Hart trophy nominees Daniel Sedin, Corey Perry and Martin St. Louis
Anaheim's Corey Perry, Vancouver's Daniel Sedin and Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis are finalists for the Hart Trophy given to the NHL's MVP.
The league announced Thursday that the three forwards were the top vote-getters in balloting by the Professional Hockey Writers Association after the regular season.
Sedin led the league in scoring with 104 points (41 goals, 63 assists) while teaming with his twin and linemate, Henrik, on the Canucks' dominant top line. Henrik Sedin won the award last season, giving them the chance to become the first brothers to win the Hart in consecutive years.
Perry won the Richard Trophy with an NHL-leading 50 goals, helping Anaheim move from 11th in the Western Conference to fourth. After keeping the Ducks afloat during captain Ryan Getzlaf's midseason injury absence, Perry scored 19 goals in Anaheim's final 16 games during a frantic playoff push, finishing third in the NHL in scoring with 98 points.
"You don't ever think coming into the season that you're going to have a season like I just went through," said Perry, who led the league in scoring after the All-Star break by a wide margin with 25 goals and 22 assists in 30 games. "It was a fun year, and everything had to fall into place for it. Just being a little more mature, getting a little older, the role that the coaching staff put me in gave me a little more confidence."
Perry is just the third Hart Trophy finalist in Anaheim franchise history.
St. Louis, the 2004 MVP, finished second in scoring with 99 points, getting 31 goals and a franchise record-tying 68 assists. He's also a finalist for the Lady Byng Trophy after amassing just 12 penalty minutes during his sixth 30-goal season.
The winner will be announced June 22 in Las Vegas.