The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is an award with few defenders today. Requests for it to be renamed are as much a part of the annual hockey season as training camp stories about Player X being in the best shape of his life. Complaints about the way it is awarded are virtually inescapable. Some act as though it’s a second-class trophy when compared to the main prizes of the NHL Awards.
That’s all too bad, because when it comes right down to it the Lady Byng symbolizes much of what is great about the sport.
Let’s start with the name. In January, Colby Cosh wrote an eloquent rebuttal to the idea of renaming it after Jean Beliveau, and he made the obvious comparison to the Stanley Cup. From his column for Maclean’s:
Sportswriters ought to recognize that hockey’s fussy silverware from British Empire times is essential to the sport’s identity. No one has any trouble understanding this when it comes to Lord Stanley’s Cup. And everyone is equally aware that other sports haven’t been able to fake the charm of the NHL’s antique trophies.
Why don’t w ...
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Article written by Jonathan Willis
Why the Lady Byng Trophy Is an Essential Piece of the NHL Awards Lineup
August 27th, 2015 by Jonathan Willis Leave a reply »
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