Why did Al Rollins win the Hart in 1954?

[grentthealien]

This is was way way way before my time, but this has to be one of the oddest Hart wins in history right? It feels as if they just gave him this award out of pity for having to play for such a terrible Hawks team. I mean I can’t Imagine a goalie today winning the Hart with 12 wins and a 3.23 GAA. I mean we just had a lengthy debate this season about why an Art Ross winning Mcdavid shouldn’t win the Hart because he wasn’t on a playoff team.

Gordie Howe lead the league with 81 points which was a 14 point lead over the next best guy. Shouldn’t this have been his 7th Hart throphy I mean he seems like a far more logical choice. Or if you want to give it to a goalie how about Harry Lumley or Terry Sawchuk who played a similar amount of games , but had by far the more superior numbers.

It just doesn’t make sense how someone who had a seemingly uneventful season for an uneventful team won over those guys. Were the 12 win Blackhawks really that horrendous that a 3.23 GAA was seen as an accomplishment on that team? That is the only explanation I can think of. Is there something I’m not looking at or is this win as odd as it seems to me? What was the public reception to this win at the time? Are there any articles about it that I could read or better yet someone with a first hand account of it?

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[Theokritos]

From an older thread:

I am probably one of the few here that can remember Al Rollins as the player. I was only a kid but do remember him from HNIC about 1956. Good goalie who had a decent career but most of it on terrible Blackhawk teams.

I am in the camp that think the Hart was a retro reward for his astounding 52-53 season and I really don't have a problem with it. that is what they did in the early 50's. Kennedy & Schmidt basically got their Harts as career awards.

i found these while researching red kelly.

Did Rollins Deserve Award?

Toronto (CP) -- Goalkeeper Al Rollins of Chicago Blackhawks was awarded the Hart Trophy Monday night as the most valuable player to his National Hockey League team and at least two sports columnists said he shouldn't have got it.

The selection for the 1953-54 season was made in a poll of hockey writers and sportscasters from each of the six league cities. It started a field day for second-guessers who may have figured either defenseman Red Kelly of Detroit Red Wings or Maurice Richard of Montreal Canadiens was a cinch for the award.

Commented Elmer Ferguson of the Montreal Herald:
"We can't recall when the experts made a more idiotic selection. If this sort of mawkish, sentimental voting is to become permanency, it's better we should scrap all the awards in the book and turn over their allocation to the league or the governors or the coaches."

Baz O'Meara, Montreal Star: "Our own preference was for Maurice Richard, and this was not dictated by devotion to Canadiens or Richard friendship or sentiment.... Nearly everybody thought Kelly would win the award, but he has had plenty of awards and honors this year.... our own idea is that there should be some other method of selection, some method by which referees and linesmen should be allowed into the panel."

Red Burnet of the Toronto Daily Star said:
"It's just possible that Detroit's Red Kelly, Canadiens' Maurice Richard and Leafs' Harry Lumley were more valuable to their teams in the strictest sense of the word.

"However, from our point of vantage, the Hungry-looking six-foot two native of Vanguard, Sask., rates the coveted Hart Trophy--maybe they should spell it 'heart' in this case--for courage, if nothing else."

Rollins was credited by many for holding the Hawks together last season. They won only 12 games in the 70 game schedule and finished in last place.

Kelly Is Choice as Hockey's Best

New York, March 27 (U.P.) -- Leonard Patrick (Red) Kelly, stellar defenseman of the Detroit Red Wings, today was named the National Hockey League's "Player of the Year" in a poll conducted by the United Press.

(...)

Kelly attracted five more votes than goalie Harry Lumley of the Maple Leafs, his nearest rival in the player balloting. Others who received votes in this category were Detroit's Gordie Howe, who was named right wing on this year's United Press All-Star team, goalie Al Rollins of the Chicago Blackhawks, and right wing Maurice (Rocket) Richard of the Montreal Canadiens.

Hockey Awards

Al Leader, Frankie Eddolls and Red Kelly have been named for the three annual awards given by The Hockey News for outstanding achievement in professional hockey.

Leader, president of the Western Hockey League, was selected top executive, Eddolls, leading coach (of Buffalo Bisons), and Kelly (Red Wings) outstanding player.

 

[VanIslander]

Roy Worters was the first goalie to win the Hart when he backstopped a lowly New York Americans squad, he finishing with below average wins and save percentage.

In fact, the first three Hart trophies by goalies went to ones on struggling teams, each with bad stats.

Back then, stats weren't relied on so much. Watching the team play, many saw how the goalie was the one talent on a bad team.

Wins is not a good indicator of goalie performance, especially on such a bad team. And save percentage is misleading if your defensemen can't take away high quality scoring opportunities.

 

[VanIslander]

The logic: The team lost again, but if it wasn't for the goalie, it wouldn't have been a close game, it'd have been a blowout. The goalie made the team competitive, gave the skaters a chance to win but they didn't come through.

 

[ted2019]

I was looking around a bit and I noticed that Rollins won the Hart Trophy for the 1953/54 season with a 12 - 47- 7 record. How did this happen?

 

[BM67]

It being the first year of 1st half/2nd half split voting played a big part. He finished 1st in the 1st half voting, and his lead held up after 2nd half voting.

Chicago goaltending record after 35 games:
Rollins 31 GP 6 W 20 L 5 T 81 GA 2.61 GAA 3 SO 1034 SA .922 SV%
Marois 2 GP 0 W 2 L 0 T 11 GA 5.50 GAA 0 SO 72 SA .847 SV%
Gelineau 2 GP 0 W 2 L 0 T 18 GA 9.00 GAA 0 SO 65 SA .723 SV%

Rollins did very well against the Rangers that year as well, so getting votes from Chicago and NY would put him well on his way to the Hart.

 

[Killion]

The logic: The team lost again, but if it wasn't for the goalie, it wouldn't have been a close game, it'd have been a blowout. The goalie made the team competitive, gave the skaters a chance to win but they didn't come through.

Yeah, this right here... He'd earned it. In 52/53 he'd just missed out on the Hart in voting to Gordie Howe, over 70 games facing an average of 38 shots per.... recording 6 Shutouts with a 2.50GAA. Chicago winding up with a respectable 27-28-15 record...... The following year, while the team fell right off the edge of a cliff, Rollins did not, actually played even better, had to, otherwise TOTAL BLOWOUTS. Most nights absolutely standing on his head, somehow despite the 12-47-7 record managing 5 Shutouts. All Star Pick & Game, wins the Hart, beating out Howe, Richard....

This a "feel good" story as it recognizes players top to bottom for what theyve contributed, LEAGUE MVP, speaks to resiliency, fight, talent, importance to team. Without Rollins in there pulling off the miraculous night after night in what were obviously gunna be losing efforts.... and just imagine what that would feel like, as in "why bother" (?)..... this guy kept them in, competitive, scores respectable. Never quit, never said "die". Pure pride, joy, strength of character. Imagine had he been playing for Toronto. Montreal or Detroit..... Interesting Goalie, career. Very unusual path in many ways, the way he came up through the Leafs & so on....what followed.