Movement to have Lady Byng trophy renamed in honor of Johnny Gaudreau is gaining traction

An online movement to have the NHL's Lady Byng Trophy renamed in honor of Johnny Gaudreau is gaining traction around the NHL.

The Lady Byng Trophy, awarded annually to the "player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability." In effect it's a 'most sportsmanlike award' named in honor of a woman who was married to the Governor General of Canada. Lady Byng herself had nothing to do with the sport of hockey, she was merely married to a high ranking Canadian official and that was enough to have her name enshrined on an NHL trophy for all of eternity, apparently.

Interestingly enough, the Lady Byng Trophy tuns 100 in 2025. I say it's time for a makeover.

The Lady Byng is the only major trophy won by Gaudreau during his NHL career and he's the ultimate example of a gentlemanly player. Renaming the trophy in his honor is appropriate in so many ways.

NHL insider Michael Russo, who has ties to NHL executives like Gary Bettman and Bill Daly, on what it would take to rename the trophy:

Anything that is done in that vein — and that’s not the first time I’ve heard that suggestion with respect to some of the other great all-time players — we would go to the general managers probably first, and we probably would need board approval second. I don’t think any of those ideas have been raised from time to time. I would say they’ve been kicked around from time to time. Never really gained a whole lot of traction. So I wouldn’t want to handicap what the prospects of the change in trophy names would look like.

- Michael Russo

There's even an online petition to have the trophy renamed:

Here's my idea...

The Lady Byng turns 100 in 2025, let's retire the name and unveil the Johnny Gaudreau Memorial Trophy for 2025-26. Even better though... let's change up how it's awarded. Let's get real... the players don't care about the Lady Byng. I think that that has a lot to do with the fact that the media votes on the winner. They simply look at penalty minutes, think about who's a good guy to chat with and then cast their votes. It's a farce. The NHL players themselves should be voting on the most sportsmanlike player. After all, who would know best?