For Hockey Fans : NHL Awards Trivia Quiz

Answer: Stanley Cup

The Stanley Cup, named after Lord Stanley of Preston, was first awarded in 1893 to the Montreal Hockey Club, representing the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association. It is older than the NHL itself. Lord Stanley had been appointed Governor General of Canada by Queen Victoria in 1888, and upon first seeing a hockey match with his family, was immediately taken with the skill of the players and the game action.

He conceived of and arranged to have made a silver challenge cup which would be contested yearly, given to the year's best team, but never owned by any one club.

The cup was made in Sheffield, England and cost Stanley ten guineas, equivalent to about $1,200 present-day dollars.

Answer: Frank J. Selke - leading regular season scorer

The Selke trophy is awarded to the NHL forward who "demonstrates the most skill in the defensive component of the game". It was first awarded in 1978 to Bob Gainey of the Montreal Canadiens, who also won it the next three years. Other multiple winners include Guy Carbonneau (Canadiens), Jere Lehtinin (Dallas Stars), and Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings).

Answer: Bobby Nystrom

Robert Thore Nystrom, a solid two way forward for the NY Islanders from 1972-1986, played on four Stanley Cup championship teams but never won an MVP award. The other Bobbys each won multiple MVP awards.

Answer: Guy Lafleur

Guy Lafleur won the Hart trophy as league MVP in 1977 and 1978. The others won the award, but never two years in a row. Like many other NHL records, this one is dominated by Wayne Gretzky, who won the award nine times including eight in a row from 1980-1987.

Answer: True

The Lady Byng 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." This is noteworthy as the Flyers have often been considered the bad boys of the league ever since winning two Stanley Cups in the 1970s with a punishing, physical style of play. Actually, the Flyers have had many worthy candidates for the award, including Mark Howe (1983-1992) and captain Dave Poulin (1982-1990), but none were honored with the award from the franchise's inception through the remainder of the 20th century.

Answer: Calder Memorial Trophy

The Calder is awarded to the NHL's rookie of the year, hence it can only be won once by a player. The award is named after Frank Calder, president of the NHL from its beginning in 1917 until his death in 1943. Although the Rookie of the Year was selected starting in 1932-33 season, the Calder trophy was created and first handed out to Syl Apps of the Toronto Maple Leafs after the 1936-37 season, and was renamed "Memorial" when Calder died. Surprisingly, Wayne "the great one" Gretzky did not receive the award in 1979-80, his first NHL season, despite setting multiple scoring records.

This was because he had played professionally in the World Hockey Association the previous year and wasn't technically a rookie. The other awards have been won more than once by multiple people, including the Jack Adams, awarded yearly by the NHL Broadcasters Association to "the coach adjudged to have contributed most to his team's success."

Answer: the goaltender(s) of the team allowing the fewest regular season goals

This has to be the most confusing trophy in sports. Since the 1982-83 season, this prestigious goaltending award has been given to the goalie "adjudged to be the best at his position" as voted by the league general managers. But during the time period in question, it was originally given to the number one goalie on the team which allowed the fewest regular season goals.

This made sense when most teams had a goalie who played every game. However as the game evolved in the 1950s and 1960s, more teams were splitting time in net among two or more goalies, and the goalie with the lowest goals against average wasn't necessarily the guy who played the most and was not necessarily even from the team with the fewest goals allowed. Largely because Hall of Fame keeper Terry Sawchuck announced during the 1964-65 season that he would refuse the trophy unless Toronto teammate Johnny Bowers was also on the trophy, the NHL decided to allow any keeper on any team with the lowest GAA who played 25 or more games to win the award, thereby allowing the award to be shared among teammates.

The William M. Jennings Trophy is now awarded to the goaltender(s) meeting these criteria.

Answer: won Conn Smythe Trophy more than once

These Hall of Famers all won the Smythe award as Stanley Cup MVP on more than one occasion. Although Parent retired because of an eye injury, Orr had serious knee problems which hastened his retirement, and Lemieux battled back issues and Hodgkins Lymphoma before retiring then coming back in 2000, Roy retired at the top of his game while healthy. Only Lemieux played his entire career with one team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he was also the only #1 overall draft pick of the group.

The Boston Bruins signed Orr in 1962, the year before the draft was instituted. Roy won the award three times in three different decades (1986,1993,2001).

The others each won it twice.

Answer: Jaques Plante

The legendary Plante won the Vezina trophy six times with Montreal, 1956-1960 and 1962, and again in 1969, when he shared the award with Glen Hall after being coaxed out of retirement by the expansion St. Louis Blues. He is remembered as one of the innovators of hockey, having pioneered the use of the goalie mask and the technique of handling the puck for defensemen.

He played an amazing 25 years of professional hockey, 16 in the NHL. Dryden won it five times in his relatively short but brilliant eight year career with the Habs. Laroque won three Vezinas with Montreal and one with Toronto. Hall of famer Patrick Roy won the award three times with Montreal, then went on to burnish his career with many more successful seasons and two Stanley Cups as the Colorado Avalanche net minder.

Answer: Captain and players won't touch the trophies because it's bad luck. Only the Stanley Cup is worth touching.

The two trophies have been awarded respectively to western conference (Campbell) and eastern conference (Wales) playoff winners since the NHL split into two divisions with the 1967-68 expansion. The tradition, typical of the hard-nosed, Stanley Cup or bust mentality of NHL players, in fact arises from the belief that only the ultimate prize (Stanley Cup) is really worth celebrating.

It makes for awkward moments when officials try to hand one of the trophies to a player, or pose with trophy and an obviously uncomfortable player.

Some captains have ignored the superstition and gone on to win the cup anyway. In 2015, captain Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning refused to even look at the Wales trophy and would not shake hands with presenting deputy NHL Commissioner Bill Daly before posing with the trophy.

The Lightning went on to lose the Stanley Cup to the Chicago Blackhawks.