Corey Perry Wins Hart Trophy As NHL's MVP

Ocimnet - LAS VEGAS — Corey Perry crashed the Sedins' NHL MVP party.

The Anaheim Ducks forward, who scored a league-best 50 goals, won the Hart Trophy on Wednesday night. His surprise win came at the expense of scoring champion Daniel Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks, who was trying to complete an unprecedented MVP double dip after his twin brother and teammate Henrik took the honors last year.

Perry wasn't planning on standing in the way.

"You didn't know what to expect coming in, and then all of a sudden you hear your name and you're like, 'Oh,'" Perry said. "It surprised me."

Perry's win capped the two-hour NHL Awards ceremony and a season in which he surged to the goal title, scoring 19 times in his final 16 games. During that stretch, Anaheim moved from 11th to fourth in the Western Conference.

"You always want to build on the year before and I think it's a steady increase," Perry said. "Hopefully it keeps increasing."

Perry got 67 of 126 first place votes from the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. Sedin had 51 first-place votes.

Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis, who won the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly and excellent play, was the third MVP finalist – well behind Perry and Sedin with only one first-place vote.

The Sedins didn't pull off the back-to-back MVP wins, but they do own the past two scoring titles. Daniel won it this season with 104 points – including 41 goals. He was second in the league with a plus-30 rating.

[via - huffingtonpost]