Does the NHLPA release the voting results of the Lester B. Pearson award?

[MyDogSparty]

I'm curious if they release the yearly voting totals. IE: who finished second, third, etc.. How many first place, second place, third place votes did players receive, etc..

I'd like to see how Bryan Trottier (and other players) faired in these votes. He won some big awards in 1978-79 but yet didn't win the Pearson nor did he ever win the Selke.

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[Dark Shadows]

I'm curious if they release the yearly voting totals. IE: who finished second, third, etc.. How many first place, second place, third place votes did players receive, etc..

I'd like to see how Bryan Trottier (and other players) faired in these votes. He won some big awards in 1978-79 but yet didn't win the Pearson nor did he ever win the Selke.

To My knowledge, they do not, otherwise I would have seen it by now. And Trust me I looked hard. I also wanted to find Conn Smythe voting records, but those seem to be lost causes too.

 

[seventieslord]

Nope. Two very important awards and all we know is who won and that's it. Not who was the runner-up, how close it was, who else earned votes, etc.

I bet the stupid NHL head office didn't even keep the votes.

 

[Big Phil]

I'm curious if they release the yearly voting totals. IE: who finished second, third, etc.. How many first place, second place, third place votes did players receive, etc..

I'd like to see how Bryan Trottier (and other players) faired in these votes. He won some big awards in 1978-79 but yet didn't win the Pearson nor did he ever win the Selke.

No doubt in my mind Trotts would have been 2nd in Pearson voting. But to Dionne's credit it isn't an accident either when you beat a prime Trottier and a rookie in Gretzky in back to back years. Dionne's win doesnt raise an eyebrow for me

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

No doubt in my mind Trotts would have been 2nd in Pearson voting. But to Dionne's credit it isn't an accident either when you beat a prime Trottier and a rookie in Gretzky in back to back years. Dionne's win doesnt raise an eyebrow for me

I still don't understand how Dionne won in 1979. Trottier had slightly better numbers and was a far more complete hockey player than Dionne could ever dream of being. I really have to question the players on that one. Perhaps it was a vote split amongst Trots, Potvin and Bossy.

I don't have an issue at all with Dionne winning in 1980, but IMO Trottier should have won in 1979.

Personally, my top 5 in the 1979 season would have been: Trots, Lafleur, Potvin, Dionne, Bossy. I actually have to question a number of the players choices in the 70's. How does Orr only end up with one Pearson? How does Rattelle beat Orr or Espo in 1972? How does Clarke win in 1973, but not in 1976, his best season? Lafluer in 1976 was not as good as Orr in 1973 and Clarke in 1976 was better than Clarke in 1973. Something doesn't jive.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

I still don't understand how Dionne won in 1979. Trottier had slightly better numbers and was a far more complete hockey player than Dionne could ever dream of being. I really have to question the players on that one. Perhaps it was a vote split amongst Trots, Potvin and Bossy.

I don't have an issue at all with Dionne winning in 1980, but IMO Trottier should have won in 1979.

Personally, my top 5 in the 1979 season would have been: Trots, Lafleur, Potvin, Dionne, Bossy. I actually have to question a number of the players choices in the 70's. How does Orr only end up with one Pearson? How does Rattelle beat Orr or Espo in 1972? How does Clarke win in 1973, but not in 1976, his best season? Lafluer in 1976 was not as good as Orr in 1973 and Clarke in 1976 was better than Clarke in 1973. Something doesn't jive.

A couple of things about the Pearson:

1) Players don't usually vote at the end of the season. I think they are allowed to vote at any time in the last 4-6 weeks (I don't know the exact time frame) of the season. And many of them do, in fact, vote early. So what a player does in the last month of a season often doesn't factor into the Pearson vote. This was explained when Jagr won the Pearson, but Thornton the Hart in 2006. Same as when Naslund won the Pearson and Forsberg the Hart in 2003. I'm sure it happened before then. Did Dionne have a rep for fading as the season wore on, or just in the playoffs?

2) Players tend to form their opinion of other players by playing against them, rather than watching games. In fact, many players don't watch hockey games in their free time. Players probably have a bias towards voting for players that they played against a lot. So players who played the Islanders a lot may have split their votes, whereas those who played the Kings often may have been more prone to concentrating on Dionne.

 

[reckoning]

I still don't understand how Dionne won in 1979. Trottier had slightly better numbers and was a far more complete hockey player than Dionne could ever dream of being. I really have to question the players on that one. Perhaps it was a vote split amongst Trots, Potvin and Bossy.

I don't have an issue at all with Dionne winning in 1980, but IMO Trottier should have won in 1979.

Personally, my top 5 in the 1979 season would have been: Trots, Lafleur, Potvin, Dionne, Bossy.

The Sporting News usually runs a players poll near the end of the regular season where players vote on the player of the year. For the '79 season, 270 players voted. Not the entire NHLPA, but it averages out to almost 16 players per team that season so it should be enough to get a read on their opinions. The top 4 in votes for that season were:

1. Bryan Trottier 93
2. Guy Lafleur 66
3. Mike Bossy 64
4. Marcel Dionne 28

Considering that these are the same people who vote on the Pearson, Dionne's win is somewhat surprising.