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NHL MVP 2013: Alex Ovechkin Wins Hart Memorial Trophy

By Josh Hill

Apr 23, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) takes to the ice prior to the third period against the Winnipeg Jets at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 5-3 and clinched the Southeast Division championship. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 23, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) takes to the ice prior to the third period against the Winnipeg Jets at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 5-3 and clinched the Southeast Division championship. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 23, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) takes to the ice prior to the third period against the Winnipeg Jets at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 5-3 and clinched the Southeast Division championship. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 23, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) takes to the ice prior to the third period against the Winnipeg Jets at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 5-3 and clinched the Southeast Division championship. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

There have been some great names to win the NHL’s MVP award and Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin remains one of the best to take home the trophy. Ovechkin made 2013 the third time in his career he’s taken home the Hart Trophy as he was named the 2013 NHL MVP at the league’s award ceremony on Saturday night.

Ovechkin may not have been able to lead the Caps very far into the postseason but he was without a doubt one of the best players in the league this season after a slow start. That crawl out of the gate for Ovechkin was something that made his run later in the season even more incredible. He finished the season with 32 goals on the season with 23 of them coming in the final few weeks of the season.

Ovechkin is also joining some incredible company in being named the most valuable player in all of hockey. Past winners include Henrik Sedin, Joe Thornton and Sidney Crosby among others and that just among the recent winners. So many legendary players have taken home and hoisted the Hart Trophy dating back to Eddie Shore who first won the trophy back in 1937 to Gordie Howe in 1956 all the way up to guys like Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull, Wayne Gretzky and Dominik Hasek.

But while just being associated with those names is an honor in of itself, Ovechkin joins each of those names as well as other as a player to have won the Hart Trophy more than one time.

He hasn’t hoisted a Stanley Cup and he’s been bogged down by not having a stunning supporting cast like Sidney Crosby has, but Alex Ovechkin could very well be the best player playing in the game today, and the NHL believes he was the best player to have played the game this season.

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