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Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: History, Montreal Canadiens Past Winners

The Canadiens Head Coach knows this trophy well from his playing career.

By Nate Duffett |
NHL Awards Show
NHL Awards Show / Bruce Bennett/GettyImages
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The NHL will award the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy on Thursday, May 30th, before the puck drop of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is awarded to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability. The nominees for this award are Auston Matthews, Jaccob Slavin, and Elias Pettersson.

The trophy is in honor of Marie Evelyn Moreton, the wife of Viscount Byng of Vimy. Viscount Byng commanded Canadian forces at the Battle of Vimy Ridge and was the Governor General of Canada from 1921 to 1926. Lady Byng was a diehard hockey fan, donating the trophy to the NHL in 1924.

Lady Byng awarded the first trophy to Frank Nighbor, a member of the orginal Ottawa Senators. She invited Nighbor to Rideau Hall to show him the trophy and ask if the NHL would want to award a most gentlemanly player. Nightbor believed that the NHL would accept it, so Lady Byng gave him the trophy for 1924-25.

It took 22 seasons for a Montreal Canadien to win the award, then another 42 before they did it again. The Canadiens don't have a lot of history with the award, but one current member of the Montreal Canadiens was a multi-time winner of the honor.

1946 - Toe Blake

Montreal Canadiens logo
Montreal Canadiens logo / Minas Panagiotakis/GettyImages

It's fitting that Toe Blake was the first Montreal Canadien to win the award. He played in the NHL from 1935 to 1948 with the Montreal Maroons and Montreal Canadiens. He led the NHL in scoring in 1939, winning the Hart Trophy. He won two Stanley Cups with the Canadiens in 1944 and 1946, the same year he won the Lady Byng. Blake is one of the greatest players in NHL history. Blake's greatest triumphs with the Habs came as a coach, winning eight Stanley Cups and leading one of the best teams in history.

Blake won the award for the 1945-46 season when he had just two penalty minutes, the lowest total of his career. He was also effective, recording 50 points in 50 games.

1988 - Mats Naslund

Mats Naslund
Mats Naslund / Robert Shaver/Bruce Bennett Collection/GettyImages

Mats Naslund was one of the top forwards for the Montreal Canadiens during the 1980s. He played for many in the Swedish League before moving to North America in 1982-83. Naslund spent eight seasons in the NHL before returning to Sweden, then made a comeback in 1994-95 with the rival Boston Bruins. Naslund won a Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1986.

Naslund never spent much time getting to know the penalty box attendants in his career. He beat Wayne Gretzky for the Lady Byng Award, recording 14 penalty minutes. It wasn't the lowest total of his career, as he had just four penalty minutes in 77 games in 1984.

2010, 2011, 2013 - Martin St. Louis

NHL Awards Show, Martin St. Louis
NHL Awards Show, Martin St. Louis / Ethan Miller/GettyImages

Martin St. Louis didn't win the award as a member of the Montreal Canadiens, but it's worth noting that the Canadiens Head Coach has taken home the trophy on three occasions. St. Louis had 12 penalty minutes for his first two awards, then 14 when he won his third. St. Louis had 94, 99, and 60 points in those seasons, with the 60-point mark leading the NHL in a lockout-shortened season.

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