Since 1933, the NHL has had an awards ceremony for the league’s best players. One such award that betting fans have enjoyed wagering on is the Calder Memorial Trophy. The Calder Memorial Trophy was named after founding NHL Commissioner Frank Calder who ran the NHL from 1917 to 1943. Sports betting fans have come to know the Calder Memorial Trophy as the honour given to the league’s best player in their first year.

The first ever Calder Memorial winner was Carl Voss in 1933. However, the first ever winner to receive the trophy was Syl Apps during the 1936 to 1937 NHL season. Voting on the Calder Memorial Trophy is done by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The PHWA also does the voting for the other trophies awarded each June after the Stanley Cup final concludes.

Throughout the history of the NHL, some of the league’s greatest players have gone on from winning the Calder to winning the Stanley Cup and other great trophies the NHL has to offer. In the 1990 season, Sergei Makarov of the Calgary Flames won the Calder Memorial Trophy although he was 31 at the time. A few years later, the rules changed to make the Calder a trophy for players 26 and younger.

Another stipulation for the Calder Memorial Trophy is that regardless of if you are between 18 and 26 years of age, you must not have played a maximum of 25 games in the NHL in the season prior to your rookie season. What has been the case in years past, is a player could participate in more than 25 games in the year prior and still be considered a rookie. As well prior to the 1980s, the rules stipulated, that a player couldn’t have participated in six or more games in any professional league.

This last stipulation came under criticism in the 1979-1980 season as Wayne Gretzky a member of the Edmonton Oilers, had scored 137 points in the WHA the year prior to his rookie season in the NHL. Since the WHA was the NHL’s competition, Gretzky was seen as violating the six or more games rule.