Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby was named the NHL’s most complete player, while Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand earned both best and worst trash-talker honors in the 2019-20 NHL Players Association poll released Tuesday.
The annual survey featured 588 current players answering anonymously, with questions ranging from most talented player at each position to best NHL mascot — an award that Gritty of the Philadelphia Flyers won with 69.5% of the vote.
Among the highlights:
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When asked whether they would be in favor of “relaxing the game-day dress code, similar to the NBA,” 73% of the NHL players polled supported it.
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When asked whether players should showcase their personalities on the ice with personalized equipment, only 53% of players were in favor of it; of those who supported it, 43.6% said they supported custom skate designs.
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Crosby won three categories: most complete player (45.4%), ahead of Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron (25.5%); the player his peers would most like to see on social media (26%); and the player they’d choose to win one game, as Crosby (44%) outpaced Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid (30.6%). For best forward, it was McDavid (68.3%) over Crosby (15%) in the voting.
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Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning (37.8%) captured best defenseman over Washington Capitals defender John Carlson (21.4%). Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price was named top goaltender for the third straight poll with 41.7% of the vote, topping 2019 Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy (17%).
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For the second straight season, Marchand was named the best trash-talker (25.7%) and the worst trash-talker (11%), with Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings ranking second in both categories.
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Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin and U.S. stars Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield were listed as choices for best female hockey player; Poulin won with 40% of the vote, ahead of Knight (36.3%).
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Montreal’s Bell Centre (31.8%) won best ice for the third straight season, while Edmonton (38%) was named the best visiting locker room.
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The Chicago Blackhawks won for best hockey jersey (28.3%), with the third-year Vegas Golden Knights tying the Original Six Toronto Maple Leafs for second (6.8%).
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Among other superlatives: Florida Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle was named funniest player (18%) for the second straight season; St. Louis Blues stars David Perron and Ryan O’Reilly (6.5%) won for “best bromance;” New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban (13.7%) was named the best social media follow; Canadiens forward Tomas “Tuna” Tatar earned best nickname (8.1%) for the second straight season; and Dallas Stars forward Joe Pavelski (16%) was named top golfer.
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Finally, Wayne Gretzky (32.8%) was named the player that NHLPA members would pay to watch. The question specified “past or present,” and McDavid (8%) was the only current player to make the top five.