The Conn Smythe trophy was awarded the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs voted by the Association of Professional Hockey Writers. Of the 59 winners in the award history, 53 have won the team that won the Stanley Cup. The other six winners have established true novelty in the NHL, only happening once in the three other major professional sports leagues. They won MVP trophy throughout the playoffs and won the trophy in the Stanley Cup final, with each of the six players losing.
How to choose an MVP among a failed team? It has something to do with narrative elements, especially if four goalkeepers win the award with failed efforts. A goalkeeper “standing on his head” against a strong opponent for a weak team and ultimately occupying a narrow margin, which fits the storybook narrative about the exciting competition of the greatest trophy in the sport.
But Conn Smythe only targets a team that hasn’t won the Cup twice since 1987. This possibility is often discussed gradually, but in modern times, voting trends do not favor it. Given the natural bias against the Stanley Cup championship, players on a failed team must show a truly excellent effort, which is an obvious narrative that coincides with the odds in order to achieve this interesting novelty and fuels the team’s success.
Roger Crozier – Detroit Red Wings 1966
After Detroit Red Wings retreated to the 1966 playoffs, the second half downturn reduced them to fourth place with six teams. They upset the most important Chicago Blackhawks in the first round, thanks in large part to 24-year-old goalkeeper Roger Crozier. Detroit then led 2-0 against the Montreal Canadiens. He left the game with an injury after leading 1-0 in Game 4 and had a chance to get the commander 3-1 in the series. The Canadians rally won 2-1. Although Crozier did come back in the following game, his deviation from Game 4 ultimately proved to be a turning point in the series. The Canadians won the championship in six games.
In the playoffs, Montreal NetMinder Gump Worsley ended with better savings percentage (SV%) and goals against average (GAA). However, Crozier won Conn Smythe in his second year of survival, both a big role he was on the verge of leading a team of losers to win, and showing his value through his team’s squandering the lead in Game 4.
Glenn Hall – St. Louis Blues 1968
Starting from the 1967-68 season, the NHL expanded from six teams to 12. The St. Louis Blues won a bid for the Stanley Cup final by defeating two expansion teams in the West and winning shots at the Canadians, who surpassed the two original six teams.
Bruce goalkeeper and ultimate Hall of Fame member Glenn Hall won the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 1961. His outstanding performance in the 1968 playoffs made him the fact that NHL expansion was. like Hockey Chronicles, “When the St. Louis Blues succumbed to the mighty Montreal in the final of four single goals – two of them in overtime – the expansionist creators could sit down and appreciate their artistic victory” (Los Angeles to the NHL: ‘We want part of the action,’ Hockey Chronicle2003).
Even though Worsley once again received the GAA and SV % of Canadains, Hall was awarded Conn Smythe. So far, he is the second-place champion of the runner-up team in four years of the award, suggesting that early voter trends have not yet continued into modern times.
Reggie Leach – Philadelphia Flyer 1976
Reggie Leach of the Philadelphia Flying Man won Conn Smythe by setting a record that still holds today. During the 1976 playoffs, he was really outstanding, not just the best player. His 19 goals set an NHL playoff record and has since been tied for only in the 1985 playoffs by Stanley Cup champion Jari Kurri of the Edmonton Oilers.
Recent history has little reason to think that his record will be broken in the near future. In 2024, only one player, Zach Hyman, along with Edmonton, achieved 16 goals in the 21st century. Seeing that number is four fewer than the final total to beat Leach will require a tough effort to force him to lower historic scores.
Ron Hextall – Philadelphia Flyer 1987
Ron Hextall’s outstanding performance as a rookie during the 1987 playoffs forced the Oilers to force the Stanley Cup finals to be eliminated at the top of the greatest dynasty in NHL history. He is the heart and soul of a flyer team, they are hurt, but they capture all expectations.
Hextall’s talent as a rookie fits the narrative element, as well as any of the six Conn Smythe titles from the runner-up team. “He is the spirit of the team,” former oil player Mark Messier said in an interview with SportsNet. “He represented the team’s performance, and (87 years). He didn’t like anyone around the crease, it was an extension of the team.” Regarding the toughness and toughness that the flyer showed during the run, former winger Scott Mellanby said of Hextall: “He might have had this mold and any goalkeeper at the time.”
Grant Fuhr finished with better GAA and SV % for the championship. Wayne Gretzky scored 34 playoff points, with only five players in history reaching that number. However, Hextall puts the show as a true storyline for the playoffs. A few years later, his determination was perfectly represented in the award-winning offer, “I can assure you that at that moment, this absolutely means nothing to me” (Lebrun: the case and historical precedent of Tuukka Rask and Conn Smythe and Conn Smythe, winning or losing in Game 7 sports, 2019).
Jean-Sebastien Giguere – 2003 Anaheim Mighty Ducks
In 2003, the Seventh Seed Powerful Ducks also faced a beloved team behind a beloved goalkeeper in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. The relatively unknown 25-year-old Jean-Sebastien Giguere swept the playoffs from the beginning. He saved 63 of 64 in Game 1 of the first round and helped his team to three times win.
The Ducks shocked the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings at the start and continued their momentum to destroy the top-seeded Dallas Star in a dramatic way. During the Western Conference Finals, Giger reached new heights. He started the series three straight games against Minnesota’s wilderness and admitted a goal in his fourth straight win. His team has performed well in all four games, but he stifled the opposing attack with an outrageous .992 SV%.
The Ducks’ first season under head coach Mike Babcock, the Ducks’ identity was only possible with Giguere’s outstanding performance. They gathered 2-0 holes against the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup final, winning overtime in Games 3 and 4, which won the playoff record in perfect overtime in overtime with a perfect 7-0.
Martin Brodeur shut the ducks out in three of the four New Jersey wins. His excellent playoff statistics series is just far from Giguere. But the little-known goalkeeper’s job carrying a weak team as Giguere did is undoubtedly the playoff storyline. He is the first honor to win the award in 17 years.
Connor McDavid – 2024 Edmonton Oiler
In the greatest single-season playoffs of all time, Connor McDavid still finds himself on a losing side in his 2024 game against the Oilers. His captain made his debut in the Stanley Cup final since 2006, but they were in the pickle with the Florida Panthers very early. Edmonton lost the first three games of the series, giving them a basically zero chance of glory. McDavid then played a show after his already grand playoffs.
McDavid recorded four points in both Game 4 and Game 5, setting assists for a single playoff record in the process. He and the Oiler miraculously forced Game 7, but they beat the game 2-1 in the DO- or DIE game. Overall, he scored 8 goals and 34 assists in 25 games, with 42 points.
Like all Conn Smythe winning team winners, if you don’t win the Stanley Cup, that doesn’t mean too much. For a player who won three Hart trophys, Art Ross Trophy five times, Ted Lindsay awards, four times, the Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophy once to the point, the Stanley Cup is the last piece needed for the 27-year-old hardware. Finally, an elite Panthers shut him out with offensive percentage in Game 7.
Conn Smith Debate
Goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevskiy has been named Conn Smythe after the Tampa Bay Chargers won the Stanley Cup for the second time in 2021. Montreal goalkeeper Carey Price ranked fifth in the vote, although he was a favorite to reach the Stanley Cup final in the conversation. The main effort of Tampa Bay was a cap of yelling in the series Clincher by Vasilevskiy, having any debate on the most worthwhile players.
Tuukka Rask was a member of the Boston Bruins who won the award in the 2019 Stanley Cup final, which is legal. However, his team matches the champion St. Louis Blues in most cases evenly. He did not convince the voters of the failure narrative.
Chris Pronger in 2006, Rask in 2019 and 2021 prices were not as strong as the perfect storm required with five novel cases that could happen again or never again.
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