Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks knew he was getting a trophy at Wednesday night's NHL Awards ceremony in Las Vegas. He just didn't think it would be MVP. Perry, who took home the Maurice Richard Trophy for leading the league in scoring with 50 goals, also beat out Daniel Sedin for the Hart Memorial Trophy, given to the most valuable player in the NHL. Perry is the first Anaheim Duck to win the Hart Trophy.
The Ducks went on a 15-5 surge to end the season, moving up all the way from 11th in the Western Conference to the fourth seed and home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Perry scored 19 goals in his last 16 games to lead the surge, which won him the Hart Trophy. As Jen from Anaheim Calling pointed out, Perry was well deserving of the award:
The Hart Trophy is about the player that made the largest contribution to his team. The Ducks would not have made the playoffs without Corey Perry. Bobby Ryan put up another solid 30 goal season, but he was seriously streaky. No one can explain what happened to Ryan Getzlaf (excluding the facial injury). He wasn't the Getzy we are used to or the Captain we expected him to be. Those three together are the most feared top line in hockey, but there were only flashes of greatness throughout the season, not the consistent and expected domination. More often than he should have, Corey Perry carried Getzlaf and Ryan.
Perry captured 67 first place votes to beat out Daniel Sedin of the Canucks, who had 51 first place votes. Sedin, who led the NHL with 104 points on the season, was trying to win the award his brother Henrik Sedin won last year. For Perry, just 26, he sees a bright future with the Ducks. "You always want to build on the year before and I think it’s a steady increase," Perry told the Associated Press. "Hopefully it keeps increasing."
For more news and information on Corey Perry and the Anaheim Ducks, be sure to read the SB Nation blog Anaheim Calling.