2. Wayne Gretzky (1988-89)
Sometimes, the Hart Trophy is all about politics. It certainly was in 1989. The previous year, Wayne Gretzky’s run of eight Hart Trophy wins ended at the hands of Mario Lemieux. It was deserved, as Lemieux outscored Gretzky by 30 goals and also had 19 more points on a far less talented team than the 1980’s dynasty Oilers.
A year later, naturally, Gretzky got it back. This should surprise nobody. And Gretzky had a pretty good year. In his first season with the Los Angeles Kings, The Great One scored 58 goals and had 114 assists for 168 points. Gretzky had an incredible season but he shouldn’t have won the Hart Trophy.
Who should have won: Mario Lemieux. Super Mario had the most prolific season of his glorious NHL career in 1988-89, setting career highs in goals (85), assists (114), and points (199). He led the league in each category. That season, Lemieux’s Penguins scored 347 goals. By himself, Mario Lemieux accounted for well over 20% of his team’s goals. And he was involved in over 50% of them.
What’s odd is Lemieux’s Penguins didn’t make the playoffs in 1987-88, yet he still won the Hart Trophy by a pretty comfortable margin. Mario had a much better season in 1988-89, yet didn’t repeat as the Hart Trophy winner? Despite scoring 31 more goals, having the same number of assists, and having 31 more points than Gretzky?
Why Gretzky won: Voters felt sorry for Gretzky… for some reason.