NHL: 25 worst award snubs in the history of hockey

25 Worst award snubs in NHL history: 2. Jarome Iginla Hart Trophy 2002

These two snubs for the Hart Trophy are undeniable. Let’s start with Jarome Iginla, who lost out on the Hart Trophy to Jose Theodore. The voters never pick a goalie to win the Hart Trophy. And now they are picking Theodore to win the award? In 2002? Iginla was the best player in hockey.

There is a rumor that one of the voters left Iginla off his ballot completely, which led to a tie in the standings. Was this done with impropriety in mind, or did someone actually think that Jarome Iginla, he of a league-leading 52 goals and a league-leading 96 points deserved to be left outside the top five for MVP consideration? It ended up going to a tie breaker, which Theodore won thanks to having more first-place votes.

It seems like something dubious happened with the 2002 MVP voting, and it led to the Writer’s Association changing the way people vote for the award. That’s what it took for Iginla to lose the award? It took someone leaving him off the ballot completely just to get him to lose.

It wasn’t just that Iginla was the best forward. Iginla was the best forward by a long shot. He had 11 more goals than anyone in the league. He was the most valuable player. The fact that he didn’t get the Hart Trophy doesn’t take that away from him.