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Lady Byng Trophy: What It Is + Every Winner

The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy occupies a unique position in professional hockey, recognizing a player who exemplifies sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct while maintaining elite-level performance. In a sport celebrated for its physical intensity and competitive fire, this award honors those rare athletes who combine skill and grace, proving that excellence and integrity don't have to be mutually exclusive. Since its introduction in 1925, the Lady Byng has been awarded 100 times to players who demonstrate that discipline, respect, and fair play can coexist with championship-caliber ability. The trophy stands as the NHL's second-oldest award and represents values that transcend statistics, celebrating character alongside capability.

January 25, 2026

Origins and Historical Significance

The trophy bears the name of Marie Evelyn Moreton, Lady Byng of Vimy, wife of Viscount Byng. He commanded Canadian forces at the Battle of Vimy Ridge and served as Governor General of Canada from 1921 to 1926. An avid hockey enthusiast, Lady Byng was captivated by the skill and fair play she witnessed during NHL games in Ottawa, inspiring her to donate the trophy in 1924-25.

In a story that exemplifies the award's personal touch, Lady Byng invited Frank Nighbor of the Ottawa Senators to Rideau Hall late in the 1924-25 season. She showed him the trophy and asked whether the NHL would accept it as an award for its most gentlemanly player. When Nighbor affirmed they would, Lady Byng surprised him by presenting him with the trophy on the spot, making him the inaugural winner.

Nighbor won again in 1925-26, but the award's most remarkable chapter began when Frank Boucher of the New York Rangers won seven times in eight years (1928-31, 1933-35). Lady Byng was so impressed by Boucher's sustained excellence that she gave him the original trophy to keep permanently in 1935, then donated a second trophy to continue the tradition.

When Lady Byng died in 1949, the NHL presented another trophy and officially renamed it the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. Tragically, the original trophy (the one given to Boucher) was destroyed in a fire at his home in 1962.

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Award Criteria and Voting Process

The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is presented annually to "the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability." This dual requirement distinguishes the award from pure sportsmanship recognition.

Recipients must be among the league's elite performers while accumulating minimal penalty minutes. You can't win the Lady Byng just by staying out of the box if you're a fourth-liner who barely plays. You need to be a star who plays clean.

Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association conduct voting at the end of the regular season. Each voter ranks their top five candidates using a 10-7-5-3-1 points system. Three finalists are named, and the trophy is presented at the NHL Awards ceremony following the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The PHWA expanded its voting pool from two members per NHL city to a qualified voters list in 2003-04, increasing participation from 59 to over 140 voters by 2006-07. In 2015-16, the organization added ten national broadcasters, bringing the voting bloc to approximately 175-195 voters each season.

Record Holders and Notable Winners

Frank Boucher remains untouchable atop the Lady Byng leaderboard with seven wins, an achievement so remarkable that Lady Byng herself awarded him permanent possession of the original trophy. Boucher led the NHL in assists three times and ranked top-10 in points seven times across nine seasons, all while never accumulating more than 18 penalty minutes in a single campaign.

Wayne Gretzky won the award five times (1980, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999), the second-most in history. Remarkably, Gretzky won with a record three different teams: the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, and New York Rangers. This demonstrated that his clean play remained consistent across different systems and eras.

Often criticized for his outspoken opposition to fighting in hockey, Gretzky let his play and conduct speak for themselves.

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Red Kelly and Pavel Datsyuk share the record for most consecutive wins with four. Kelly won four times total (1951, 1953, 1954, 1961), three as a defenseman with Detroit and once as a forward with Toronto. Datsyuk's four consecutive victories (2006-09) made him the first player in over 70 years to accomplish this feat, matching Boucher's run from 1928-31.

Datsyuk's dominance during those years was comprehensive. He simultaneously won three consecutive Frank J. Selke Trophies as the league's best defensive forward (2008-10), making him one of only three players (along with Anze Kopitar and Ron Francis) to win both the Selke and Lady Byng during their careers.

Positional Anomalies

The Lady Byng Trophy has been predominantly a forwards' award, with only four defensemen winning in its century-long history:

Bill Quackenbush (Detroit Red Wings, 1949)
Red Kelly (Detroit Red Wings, 1951, 1953, 1954)
Brian Campbell (Florida Panthers, 2012)
Jaccob Slavin (Carolina Hurricanes, 2021, 2024)

Kelly's three wins as a defenseman and one as a forward make him unique in trophy history. After his 1954 victory as a Detroit defenseman, no blue-liner won again for 58 years until Campbell broke through in 2012. Slavin became only the second defenseman to win multiple Lady Byng Trophies, matching Kelly's achievement.

No goaltender has ever won the Lady Byng Trophy. The positional demands of goaltending (with its limited opportunities to commit penalties) create a structural barrier to consideration, despite some netminders demonstrating exemplary conduct.

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Recent Winners and Trends

Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings) won his third Lady Byng Trophy in 2025, joining just nine other players to achieve this milestone. The Kings captain took only two minor penalties in 81 games while posting 67 points (21 goals, 46 assists), demonstrating elite two-way play.

Kopitar previously won in 2015-16 and 2022-23, becoming the second Kings player (after Wayne Gretzky) to win three times with the franchise. All nine players who preceded Kopitar as three-time winners have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, suggesting his eventual enshrinement is certain.

Jaccob Slavin (Carolina Hurricanes) won in 2024 and 2021, establishing himself as the modern era's premier gentleman. The 30-year-old defenseman was assessed just eight penalty minutes in 81 games during his 2024 campaign (the fewest among 81 NHL players who logged at least 1,600 minutes) while recording 37 points and a plus-21 rating.

Slavin received 81 first-place votes in 2024, more than doubling his nearest competitor. He's only the second U.S.-born player to win multiple Lady Byng Trophies, joining Joe Mullen. His remarkable discipline is highlighted by a 2021-22 season in which he accumulated only two penalty minutes, both for puck over glass infractions.

Three-Time Winners Club

Ten players have won the Lady Byng Trophy at least three times:

Frank Boucher: 7 wins (1928-31, 1933-35)
Wayne Gretzky: 5 wins (1980, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999)
Red Kelly: 4 wins (1951, 1953, 1954, 1961)
Pavel Datsyuk: 4 wins (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
Bobby Bauer: 3 wins (1940, 1941, 1947)
Alex Delvecchio: 3 wins (1959, 1966, 1969)
Mike Bossy: 3 wins (1983, 1984, 1986)
Ron Francis: 3 wins (1995, 1998, 2002)
Martin St. Louis: 3 wins (2010, 2011, 2013)
Anze Kopitar: 3 wins (2016, 2023, 2025)

The Trophy's Complicated Reputation

Despite its noble intentions, the Lady Byng Trophy carries a complicated legacy within hockey culture. Some view winning the award as synonymous with being a "soft" player in a sport that values physicality and toughness. This perception represents a fundamental misunderstanding of what the trophy celebrates: not passivity, but disciplined excellence.

Viewing Lady Byng winners as soft is a total misconception if viewed from the perspective of what it means to be a smart hockey player who thinks of his team first. Taking unnecessary penalties hurts a team's chances. Avoiding infractions while maintaining elite performance requires intelligence, positioning, and skill.

Players like Datsyuk and Slavin exemplify this understanding. Both are known for defensive excellence and tight checking while rarely visiting the penalty box. Their ability to disrupt opponents without resorting to penalties represents hockey intelligence at its highest level.

Understanding What the Trophy Really Means

The Lady Byng isn't about avoiding contact or playing soft. It's about playing smart. It's about not taking dumb penalties that put your team down a man. It's about stick-checking instead of slashing. It's about positioning instead of interference. It's about being so skilled that you don't need to hook or hold to keep up.

Think about it: Pavel Datsyuk was one of the best defensive forwards of his generation. He shut down opponents consistently. He just did it without taking penalties. That's not soft, that's smart.

Jaccob Slavin logs 23 minutes a night against top competition. He's not avoiding contact. He's just disciplined enough to not cross the line into penalty territory. When you're that good positionally, you don't need to cheat.

Recent Winners (2010-2026)

2024-25: Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings) - 4 PIM Third Lady Byng with just 2 minor penalties all season.

2023-24: Jaccob Slavin (Carolina Hurricanes) - 8 PIM Second win with elite defensive play and minimal penalties.

2022-23: Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings) - 2 PIM Remarkable discipline with just one penalty in 81 games.

2021-22: Kyle Connor (Winnipeg Jets) - 8 PIM Connor's offensive talent with clean play earned his first.

2020-21: Jaccob Slavin (Carolina Hurricanes) - 2 PIM Both penalties were puck over glass, no actual infractions.

2019-20: Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche) - 24 PIM Rare win with higher PIM total, reflecting offensive dominance.

2018-19: Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers) - 18 PIM Two-way center excellence with disciplined play.

2017-18: William Karlsson (Vegas Golden Knights) - 8 PIM Breakout season with 43 goals and minimal penalties.

2016-17: Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames) - 8 PIM Skilled winger's first Lady Byng with clean play.

2015-16: Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings) - 8 PIM First of three Lady Byng wins for the Kings captain.

2014-15: Jiri Hudler (Calgary Flames) - 14 PIM Career year with 76 points and disciplined play.

2013-14: Ryan O'Reilly (Colorado Avalanche) - 8 PIM Two-way center won with just four minor penalties.

2012-13: Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning) - 16 PIM Third Lady Byng in lockout-shortened season.

2011-12: Brian Campbell (Florida Panthers) - 10 PIM First defenseman to win since Red Kelly in 1961.

2010-11: Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning) - 12 PIM Back-to-back Lady Byng wins.

2009-10: Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning) - 20 PIM First of three Lady Byng trophies.

Legacy and Contemporary Relevance

The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy endures as hockey's most values-driven award, celebrating players who prove that discipline and excellence are complementary rather than contradictory. In an era where analytics and efficiency dominate sports discourse, the trophy's emphasis on minimizing penalties aligns with modern understanding that unnecessary infractions hurt team performance.

Players like Kopitar, Slavin, Datsyuk, and Gretzky demonstrate that the Lady Byng represents hockey intelligence. The ability to disrupt opponents, defend effectively, and compete at the highest level without sacrificing discipline creates a style of play that is both effective and admirable.

As hockey continues to evolve, with increased emphasis on speed, skill, and offensive creativity, the Lady Byng Trophy remains a reminder that how players compete matters as much as whether they win. In honoring gentlemanly conduct alongside high performance, the award celebrates the complete player: one whose excellence extends beyond statistics to encompass character, respect, and integrity.

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