Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy

The Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, also known as the Rocket Richard Trophy,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is awarded annually to the leading goal scorer in the National Hockey League (NHL). It was donated to the NHL by the Montreal Canadiens in Template:Nhly and is named in honour of legendary Montreal Canadiens right winger Maurice "Rocket" Richard. First won by Teemu Selanne, it is currently held by Leon Draisaitl, who scored 52 goals during the 2024–25 NHL season.

History

File:Teemu Selanne on the ice November 2010.jpg

Teemu Selanne, inaugural winner of the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy

The Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy was donated by the Montreal Canadiens to the NHL in 1999, and was first awarded at the end of the Template:NHL Year. It is one of the newest of the NHL's trophies and is named in honour of the legendary right winger Maurice "Rocket" Richard, who spent his eighteen-season career with the Canadiens. He led the NHL in goal scoring five times and was the first NHL player to reach the 500-goal milestone. In Template:Nhly, Richard became the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals in one season, doing so in just 50 games, the latter feat achieved by only four other players since then. However, Richard never finished higher than second in points, his closest miss coming in Template:Nhly, when he finished one point behind teammate Bernie Geoffrion.<ref name="Richard history2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The winner of the Art Ross Trophy, given to the NHL's leading points scorer, often also wins the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player. In contrast, only Auston Matthews, Alexander Ovechkin, Corey Perry, and Connor McDavid have won both the Richard and the Hart trophies in the same season; Ovechkin has accomplished this three times, in Template:Nhly, Template:Nhly, and Template:Nhly. Eleven players won the Hart in the same season in which they led the league in goals before the Richard Trophy was first awarded.<ref name="Hart history">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> McDavid and Ovechkin are the only two player to have won the Hart, Rocket Richard, Art Ross and Ted Lindsay trophy in the same season.

Unlike the Art Ross Trophy, there are no tiebreakers for the Richard Trophy. As a result, it is possible for several players to share the award, such as when the Template:Nhly season featured a three-way tie between 41-goal scorers Jarome Iginla, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Rick Nash. The second time there was a tie for this award was in the Template:Nhly season, when both Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos scored 51 goals each to win this award. In the shortened Template:Nhly season, there was a tie between Ovechkin and David Pastrnak, though Ovechkin played in two fewer games than Pastrnak. Rick Nash is the youngest player to have won the trophy, being 19 years old upon receipt.

Auston Matthews (third Richard Trophy in Template:Nhly) and Alexander Ovechkin (ninth Richard Trophy in Template:Nhly) are the only players to have won the trophy at least three times. Only four other players (Pavel Bure, Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla, and Steven Stamkos, with two trophies each) have won it more than once.

Winners

File:Alex Ovechkin 1 Remix.jpg

Alexander Ovechkin, nine-time winner

File:Pavel Bure in Canucks uniform.jpg

Pavel Bure, two-time winner, the first repeat winner

File:Sidney Crosby 2013-02-02.JPG

Sidney Crosby, two-time winner

File:Jarome Iginla. 2008.JPG

Jarome Iginla, two-time winner

File:Steve Stamkos - Tampa Bay Lightning.jpg

Steven Stamkos, two-time winner

File:Auston Matthews 7.jpg

Auston Matthews, three-time winner

Key

• ^(#) Wins including leading goal scorers prior to the trophy's formal introduction
• * Season shortened by the 2012–13 NHL lockout
• ** Season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic

Season	Winner	Team	Goals	Games	Win #
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	47	75	1 (3)
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Florida Panthers	58	74	1 (2)
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Florida Panthers	59	82	2 (3)
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Calgary Flames	52	82	1
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Colorado Avalanche	50	82	1
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Columbus Blue Jackets	41	80	1
	Template:Sortname	Atlanta Thrashers	41	81	1
	Template:Sortname	Calgary Flames	41	81	2
Template:Nhly	Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	San Jose Sharks	56	82	1
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Tampa Bay Lightning	52	82	1
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Washington Capitals	65	82	1
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Washington Capitals	56	79	2
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Pittsburgh Penguins	51	81	1
	Template:Sortname	Tampa Bay Lightning	51	82	1
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Anaheim Ducks	50	82	1
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Tampa Bay Lightning	60	82	2
Template:Nhly*	Template:Sortname	Washington Capitals	32	48	3
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Washington Capitals	51	78	4
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Washington Capitals	53	81	5
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Washington Capitals	50	79	6
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Pittsburgh Penguins	44	75	2
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Washington Capitals	49	82	7
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Washington Capitals	51	81	8
Template:Nhly**	Template:Sortname	Washington Capitals	48	68	9
	Template:Sortname	Boston Bruins	48	70	1
Template:Nhly**	Template:Sortname	Toronto Maple Leafs	41	52	1
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Toronto Maple Leafs	60	73	2
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Edmonton Oilers	64	82	1
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Toronto Maple Leafs	69	81	3
Template:Nhly	Template:Sortname	Edmonton Oilers	52	71	1

See also

• List of past NHL scoring leaders
• List of NHL goal scoring leaders by season

References

General

• Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy info at records.NHL.com
• Maurice Richard Trophy winners at NHL.com
• Template:Cite book

Specific