There’s a reason why the NHL's top scoring award is named after a defenseman who played three games in the league and amassed a grand total of one goal. Art Ross donated the trophy that bears his name.

Born in Naugton, Ontario in 1886, Ross was a star on the ice in the year leading up to the NHL's inception. He was an amateur star in Montreal as a youth and was tempted west to Brandon, Manitoba where he suited up for a team called the Elks. Spotted by the management of the Kenora Thistles, he was added to the team's roster for it's successful Stanley Cup challenge in 1907, one that made the tiny Ontario town the smallest to ever emerge triumphant.

Returning to Montreal, Ross signed on with the Wanderers and spent the bulk of his hockey career as one of the toughest defensemen in the game, winning a second Stanley Cup in 1908 and spending a decade as their blue line leader. A prototypical rushing defenseman, Ross scored 16 goals in 1911-12 and 11 the next season, more than impressive numbers when you consider that he appeared in a total of 37 games in the two-year span.

His playing years extended to the dawn of the NHL and were ended by a fire that destroyed the Wanderers arena three games into the 1917-18 campaign, forcing the team out of existence and Ross into coaching, first with the short-lived Hamilton Tigers and later with the Boston Bruins, bringing the same competitive fire to his bench duties as he had shown in his playing days.

He spent 18 years behind the Bruins bench, a tenure that was interrupted on several occasions as he hired coaches to replace him but always returned to the coaching job when they were released. His seat at the Boston Gardens was close enough to the Bruins bench that players and coaches could benefit from his counsel throughout the game.

The Bruins first Stanley Cup triumph came with Art Ross behind the bench. He was also the team's GM for their first three Stanley Cup victories before retiring in 1954. He also led the team to ten finishes atop the NHL standings and was one of the 12 men enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945, the year the Hall opened.

In 1948 the Art Ross Trophy became the award given annually to the top NHL point-getter and has been one of the league's most coveted individual honours since Elmer Lach won it in the year it was first awarded.

Since then, it has been captured by many of the greatest names in the game, often several times by the same man over the course of his playing days. In fact, winning multiple Art Ross Trophies seems to give players a lock on Hall of Fame membership.

Every man who took it home more than once has taken his place among the immortals. Wayne Gretzky won ten titles and his idol, Gordie Howe, was a six-time winner as was Mario Lemieux. Jaromir Jagr (he's included because odds are he'll be admitted as soon as he's eligible) and Phil Esposito took home five scoring titles. Guy Lafleur and Bobby Hull earned three mentions each and both Dickie Moore and Bobby Orr topped all NHL scorers twice.

Ross was an innovator away from the ice. He recommended the NHL abandon natural rubber pucks in favour of synthetic ones, tougher and much more durable. He also designed the B-shaped nets that were in use until relatively recently. Ross’ net made life a little easier for goal judges in the days before slow-motion replays came into existence. Before the design change, pucks often entered and left the net at too high a speed for officials to determine if a goal had been scored or not. After the new nets were put into use, most pucks that crossed the goal line remained in the net once they came to rest.

Another Ross innovation had to do with the shape of the puck. Ross made a subtle change, bevelling the edges of the puck, making them less prone to chipping and far less destructive to players skin when the pinning disc struck exposed skin.

The man responsible for the Boston Bruins tradition of tough, rugged play passed away in 1964 but his influence on the game continued well beyond his death. In 1984, two decades after he died, Art Ross was named one of the winners of the Lester Patrick Award, given annually to those who have been of service to the game of hockey in the United States. Fittingly enough, it is named for one of Ross' Montreal Wanderers teammates.