Calder Trophy
The Calder Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the best rookie in the National Hockey League. The voting is conducted by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the conclusion of the regular season. The current holder of the Calder trophy is Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane.
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[edit] History
The Calder Memorial Trophy is named in honour of Frank Calder, the former President of the National Hockey League from its inception in 1917 to his death in 1943. Although Rookie Of The Year honours were handed out beginning in 1932-33, the Calder Trophy was first presented at the conclusion of the 1936-37 NHL season. After Calder's death the trophy was re-named the Calder Memorial Trophy. It has been won the most times by the Toronto Maple Leafs, on 9 occasions. The New York Rangers and Boston Bruins have won it 8 times each, and the Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens have won it 6 times each, although the Blackhawks have a 7th Rookie of the Year from before the trophy's inception.
Despite his massively successful first NHL season, Wayne Gretzky did not win the Calder in 1980. As he had played the previous year in the World Hockey Association, he was deemed ineligible for the award.
In 1990, Sergei Makarov of the Calgary Flames became the oldest player, at age 31, to win the Calder, even though he had played professionally in the Soviet Union as a member of HC CSKA Moscow's famed KLM Line. After that season, the rules for awarding the Calder were amended so that players could only be eligible if they were 26 years old or younger by September 15th of their rookie season.
The Calder Memorial Trophy should not be confused with the Calder Cup, which is awarded to the Championship team of the American Hockey League. It is also named in honour of Frank Calder.
