For the 1926-27 National Hockey League season, the Victoria
Cougars were moved to Detroit, Michigan. The team remained the Cougars until a
name change to the Falcons in 1930. In 1932, the team was renamed again, this
time to the Red Wings. In that time, the franchise has had four different
players awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as NHL most valuable player. One of
the four won the Hart on six occasions. Notably absent from this list is Steve Yzerman, probably the most deserving player to have a Hart Trophy sitting on
his mantle. Yet, Yzerman was denied throughout his long and successful career
with the Red Wings.
Ebbie Goodfellow
Ebbie
Goodfellow was the first Detroit player to win the Hart Trophy. In 1939-40,
the defenseman totaled 28 points in 43 regular season game, big numbers for a
blue liner in the day. The Red Wings squeaked into the Stanley Cup playoffs,
finishing sixth in the seven team NHL. Detroit beat the New York Americans in
the first round before losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second.
Goodfellow played in the NHL from 1923-30 to 1942-43, all
with the Detroit. His first year was with the Cougars, followed by two with the
Falcons before becoming a true Red Wing. For two seasons in the early 1950’s,
Ebbie coached the Chicago Black Hawks but the team won just 30 of 140 games
with him behind the bench. In 1963, Ebbie Goodfellow was inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame.
Sid Abel
Sid Abel
won the Hart Trophy in 1948-49 while leading the league in goals and finishing
third in the race for the Art Ross Trophy. Sid scored 28 and totaled 54 points
in 60 games for the Red Wings. Detroit finished first overall that season but was
swept in the Stanley Cup finals by the fourth seed Toronto Maple Leafs.
Abel played with the Red Wings from 1938-39 until 1951-52
before spending two seasons as player/coach of the Chicago Black Hawks. Sid was
nearly as unsuccessful behind the Chicago bench as Ebbie Goodfellow was. He
returned to coaching in 1957-58 with the Red Wings and was head coach until the
end of the 1967-68 season. During that time, Detroit lost in the Stanley Cup
finals four times. Abel became a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969.
Gordie Howe
Along came Gordie Howe. Howe won his first of six Hart
Memorial Trophies in 1951-52, the last year Sid Abel played for the team.
Gordie won the Hart again the following year then in 1956-57, 1957-58, 1959-60
and 1962-63. On four of those occasions, Howe also won the Art Ross Trophy as
the NHL’s top point producer.
Gordie played for Detroit from 1946-47 to 1970-71. He is
considered by many to be the best hockey player of all-time. In 1971, Howe was
inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He returned to the game as a player in
1973-74 and spent six years in the World Hockey Association before a swan-song
appearance with the NHL’s Hartford Whalers in 1979-80.
Sergei Federov
Sergei Federov is the most recent Red Wing to win the Hart
Memorial Trophy. Federov earned the prize in 1993-94, while scoring 56 goals
and accumulating 120 points. He finished third in goal scoring behind Pavel
Bure of the Vancouver Canucks and Brett Hull of the St. Louis Blues. It was
just Wayne Gretzky ahead of him in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, finishing
ten points ahead.
Sergei played over 1,200 regular season and nearly 200
playoff games in the National Hockey League, many with Detroit.
