Reindl: “Superlatives appropriate” – Schaidnagel: “Unique” – Söderholm: “Gives others a boost”
The best season of his career now shines even brighter: Leon Draisaitl was awarded the famous Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player for his exceptional performances in the NHL main round, and his NHL colleagues also named the Edmonton Oilers professional their best and honored him with the Ted Lindsay Award. The news was delivered to Draisaitl by NHL legends and Oilers icons Wayne Gretzky (Hart) and Mark Messier (Lindsay) before the second Stanley Cup final game. Draisaitl is once again writing German ice hockey history after winning the Art Ross Trophy for the best scorer in the main round. Never before had a German professional received one of these prestigious individual awards, especially not all three at once.
Draisaitl became the best scorer in the National Hockey League with a personal record of 110 points after 71 games, including 43 goals and 67 assists. For the Hart Trophy as Most Valuable Player (MVP), he beat North American journalists with 1309 points against Canadian Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche/1162) and Russian Artemi Panarin (New York Rangers/889), both in the NHL -Colleagues also held their own in the vote for the Ted Lindsay Award. Draisaitl is the fourth Oilers player to be honored with these trophies, joining Gretzky, Messier and Connor McDavid. Draisaitl was also decorated as part of the NHL First All-Star Team for the 2019/20 season – also an honorable first for him.
Here Leon Draisaitl talks about his fantastic personal successes.
Previous individual trophies by German NHL players:
Olaf Kölzig (Washington Capitals) – Vezina Trophy (2000), King Clancy Memorial Trophy (2006)
Thomas Greiss (New York Islanders) – William M. Jennings Trophy (2019)
Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers) – Art Ross Trophy, Hart Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award (all 2020)
DEB-President Franz Reindl: "Congratulations, Leon! These additional great NHL awards make a huge statement. Leon has consistently shown top performances at the highest level. Superlatives are appropriate and the association is also very proud to have such an exceptional athlete. This is an extraordinary day for German ice hockey."
DEB-Sports Director Stefan Schaidnagel: “Congratulations to Leon Draisaitl. These awards are deserved, unique and once again underline what potential Leon has. The desire to constantly improve your own game and achieve top performance is a quality that is indispensable at the top level. I am sure that Leon will continue on this path - and that he will continue to have a decisive influence on the national team and his club with top sporting performances.”
National coach Toni Söderholm: “Congratulations to Leon, he has made several further steps in his development. He takes on a lot of responsibility for the team and was particularly responsible for the team during a phase when Connor McDavid was injured. Only in this phase did the Oilers really march towards the playoffs. The fact that a German player generally played such a main round certainly gives other German players a boost. When a player achieves something so extraordinary, then others also know that such an achievement is possible for a German player. This will also be an important point for us heading into the Olympics when it comes to the question of how much self-confidence we have going into this tournament.”
Photos: Edmonton Oilers/Getty Images