The Art Ross Trophy has been handed out each year since 1947-48 to the National Hockey League player that has the most points during the regular season. To date, on only three occasions has there been a tie atop the race for the Art Ross. Does the NHL declare the two co-winners? Absolutely not. The NHL holds on to three mis-ordered (in my opinion) rules when it comes to determining a tie break.
In the 64 years since Elmer Lach of the Montreal Canadiens was awarded the first Art Ross Trophy, there have been three ties. On all three occasions, the NHL did not have to go past the first tie break criteria. However, I believe it’s the second criteria that should initially determine the tie break. In two of the three ties, the decision would have gone against criteria number one.
The tie break rules:
- The player with the most goals.
- If both have the same number of goals, then the player with the fewest games played.
- If both have the same number of goals and games played, the the player that scored first during the regular season.
Yes, number three is a bit ridiculous. But, we haven’t had to go to number two yet, so number three has never come into play. Still, a point is a point. The winner of the Art Ross should be determined on points per game and not number of goals. It just makes sense.
Here are the three players denied an Art Ross Trophy due to the tie breaker rules:
Andy Bathgate, New York Rangers 1961-62
Bathgate tied with Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks with 84 points. Both players participated in each of their teams 70 regular season games. Hull got the nod with his 50 goals, compared to the 28 that Bathgate put past opposing goaltenders. In this case the decision would seem to be just.
Interestingly, it was neither Bathgate or Hull that was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. That honour went to Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens. 1961-62 saw the Canadiens completely dominate the regular season but make a quick exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs with an opening round loss to Chicago. The Black Hawks then went on to lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the final series.
Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers 1979-80
What a first season in the National Hockey League for the Great One. Wayne finished with 137 points, a number unheard of for a first year player. However, Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings wasn’t letting Gretzky get away with anything. Dionne equalled Gretzky’s total and was awarded the Art Ross Trophy by scoring 53 goals, two more than Wayne. If the NHL was going by points per game, Gretzky took a slight edge by playing 79 of Edmonton’s 80 regular season games. Dionne played all 80 for the Kings.
As a consolation, Gretzky was awarded the Hart Trophy. In hindsight, this was the right decision. Gretzky would go on to win ten Art Ross Trophies. Dionne was always in the shadow of guys like Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr and Guy Lafleur. It was nice to see him get his scoring title.
Eric Lindros, Philadelphia Flyers 1994-95
The last time there was a strike shortened season was 1994-95. Still, in 48 games, you’d think they could find an outright Art Ross Trophy winner. Yet, Jaromir Jagr of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Eric Lindros tied with 70 points. If they were using the points per game criteria, Lindros would have been the hands down winner, playing in 46 games to Jagr’s 48. However, Jagr scored 32 and Lindros potted just 29. Jagr took home the hardware. It was Jaromir’s first of five scoring titles and he is still active in the NHL today.
Lindros, like Gretzky, took home the Hart Trophy as a consolation prize. Eric never did win an Art Ross Trophy in his injury plagued NHL career.
If it were to happen again, I would like to see the NHL re-arrange their tie breaking criteria to not only reflect the importance of points per game over total goals (especially now in the age of the Rocket Richard Trophy) but also to factor in team scoring. If you look at the three tie cases, percentage of team scoring is an interesting stat:
1961-62 – Andy Bathgate factored into 43.1% of New York’s 195 goals while Bobby Hull was a part of just 38.7% of Chicago’s 217.
1979-80 – Marcel Dionne 47.2% vs. Wayne Gretzky 45.5%
1994-95 – Eric Lindros 46.7% vs. Jaromir Jagr 38.7%
The NHL should come up with a tie-breaking algorithm that takes into account numerous factors. In fact, they might consider that for the determination of the Art Ross Trophy winner every year. I’m sure Jordan Eberle’s 76 points in Edmonton were much harder to come by than Evgeni Malkin’s 109 in Pittsburgh.