Mark Messier Leadership Award

Mark Messier Leadership Award
Established	2006–07 NHL season
Current holder(s)	Zdeno Chara
Awarded to the	Individual who leads by positive example through on-ice performance, motivation of team members and a dedication to community activities and charitable causes.[1]

The Mark Messier Leadership Award is a National Hockey League (NHL) award that recognizes an individual as a superior leader within their sport, and as a contributing member of society. The award is given to a player selected by Mark Messier to honor an individual who leads by positive example through on-ice performance, motivation of team members and a dedication to community activities and charitable causes. It was first awarded during 2006–07 NHL season and sponsored by Cold-fX.

History

Sponsored by Cold-fX, the Mark Messier Leadership Award worked quite differently in its first season compared to most other trophies in the NHL. In 2006–07, five players were honored with monthly awards as selected by the NHL based on the qualification of potential recipients, while the final decision was made by Mark Messier.^[1] The league did not announce monthly winners in 2007–08. At the end of the regular season, one player is chosen as the Leader of the Year. The first winner of the annual award was Chris Chelios of the Detroit Red Wings.^[2]

The award was named after Mark Messier, a longtime player in the NHL. Messier is, to date, the only person to be the captain of two different teams that won the Stanley Cup, doing so with the Edmonton Oilers in 1990 and the New York Rangers in 1994.^[3]

Winners

Chris Chelios, the first winner of the annual award.

Year	Winner	Team	Month	Monthly Recipient	Team
2006–07	Chris Chelios[2]	Detroit Red Wings	November	Brendan Shanahan[4]	New York Rangers
			December	Scott Niedermayer[5]	Anaheim Ducks
			January	Sidney Crosby[6]	Pittsburgh Penguins
			February	Vincent Lecavalier[7]	Tampa Bay Lightning
			March	Roberto Luongo[8]	Vancouver Canucks
2007–08	Mats Sundin[9]	Toronto Maple Leafs	—
2008–09	Jarome Iginla	Calgary Flames	—
2009–10	Sidney Crosby	Pittsburgh Penguins	—
2010–11	Zdeno Chara	Boston Bruins	—

See also

• List of National Hockey League awards

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Leadership Award". Cold fX. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009132817/http://www.cold-fxusa.com/?q=leadership. Retrieved 2007-10-02. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Chelios named Messier Leader of the Year". TSN. 2007-05-30. Archived from the original on 2007-10-07. http://web.archive.org/web/20071007024741/http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=209350&hubname=. Retrieved 2007-10-05. 
3. ^ "Mark John Douglas Messier". Hockey Hall of Fame. http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=11108. Retrieved 2008-11-02. 
4. ^ "Shanahan wins leader award". CBC. 2006-11-14. http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2006/11/14/nhl-messier-shanahan.html. Retrieved 2007-11-30. 
5. ^ "Crosby takes starring role for week". The Sporting News. 2006-12-19. http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=160433. Retrieved 2008-11-02. 
6. ^ "Mark Messier hands Sid the Kid the monthly NHL leadership award". NHL. 2007-01-24. http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=287903&page=NewsPage&service=page. Retrieved 2007-10-02. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ "Vincent Lecavalier Receives Mark Messier Leadership Award, Presented By COLD-FX". Center Ice Magazine. 2007-02-20. http://www.centericemagazine.com/ss22.html. Retrieved 2008-11-02. ^{[dead link]}
8. ^ "Luongo receives Messier leadership award". Toronto Star. 2007-03-21. http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/194501. Retrieved 2007-10-02. .
9. ^ "Sundin Receives Messier Leadership Award". Toronto Maple Leafs. 2008-05-28. http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=364570. Retrieved 2008-05-29.