Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin of Denver, Colorado won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy on Thursday. The award is presented to the player that is recognized for gentlemanly conduct (reasonable minimum number of penalties), and “high standard of playing ability” (overall skill). This is the second time in Slaavin’s career he has won the award, as he was previously honoured in 2020-21.
Historic Significance
Slaavin was the second defenseman in National Hockey League history to win the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy twice in his career. He previously was honoured in 2020-21. The only other NHL defenseman to win the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy twice was Detroit Red Wings blueliner Red Kelly of Simcoe, Ontario, who was honoured three times in his career. He won the Lady Byng Trophies in 1950-51, 1952-53, and 1953-54.
Only two other defensemen have won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. They were Bill Quackenbush of Toronto, Ontario, who was honoured while with the Red Wings in 1948-49, and Brian Campbell of Strathroy, Ontario, who was honoured while with the Florida Panthers in 2011-12.
Slaavin is one of seven Americans to win the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, and is one of two American players to win the award twice. The other American player to win the award on multiple occasions was Joe Mullen of New York City, New York, who won with the Calgary Flames in 1986-87 and 1988-89. The other five Americans to win the Lady Byng Trophy are New York Americans centre Billy Burch of Yonkers, New York (1926-27), Chicago Black Hawks centre Elwin Romnes of White Bear Lake, Minnesota (1935-36), St. Louis Blues right winger Brett Hull (1989-90), Calgary Flames left winger Johnny Gaudreau of Salem, New Jersey (2016-17), and Winnipeg Jets left winger Kyle Connor of Shelby Township, Michigan (2021-22).
Jaccob Slavin in 2023-24
In 2023-24 Slavin had six goals and 31 assists for 37 points in 81 games. He only had eight penalty minutes, and had three shorthanded points, one game-winning goal, 151 shots on goal, 120 blocked shots, 55 hits, 71 takeaways and 32 giveaways. Slavin’s game-winning goal came in a 5-2 Hurricanes win over the St. Louis Blues on April 12. Slavin put the Hurricanes up 3-2 at 7:53 of the third period. Sebastian Aho of Rauma, Finland and defenseman Tony DeAngelo of Sewell, New Jersey had the assists.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
