DEB-President Franz Reindl: “Outstanding charisma” – DEB-Sports director Stefan Schaidnagel: “Extraordinary performance” – National coach Toni Söderholm: “Impressive step in his development”
Leon draisaitl wrote German ice hockey history and was the first German professional to make the prestigious one Art Ross Trophy for the best scorer in the main round National Hockey League (NHL) won. With a personal record of 110 points after 71 games, including 43 goals and 67 assists, the 24-year-old from the Edmonton Oilers secured the trophy ahead of his teammate Connor McDavid (97 points). The award for the Cologne native emerged from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's remarks late on Tuesday evening (CEST). When presenting the plans for the continuation of the 2019/20 NHL season, Bettman explained that the main round, which has been suspended since March 12th due to the corona pandemic, will be canceled and the season will continue directly with a play-off format. This marked Draisaitl's first major individual NHL title.
DEB-President Franz Reindl: "Congratulations and great recognition! Leon has shown sensational, stable and outstanding performances and absolutely deserves the award. Receiving this high NHL award is one of the greatest goals that any player can achieve. Leon has fulfilled this dream. This is great for German ice hockey and has an outstanding charisma and role model character. We are very proud of Leon and his development, which has steadily increased year after year."
DEB-Sports Director Stefan Schaidnagel: “Congratulations on this extraordinary achievement, which deserves our utmost respect. Leon has taken his game to a higher level this season and embodied absolute world class, and this award is the reward he deserves. In German ice hockey history, this title is a milestone with a great impact. We hope that Leon’s impressive example will motivate many other young ice hockey players in Germany; our sport would only benefit from that.”
National coach Toni Söderholm: “We congratulate Leon on a very, very successful main round. This award is evidence of great teamwork, even if it is ultimately an individual title win. We want to continue the positive history of German ice hockey together, but Leon wrote this chapter of the book all by himself. The award is another impressive step in his development and shows me that he has become stronger again for another year.”
Draisaitl's previous record was 105 scorer points, including 50 goals and 55 assists, from the 2018/19 season. Extrapolated to the usual 82 main round games, the 56-time national player would have had a score of 127 points in the current season. Draisaitl not only leads the NHL in scoring points, but has also provided the highest number of assists, scored the most power play points (44) and, together with the Czech David Pastrnak (Boston Bruins/both 10), scored the most game-winning goals .
Draisaitl scored three or more points in 19 of 71 games. He scored 24 times in a row between October 2019, 19 and November 2019, 13, and eleven times in a row between December 31, 2019 and February 1, 2020. Draisaitl is the third Oilers professional to win the Art Ross Trophy, after McDavid (2017/18 and 2016/17) and Wayne Gretzky (1981 to 1987). The center and his team will face the Chicago Blackhawks in a best-of-five series when the NHL season resumes in the summer and then look for his chance in the fight for the Stanley Cup.