St. Louis also had no illusions about the fact that the award was his because Crosby, who had a significant lead in the scoring race, had his season halted by an injury on March 30. He missed the final 12 games of the season.

"Sidney Crosby gets hurt and then you find yourself in a position to do something pretty cool," St. Louis said. "Sometimes it's not as good a year as you are having. There are things you can't control. When I won it in 2003-2004, I had 94 points and a couple of years later I had 102 and I wasn't even the best in the League. It's a combination of a lot of things. The fact that Sidney got hurt is a big reason I finished first.

"It's something no one can take away from you. It's in the books. I'm proud. I'm really excited about it. I'm not going to pretend I'm not."

Proud and excited, maybe, but St. Louis was adamant about one thing that can't be changed.

"I'd trade this trophy for the playoffs and a chance at the Stanley Cup," St. Louis said. "Trying to make the best of the situation and trying to play the right way and do the right things and hopefully you get some points along the way, but believe me, I'd trade that for a chance to be in the playoffs any day."