Connor McDavid became just the sixth player in NHL history on Monday to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, given to the MVP of the NHL playoffs, despite not winning the cup.
The last player to accomplish the task was Jean-Sebastien Giguere in 2003, and McDavid was the first non-goaltender to do it since Reggie Leach in 1976.
That got me thinking about lacrosse players who may have been named MVP of the playoffs despite not winning the championship. I chose to look at the Minto Cup, Mann Cup, and the NCAA lacrosse tournament to see who may have done it.
Included in these awards are some of the greatest individual efforts to ever occur in the sport of lacrosse, along with some great entries for the lacrosse trivia books.
Minto Cup
The Jim McConaghy Memorial Award for the Minto Cup MVP has been won by a player from the losing side three times, though by just two players. No player has accomplished the feat since 1987.
1966 – Ken Winzoski, New Westminster Salmonbellies
Winzoski and the Salmonbellies fell to the dominant Oshawa Green Gaels dynasty in 1966, but Winzoski won the MVP award. The Salmonbellies statistics from this tournament are unavailable, though it is worth noting that Gaylord Powless led the Green Gaels with 27 points in 6 games.
Winzoski was later elected to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and was one of a short list of players to be named MVP of both the Minto Cup, and the Mann Cup. Ken passed away in 2007, read more about his career here.
1985 and 1987 – Paul Gait, Esquimault Legion
Paul Gait remarkably accomplished this task twice. In 1985, his Esquimault legion team lost to the defending champion Whitby Warriors. The Warriors were led in scoring by 1984 Minto Cup MVP Joe Nieuwendyk, who scored 22 points during the tournament in 1985.
Unfortunately, due to lost records, it is unclear how many points Gait had in that Minto Cup. But in seven playoff games that year in BC, he scored 24 goals and 16 assists.
In 1986, the brothers Gait won the Minto Cup with Esquimault, and Gary won the MVP award.
In 1987, Paul once again took home the MVP award, with the greatest statistical performance in the tournament’s history. In six games, Paul scored 29 goals, and finished with 58 points. Somehow, that was not enough to overcome the Joe Hiltz and Jamie Batley led Peterborough Maulers.
Mann Cup
The Mike Kelley Memorial Trophy, also known as the Kelley Medal, has been awarded to the Mann Cup MVP since 1941. It has been given to a player from the losing team seven times in the award’s history.
1941 – Clayton ‘Blackie’ Black, Richmond Farmers
Some of these older awards are a little difficult to understand with just the statistics. Black had 6 goals and 7 assists in a losing effort. The St. Catharines athletics won the Mann that year, but Black received the Kelley medal.
1944 – Ike Hildebrand, New Westminster Salmonbellies
Hildrebrand is a fascinating character who played 41 games in the NHL for the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks. He was just 17 years old when he won the Kelley medal for the Salmonbellies, but they lost to the Athletics again.
1964 – Bob Allan, Brooklin Merchants
The legendary Bobby Allan scored 12 goals and 16 assists in seven games for the Brooklin Merchants in the 1964 Mann Cup. That was nine points more than any other player in the series. The Vancouver Carlings won that year, led by Sid Warwick.
1967 – John Davis, Brooklin
The Kelley medal was split in 1967 between players from opposing teams. John Davis won the award for Brooklin with 11 goals and 5 assists, while John Cervi split it for the Vancouver Carlings with 4 goals and 13 assists. Cervi and the Carlings took home the cup.
1987 – Eric Cowieson, New Westminster Salmonbellies
In 1987, the medal was split again. Jim Meredith led Brooklin in scoring with 13 goals and 11 assists in 7 games, while Eric Cowieson co-won the award for the New Westminster Salmonbellies. He had 13 goals and 10 assists. Meredith and the Brooklin were victorious.
1988 – Bill Thomas, Coquitlam Adanacs
Thomas was the goaltender for the Coquitlam Adanacs, and stopped 81.35% of the shots he faced with a 9.12 goals against average. Brooklin won again however, led by leading scorer Gil Nieuwendyk.
2022 Curtis Dickson, Langley Thunder
Curtis Dickson is the most recent player to accomplish the feat, scoring 31 points in a losing effort for the Langley Thunder against the Peterborough Lakers. Dane Dobbie actually led the tournament in scoring with 32 points, but Dickson won the medal.
NCAA
The NCAA has been handing out an award to the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament since the late 1980’s. On the men’s side, it has been given to a player from a losing team five times. No women’s player has ever won the award from a losing team.
1981 – Jeff Cook, Johns Hopkins
Cook was the National Player of the Year in 1981 but could not lead Johns Hopkins over the North Carolina Tar Heels, who went a perfect 12-0. Cook scored 6 goals in the national championship game, but Hopkins lost 14-13.
1987 – Tim Goldstein, Cornell
Goldstein and the Big Red lost 11-10 in the national championship game to a Johns Hopkins Blue Jays team led by goaltender Quint Kessenich and defender Dave Pietremala. To get to the finals, they had to beat the Syracuse Orange team that featured both of the Gait brothers. The Gait brothers would go on to win the next three championships.
Goldstein scored 2 goals and added 6 assists in the national championship game, and set the record for assists in a season with 73.
1995 – Brian Dougherty, Maryland
Dougherty made 23 saves in the national championship game, 23 more in the semifinals, and 13 in the quarterfinals in one of the great goaltending performances of all-time. His Terrapins lost in the finals 13-9 to the Syracuse Orange, who were led by a dynamic attackmen named Casey Powell.
1996 – Michael Watson, Virginia
Watson scored 5 goals in the national championship game, but Virginia lost for the second time in three years to the Princeton dynasty and coach Bill Tierney. Here is a great story from the Washington Post from May 27, 1996.
The story features a quote from UVA coach Dom Starsia, which ends with, “one of these times we’ll get this thing right.”
Starsia would go on to win four NCAA titles.
2010 – Scott Rodgers, Notre Dame
In the NCAA tournament, Rodgers made 53 saves and allowed just 23 goals, good for a 70% save percentage. He made 16 saves against Cornell in the semi-finals and added another 15 saves in the national championship game against Duke.
Which of these was the best performance? Sound off in the comments below!