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Buffalo Sabres History: Lady Byng Trophy Winners

By Melissa Kania

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The National Hockey League will hold its annual year-end awards ceremony this year on June 24 in Las Vegas. The league will celebrates its top players in both on-ice and off-ice performances, rewarding representatives from the top scorers to the best goaltenders and everything in between. As the NHL continues to announce its nominees for the yearly awards, we’ll take a look back at the history of each award and when – if ever – a member of the Buffalo Sabres franchise has won it.

Some of these awards have been given out for 90 years, while others are newer. Regardless, it’s a true honor for any player to receive these awards.

Today, we’ll look at the NHL’s Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.

The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is annual given to the player who has exhibited “the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct, combined with a high standard of playing ability.” The winner is chosen via poll of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, whose members rank their top five candidates using a points system.

The Lady Byng Trophy was first awarded in 1925, given to Ottawa’s Frank Nighbor. The award was eventually named the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as Byng’s death in 1949.

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    • A fun fact about the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: it has never been won by a goaltender, and only three defensemen have ever won the award.

    A member of the Buffalo Sabres organization has won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy just once in NHL history: Gilbert Perreault, who won it in 1973.

    Perreault, 22, registered 88 points (28 goals, 60 assists) and a plus-11 rating.

    Through 78 games that season, Perreault was tagged with just 10 penalty minutes. He was also fifth in voting for the Hart Trophy that season.

    Historically, Frank Boucher has won the most Lady Byng trophies, with seven under his belt. Wayne Gretzky won it five times during his storied NHL career.

    Next up on the list? Pavel Datsyuk and Red Kelly, who have each won it four times.

    This year’s nominees: Datsyuk, Jiri Hudler and Anze Kopitar.

    Last year’s winner was Colorado Avalanche center Ryan O’Reilly. Martin St. Louis won it three of the previous four years, with Brian Campbell also taking home the honor. Datsyuk most recently won it in 2009, his fourth consecutive Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.

    If he wins it again this year, Datsyuk will match Gretzky’s record of five Lady Byng Memorial Trophy wins.

    Next: Sabres' Norris Trophy Winners

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