Canadiens forward Cole Caufield thought he was in the Montreal locker room Friday to surprise teammate Nick Suzuki with the Frank J. Selke Trophy, but there was another card to be flipped.
Suzuki presented Caufield with the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, given annually to the NHL player “who best combines sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct and ability,” as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
Caufield, 25, scored a career-high 51 goals to go along with 88 points and just seven minor penalties for a total of 14 penalty minutes this season.
His penalty minutes tied for the fewest among the league’s 45 players who scored at least 30 goals.
Caufield is the first Canadien to win the more than 100-year-old award since Mats Naslund took it home in 1987-88 and only the third overall, joining Toe Blake, who won in the 1946-47 season.
He was the first 50-goal scorer for the Habs in 36 years. Montreal had their second-best standings points total in that span, finishing the season at 48-24-10 with 106 points. The Canadiens made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, falling in five games to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Stevens Point, Wis., native earned 776 voting points in a competitive race in which four players notched at least 20 first-place votes. Caufield got 45 top-place votes and was named on 113 of the 198 ballots.
Caufield was selected over Kings captain Anze Kopitar, who has won the award three times in five nominations, and Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson, a first-time nominee.
