NHL's Hart Trophy Belongs To Bolts' St. Louis
First Since Gretzky in '87 To Lead League In Scoring, Win Cup, Win Hart In Same Season
POSTED: Friday, June 11,
UPDATED: 2:13 pm GMT June 11,
2004
TORONTO -- As if a Stanley Cup title was not enough,
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis captured the 2003-04 Hart
Memorial Trophy as the National Hockey League's most valuable player.The 5-foot-9 St. Louis led the NHL in scoring this past season with 94 points,
including 38 goals, and played in all 82 games for the Lightning, who won the
Cup on Monday night with a Game 7 victory over Calgary. St. Louis, whose plus-35 rating was tied for the best in hockey, became the
first player since Wayne Gretzky in 1987 to lead the league in scoring, win
the Stanley Cup and take home the Hart in the same season. The other two finalists were Calgary captain Jarome Iginla and New Jersey
goaltender Martin Brodeur. Iginla, who knows St. Louis very well after the seven-game final set, had an
outstanding season for Calgary, which rose from the depths of division cellar
dweller and went on its magical run this spring. Iginla, the first black
captain in NHL history, tied for tops in the league in goals with 41. The Hart Trophy is not new territory at all for Brodeur, who once again
finished as one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. He led the Devils to
another 100-point campaign and compiled a 38-26-11 record with a 2.03 goals-
against average in 75 games this season. He also had a save percentage of .917
and led the NHL with 11 shutouts. Although he did not win the Hart, Brodeur was awarded the Vezina trophy as the
league's best goaltender, the second straight year he has done so in his
brilliant career. The Hart was not the only piece of hardware that St. Louis took home on
Thursday night - he was also given the Lester B. Pearson Award, awarded by the
NHL Players' Association to the league's most outstanding player.
Copyright 2004 Courtesy of SportsNetwork.






