What We Learned: Even when they should, goalies won't get the Hart

There was a stretch in which a goaltender didn't win the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP for 34 years. 

Then a goalie won the award three times in six years to make up for it.

It makes sense that a goalie didn't win the award for a good stretch of that time. That was the era of Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, then Bobby Orr and Bobby Clarke, then Guy Lafleur, then Wayne Gretzky, then Mario Lemieux, before everything finally gave way to Dominik Hasek. You put up back-to-back .930 seasons when the league-average save percentage is in the low .900s — same as it is now — and also play 67 or 72 games, which Hasek did, they basically have to give you the award.

We might fondly remember those free-wheeling, high-scoring days, but surprisingly, the league actually had fewer goals per game back then compa