
Johnny Gaudreau	57
Johnny Bower	54
Tod Sloan	54
Artemi Panarin	53
Gump Worsley	52
Rod Langway	51
Harry Lumley	51
Pete Peeters	50
Steven Stamkos	50
Nicklas Lidstrom	50
Henri Richard	48
Jamie Benn	47
Sergei Boborvsky	46
Brad Marchand	45
Grant Fuhr	43
Henrik Lundqvist	43
Alexei Yashin	43
Anze Kopitar	42
Jean Ratelle	41
Max Bentley	41
Frank Mahovlich	39
Eddie Giacomin	39

Note that many of these players (most notably M. Richard) played several years before I started tracking the data (but that the "war years" immediately prior 1947 had a watered down talent pool, as most of the best players served in the Armed Forces). The table obviously doesn't represent players from the previous generation (Shore, Morenz, etc).

A single big season can really skew the numbers. For example, Carey Price is in 37th place, ahead of Dionne, Roy, Harvey, etc., almost entirely on the strength of his 2015 campaign. Since there's more variety in the nominees each year, a big season can distort the results to a much greater extent than we saw in the Norris trophy table.

Crosby and Ovechkin perform exceptionally well according to this metric. It's remarkable that #87 has already earned more Hart votes in his career than any player except Gretzky and Howe.

Quality of competition obviously matters, but it isn't reflected in the table above. Steve Yzerman was spectacular in 1989 (I'd rank that season as comparable, or perhaps slightly superior to, Joe Sakic's 2001 season). Sakic had a strong 94.4% vote share in his season, while Yzerman earned a 34.6% vote share in his (because he faced prime Gretzky and Lemieux).

Most disappointing results? Mike Bossy ranking out of the top 100. I don't understand why people consider him the best (or even second best) player on the Islanders dynasty. Yes, he had the flashiest stats, but was well behind Trottier and Potvin in terms of all-around play, and this is reflected in the Hart results.

Hockey Outsider · Jun 26, 2015

Data validation

Note that I've been accumulating the data for years from a variety of sources - copies of old newspapers available online, magazines, and this website. I can't guarantee complete accuracy of the data (either because I made a typo when inputting it, or when the source contained wrong information for whatever reason). I've done a fair amount of spot-checking and correct any errors on the rare occasions when I find them, but once again, let me know if you see any errors.

It's actually fairly easy to validate the completeness of the data. For example, in 1947, there were 18 voters, each awarding 3+2+1 = 6 voting points. Thus, there were 18 * 6 = 108 points available. Adding up the individual results for each player (48 for Richard, 28 for Schmidt, all the way down to 1 each for Kennedy and a few others), we get 108 points. This tells me that the data is 100% complete. (Again - there could still be inaccuracies - such as by switching the votes for Bentley and Broda) but at least this tells me I'm not missing any data.

Here are the results:

Season	Counted	Voters	Max	Percentage
1947	108	54	108	100.0%
1948	108	54	108	100.0%
1949	108	54	108	100.0%
1950	108	54	108	100.0%
1951	108	54	108	100.0%
1952	162	90	162	100.0%
1953	136	90	162	84.0%
1954	282	180	324	87.0%
1955	323	180	324	99.7%
1956	324	180	324	100.0%
1957	285	180	324	88.0%
1958	322	180	324	99.4%
1959	324	180	324	100.0%
1960	321	180	324	99.1%
1961	324	180	324	100.0%
1962	324	180	324	100.0%
1963	324	180	324	100.0%
1964	324	180	324	100.0%
1965	324	180	324	100.0%
1966	324	180	324	100.0%
1967	324	180	324	100.0%
1968	216	120	216	100.0%
1969	324	180	324	100.0%
1970	314	180	324	96.9%
1971	378	210	378	100.0%
1972	378	210	378	100.0%
1973	432	240	432	100.0%
1974	432	240	432	100.0%
1975	468	270	486	96.3%
1976	486	270	486	100.0%
1977	459	270	486	94.4%
1978	486	270	486	100.0%
1979	459	255	459	100.0%
1980	567	315	567	100.0%
1981	567	315	567	100.0%
1982	567	315	567	100.0%
1983	567	315	567	100.0%
1984	558	310	558	100.0%
1985	567	315	567	100.0%
1986	540	300	540	100.0%
1987	486	270	486	100.0%
1988	567	315	567	100.0%
1989	567	315	567	100.0%
1990	567	315	567	100.0%
1991	594	330	594	100.0%
1992	621	345	621	100.0%
1993	450	250	450	100.0%
1994	486	270	486	100.0%
1995	135	75	135	100.0%
1996	1403	540	1404	99.9%
1997	1404	540	1404	100.0%
1998	1404	540	1404	100.0%
1999	1456	560	1456	100.0%
2000	1508	580	1508	100.0%
2001	1612	620	1612	100.0%
2002	1546	620	1612	95.9%
2003	1612	620	1612	100.0%
2004	2730	1050	2730	100.0%
2006	3354	1290	3354	100.0%
2007	3716	1430	3718	99.9%
2008	3484	1340	3484	100.0%
2009	3438	1340	3484	98.7%
2010	3453	1330	3458	99.9%
2011	3276	1330	3458	94.7%
2012	3874	1490	3874	100.0%
2013	4651	1790	4654	99.9%
2014	3562	1370	3562	100.0%
2015	4082	1570	4082	100.0%
2016	3900	1500	3900	100.0%
2017	4342	1670	4342	100.0%
2018	4264	1640	4264	100.0%
2019	4446	1710	4446	100.0%
2020	4420	1700	4420	100.0%
2021	2600	1000	2600	100.0%
2022	5070	1950	5070	100.0%
2023	5096	1960	1960	100.0%

Over the past 76 years, I'm at less than 99.0% completeness in nine seasons: 1953 (84.0%), 1954 (87.0%), 1957 (88.0%), 1970 (96.9%), 1975 (96.3%), 1977 (94.4%), 2002 (95.9%), 2009 (98.7%) and 2011 (94.7%). The results here aren't quite as good as what I have for the Norris trophy but aside from a few years in the 1950's this holds up fairly well.

Let me know if you know where I can find the complete results for these years, but at this point it won't materially impact anything.

A simple (unweighted) average shows that I have 99.1% complete data. For this reason I'm highly confident in the integrity of the data that I've presented.

Hockey Outsider · Jun 26, 2015

Unanimous Hart trophy wins

Gretzky (1982) and McDavid (2021) are the only players from 1947-present to win a unanimous Hart trophy.

See the commentary in post #31 about the 2023 vote (where McDavid was one ballot away from being the unanimous winner again).

Largest & smallest margins of victory over second place

2004	Martin St. Louis	96.8%	Jarome Iginla	24.1%	72.7%
1992	Mark Messier	98.8%	Patrick Roy	30.4%	68.4%
1985	Wayne Gretzky	96.2%	Dale Hawerchuk	28.9%	67.3%
1984	Wayne Gretzky	98.7%	Rod Langway	32.9%	65.8%
1976	Bobby Clarke	91.1%	Denis Potvin	27.8%	63.3%

I never, ever would have guessed that Martin St. Louis won the Hart trophy by the most dominant margin in NHL history (1947-present). It was a great season, of course, but the competition was pretty weak that year. Gretzky has four of the top ten seasons.

2002	Jose Theodore	70.0%	Jarome Iginla	70.0%	0.0%
2000	Chris Pronger	68.3%	Jaromir Jagr	68.1%	0.2%
1990	Mark Messier	72.1%	Ray Bourque	71.4%	0.6%
1981	Wayne Gretzky	76.8%	Mike Liut	75.2%	1.6%
2013	Alexander Ovechkin	60.9%	Sidney Crosby	59.1%	1.8%

As discussed above, Theodore and Iginla earned exactly the same number of voting points in 2002, but the Canadien won due to the tiebreaking. There are widespread (but unproven) allegations of voter manipulation in the 2002 and 1990 races. Many people cry "anti-European bias" in 2000, but the reality is a European player won four of the past six Hart trophies and Jagr missed 19 games to injury.

Plural · Jun 26, 2015

Awesome stuff! Much, MUCH more data than I could/would have ever been able to put together.

How much work would it require from you to list every years winner and 2nd place with their vote shares?

Plural · Jun 26, 2015

Crazy how close Liut came to beating Gretzky for the Hart. He did win the Pearson, so maybe he actually had season almost as good as Gretzky's. I just don't see it.

Hockey Outsider · Jun 26, 2015

Here's what I think you were looking for:

Notes:
- As discussed above, in 2002 Theodore and Iginla earned the same number of votes, but Theodore won the Hart due to the tiebreaker, so he's listed 1st.

(Note from November 2017 - I can't recover the data from this table easily).

Plural · Jun 26, 2015

Yeah. That's it! Thanks!

Doctor No · Jun 26, 2015

Really nice work on this.

quoipourquoi · Jun 26, 2015

Obviously there's nothing we can do about it, but the problem with the 5-3-1 ballot is that in years where there's two really strong candidates, you're not going to see the 3rd-5th best players in the league pick up much of a share at all since the ballots do not include options for 4th and 5th place.

On the 10-7-5-3-1 ballot, a unanimous 4th place player picks up a 30% share while a unanimous 5th place player picks up a 10% share, both of which meet the 5% threshold you're using. On the 5-3-1 ballot, a unanimous 4th place player and a unanimous 5th place player obviously pick up no percentage of the share, and even if they pick up some scattered votes, they might not meet the 5% threshold.

1989 and 1990 stick out as years which had three defined candidates (63/61/61 of 63 ballots in 1989; 63/57/46 of 63 ballots in 1990) that could have used a 10-7-5-3-1 ballot to help the other top players meet the threshold.

Consider this:

2011
Pekka Rinne has a 13.2% share, but if there was a 5-3-1 ballot, it would be a 4.4% share.
Tim Thomas has a 12.9% share, but if there was a 5-3-1 ballot, it would be a 5.6% share.
Jonathan Toews has an 8% share, but if there was a 5-3-1 ballot, it would be a 2.1% share.
Carey Price has a 6.8% share, but if there was a 5-3-1 ballot, it would be a 3.2% share.
Ryan Kesler has a 5.2% share, but if there was a 5-3-1 ballot, it would be a 2.9% share.

The 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th place players all register on a 10-7-5-3-1 ballot, but on a 5-3-1 ballot with Perry/Sedin/St. Louis taking the bulk of those positions, they completely change their order (5-4-7-8-6) with only the 5th place player meeting the threshold.

Another example:

2001
Roman Cechmanek has a 14.4% share, but if there was a 5-3-1 ballot, it would be a 4.5% share.
Martin Brodeur has a 10.3% share, but if there was a 5-3-1 ballot, it would be a 5.2% share.
Patrik Elias has an 9.8% share, but if there was a 5-3-1 ballot, it would be a 4.2% share.
Doug Weight has a 9.8% share, but if there was a 5-3-1 ballot, it would be a 4.2% share.
Dominik Hasek has a 6.8% share, but if there was a 5-3-1 ballot, it would be a 3.5% share.
Pavel Bure has a 6.6% share, but if there was a 5-3-1 ballot, it would be a 1.3% share.
Nicklas Lidstrom has a 6.1% share, but if there was a 5-3-1 ballot, it would be a 2.2% share.

Look at how many beneficiaries there are of the 10-7-5-3-1 ballot that would have been left out had there been a 5-3-1 ballot. Those extra allocations of points on a 10-7-5-3-1 ballot make a huge difference in some years to the point where I don't know that they should be intermingled with the shares of a 5-3-1 ballot at all.

Great work, but either some players from 1995-96-on are listed that probably shouldn't be, or some players from 1994-95 and earlier are going to be left off that probably shouldn't be.

The Panther · Jun 26, 2015

Great work! I think these lists are very interesting and useful.

I think these go a long way towards showing who the truly most valuable (read: best) players are in NHL history.

The only limitation to the Hart trophy, at times, is that it has been 'biased' towards forwards, and even goaltenders, over defencemen.

Hockey Outsider · Jun 28, 2015

The Panther said:
Great work! I think these lists are very interesting and useful.

I think these go a long way towards showing who the truly most valuable (read: best) players are in NHL history.

The only limitation to the Hart trophy, at times, is that it has been 'biased' towards forwards, and even goaltenders, over defencemen.

You're right, the Hart voters have, for whatever reason, been biased in favour of forwards. It's really striking if you look at the "Hart trophy shares" metric. Just one defenseman (Orr) ranks in the top twenty-five.

If you want to look at data specifically for defensemen, take a look at my Norris trophy thread. Dr. No has an excellent thread looking specifically at the Vezina.

Hockey Outsider · Jun 28, 2015

quoipourquoi said:
Obviously there's nothing we can do about it, but the problem with the 5-3-1 ballot is that in years where there's two really strong candidates, you're not going to see the 3rd-5th best players in the league pick up much of a share at all since the ballots do not include options for 4th and 5th place.

Great point. This is a possible issue with the data.

One could always exclude the 4th and 5th place votes from 1996-present, rank the top three votes using the old 5-3-1 system, and then we'd have fully consistent data back to the 1940's. I haven't done that because 1) I don't like the idea of throwing away valid data and 2) it would be very time consuming.

Under the old system, there were a few years (1982: Gretzky-Trottier-Bossy; 1989: Gretzky-Lemieux-Yzerman; 1991: Hull-Gretzky-Belfour) where there have been just three players with "significant" seasons as I've defined it due to one or two ultra dominant players receiving the vast majority of the first and second place votes.

During the 49 years from 1947 to 1995, there were an average of 5.9 "significant" seasons per year. From 1996 to 2015 there have been an average of 7.7 per year - a 30% increase. Interesting question - is this solely a product of the change in the voting system? Or is this at least partially a reflection of the fact that there's a larger talent pool and more teams (and therefore it's more likely for players to demonstrate a Hart calibre season)?

Hockey Outsider · Jun 22, 2016

This entire thread has been updated for 2016. A few points that stand out:

Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney continue to climb the ranks. It`s amazing how close they are in the rankings. They both have seven "significant" seasons (as I've defined them in this thread). Only six players (Howe, Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr, Beliveau and Hull) have more than that. They also rank 5th and 6th in Hart trophy shares. We`re lucky to witness two of the greatest players of all-time.

Joe Thornton finished 5th. He`s now 22nd in career Hart trophy shares. He now has five "significant" seasons - only 18 players have more. It will be interesting to see how people look back on this season when his career`s over. He finished top five in scoring, Selke trophy voting and Hart voting, and reached the Stanley Cup finals - but failed to win the ultimate prize.

I was surprised to see Jagr finish 7th in Hart voting this year. He`s still in 4th place in Hart shares.

With Gordie Howe`s passing, it`s worth emphasising what a dominant player he was. It`s sad that many fans are unaware of how good he was in his prime. (I felt that a lot of the news coverage about Howe, as a player, emphasised his durability and consistency, rather than his peak). You don`t get nominated for the Hart trophy by being good for a long time - you do it by being better than your peers. Howe has more seasons in the top three and top five than any player in history (including Gretzky). Don`t let his longevity fool you - Howe was a dominant player as any.

Hockey Outsider · Jun 22, 2017

This entire thread has been updated for 2017. (I'll do a more thorough self-review over the next few days, so let me know if you see any errors). A few points that stand out:

Connor McDavid won the Hart trophy decisively. This is the 4th year in a row, and 7th time in ten years, where there was a decisive winner (>90% vote share).

Sidney Crosby finished runner-up. This is significant for two reasons. He now has eight "significant" seasons (years where he earned at least 5% of the maximum number of votes). Only six players - the Big Four, Beliveau and Hull - have more. Crosby also moves into 4th place in terms of number of (normalized) Hart votes earned over the course of his career (behind the consensus top three forwards).

Patrick Kane (6th) had his third "significant" season, and ranks a surprisingly high 32nd all-time in career voting shares. Sergei Bobrovksy (3rd) had his second "significant" season.

Three players had the first "significant" season of their careers - Brent Burns (3rd), Erik Karlsson (4th), and Brad Marchand (7th).

This is the first time since 1986 where two defensemen placed in the top five in Hart voting (Howe was 3rd, Coffey was 4th).

Hockey Outsider · Nov 8, 2017

This thread has been updated after the data migration on HFBoards (except post #9 - we're out of luck for that one). Let me know if you see any errors/problems.

Hockey Outsider · Jun 20, 2018

This entire thread has been updated for 2018.

Taylor Hall (the winner), Nathan MacKinnon (2nd), Anze Kopitar (3rd) each had their first "significant" Hart season. In fact, this is the first time both Hall and MacKinnon have ever received a Hart vote in their career. (Also, this is the first season since 1949-50 where none of the Hart finalists placed in the top three in scoring).

Claude Giroux had his 3rd "significant" season. He's now placed 3rd, 4th and 4th in Hart voting in the past seven years.

Connor McDavid had his 2nd "significant" season. He won last year, and placed 5th this year.

Kucherov also had his 2nd "significant" season. He placed 8th last year, and 6th this year.

Evgeni Malkin had his 4th "significant" season. He's now placed 1st, 2nd, 2nd and 7th - with no other seasons where he received even a single vote. His four "significant" seasons put him on par with Sakic and Trottier; but his actual voting totals put him on par with Mikita and Lafleur - a product of him having few elite seasons, but being almost unstoppable when he does. He ranks 15th in career Hart trophy votes.

Hockey Outsider · Jun 19, 2019

Nikita Kucherov won the Hart trophy and had his third "significant" Hart season (which I've defined as a season where a player earns at least 5.0% of the maximum number of votes). He's finished 1st, 6th and 8th in three consecutive seasons.

Sidney Crosby was runner-up. This is his 9th significant season - in addition to his two Hart trophies, he's also finished 2nd four times, 3rd, 5th and 6th. The only two players in NHL history with more significant Hart seasons are Howe and Gretzky (Crosby's tied with Orr, Lemieux, Beliveau and Hull). Another way of looking at it - Crosby has finished in the top two in Hart voting six times. Only Gretzky (10x) and Howe (7x) have done this more; he's tied with Lemieux and Beliveau.

Connor McDavid finished 3rd, and had his 3rd significant season. He's finished 1st, 3rd and 5th in the three years after his injury-plagued rookie campaign. I'm not sure if that record, as great as it is, fully reflects all that he's done.

Johnny Gaudreau finished 4th; this was the first time in his career he received any Hart votes.

Brad Marchand finished 5th. He's had two significant Hart seasons, finishing 5th and 7th.

Nathan MacKinnon finished 6th. He's also had two significant Hart seasons, finishing 2nd and 6th.

Alexander Ovechkin finished 7th. This was his 8th significant Hart season (one behind Crosby and all the players he's tied with). In addition to winning the trophy three times, he's also finished 2nd twice, 6th twice, and 7th.

Finally, Patrick Kane finished 8th. This was his 4th significant Hart season. In additon to a commanding win in 2016, he also finished 6th twice, and now 8th.

authentic · Jun 26, 2019

I think the top 10 are the top 10 players of all time, crazy to see Ovechkin and Crosby in the top 5 already. It's also interesting that Kucherov already has more Hart shares than Forsberg did.

Passchendaele · Apr 3, 2020

Lemieux 1988 vs. 1989 is very strange.

1988: 168 points, Penguins miss the playoffs, wins the Hart with 92,7% share.
1989: 199 points, Penguins make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs, and only 59,4% this time.

Nathaniel Skywalker · Apr 3, 2020

Passchendaele said:
Lemieux 1988 vs. 1989 is very strange.

1988: 168 points, Penguins miss the playoffs, wins the Hart with 92,7% share.
1989: 199 points, Penguins make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs, and only 59,4% this time.

He was robbed flat out. 199 points such a shame

Hockey Outsider · Sep 21, 2020

This entire thread has been updated for 2020. As always, let me know if you see any errors. A quick summary of this year's results:

Leon Draisaitl won the Hart trophy with a strong 77.0% vote share. This was the first time in his career receiving any Hart trophy votes. (Fun fact - Draisaitl is the only player in NHL history to win the Hart with a negative plus/minus rating).
Nathan MacKinnon was runner-up. He's now finished 2nd, 6th, and 2nd over the past three years.
Artemi Panarin finished 3rd. It was his first "significant" Hart trophy finish.
David Pastrnak finished 4th. It was his first "significant" Hart trophy finish.
Connor McDavid finished 5th. He's now finished 1st, 5th, 3rd and 5th over the past four seasons. (McDavid now has four "significant" Hart seasons, which puts him in very good company. He now ranks 22nd all-time in career Hart trophy votes - roughly on par with Bathgate, Schmidt, and Thornton).
Connor Hellebuyck finished 6th. It was his first "significant" Hart trophy finish.

Hockey Outsider · Jun 30, 2021

This entire thread has been updated for 2021. As always, let me know if you see any errors. A quick summary of this year's results:

Connor McDavid became only the second player in NHL history to win a unanimous Hart trophy (the only other time was Gretzky in 1982). This is an extraordinary accomplishment! This was McDavid's fifth year in the top five in voting (something that's been surpassed by only ten players going back to WWII).
Auston Matthews finished 2nd. It was his first "significant" Hart trophy finish. (McDavid's margin of victory, although large, isn't historically strong thanks to Matthews being a strong runner-up).
Nathan MacKinnon finished 3rd. He's now finished 2nd, 6th, 2nd and 3rd in Hart voting over the past four seasons.
Sidney Crosby finished 4th. This was his 10th "significant" Hart trophy finish - more than any player going back to WWII except for Howe and Gretzky. He's also earned more (normalized) Hart trophy votes over his career than any player except those two.
Brad Marchand finished 5th. He now has 7th, 5th and 5th place finishes.
Aleksander Barkov finished 6th. It was his first "significant" Hart trophy finish.
Andrei Vasilevsky finished 7th. It was his first "significant" Hart trophy finish.

Hart trophy (99.1% complete historical data)

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DIG IN!!! RiGHT NOW!!!

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