Have you ever wondered why the NHL's collection of individual awards -- at least most of the older ones -- are named after former executives rather than former players?
With the exception of the Vezina Trophy, named after Canadiens goaltending great Georges Vezina, the league's longer-standing awards are each named after general managers and owners of the pre-1967 expansion "Original Six" teams: namely the (Cecil) Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, (James) Norris Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy, (Frank) Selke Trophy and the Jack Adams Award. The (Frank) Calder Trophy is named for the first NHL president, who was one of the founders of the league.
There is no particular rhyme or reason to why certain awards -- such as the Selke, which is given to the best defensive forward -- are matched to particular namesakes. At least Jack Adams led the Detroit Red Wings to three Stanley Cups as its coach, so there is some logic behind that one.
I can even see the Calder being so named, because Calder was there for the foundation of the "rookie" league, overseeing it to maturity. On a more direct and less symbolic basis, he was also the man responsible for the creation of the Rookie of the Year Award that later bore his name. When you figure that the Calder is the one award a player can only win once in his career, it might make more sense to keep it named it for its donor rather than in honor of a particular player's rookie year.
However, if it were my decision to make, I would rename the award the Teemu Selanne Award after he announces his retirement. I doubt anyone will ever touch Selanne's 76-goal, 132-point rookie season scoring records. Beyond that, is also a symbolic way to honor the contributions that European players have made to the modern game.
As for the other awards, there really isn't much rhyme or reason to match the award namesake to the criteria for winning it. Art Ross, the namesake of the trophy for the league's leading scorer, was an innovate and skilled defenseman in the early years of the 1900s before he became an executive. So if you are going to name an award for Ross, shouldn't it be the one for the best defenseman? James Norris was never a player.
But Art Ross's playing days were so long ago that it predated the time when forward passing in the offensive zone was even legal in professional hockey. Ross greatest innovation as a player was to skate the puck up the ice himself rather than making a lateral or back pass. Thus, I don't think even the defensemen's award should be named for Ross. I'd call it the Bobby Orr Trophy, which even those who barely know hockey history would immediately recognize as an award for defensemen.
The award for the top scorer could be rightfully called either the Gretzky or the Lemieux Trophy. I'd call the scoring award the Lemieux Trophy and then rename the league MVP Trophy from the Hart to the Gretzky. The playoff MVP award should be the Gordie Howe Trophy in honor of Mr. Hockey rather than longtime Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe (whose team won eight Stanley Cups under his ownership in the Original Six era).
The Selke Trophy should be re-named either the Guy Carboneau or Bob Gainey Trophy for obvious reasons. They were the pre-eminent defensive forwards of their eras.
I'm fine with the Vezina name staying as is. The Maurice Richard Trophy is one of the newer ones, and is clearly appropriately named. Ditto the Masterton Trophy for the late Minnesota North Stars forward who died from an on-ice injury. The Adams can stay as is, but would probably more appropriately to the modern era have more instant purpose recognition as the Scotty Bowman Award.
The Ted Lindsay Award (MVP as chosen by his peers) was formerly known as the Lester Pearson Award. The decision to change the name in 2010 was a clear-cut example of renaming the award for someone more directly deserving of being the namesake than former Canadian Prime Minister Pearson, who happened to play and coach Canadian collegiate hockey in his younger years.
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