Sidney Crosby skated away with the Hart Trophy last night, becoming the NHL’s youngest MVP since Wayne Gretzky.

The vote wasn’t even close. The 19-year-old Pittsburgh captain - who received his trophy from six-time winner Gordie Howe - got 91 first-place votes and 1,225 points in a poll of Professional Hockey Writers’ Association members.

"To get that from him was obviously a huge honor. Everyone knows the history and what he’s done for the game," said Crosby, who led the Penguins to a 105-point season, second-best in team history, before they were eliminated in the first round by Ottawa.

Gretzky won his first Hart with Edmonton in 1980 and followed it with seven more in a row at the start of an unparalleled 20-year career during which he won the Hart a record nine times. When Gretzky won for the first time, he was five months younger than Crosby, who turns 20 in August.

The Hart was given out at the end of the awards ceremony, which was supposed to be shown live in the United States on cable channel Versus, but a technical glitch prevented the station from showing the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s live feed.

Crosby began the evening with a trophy, too. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave the Pearson Award, an MVP prize voted on by the players’ union, to the teenager from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia.

Martin Brodeur took home the Vezina Trophy for top goalie. He was also chosen as the goalie on the all-NHL first team. Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom and Anaheim’s Scott Niedermayer were the defensemen, and wingers Dany Heatley of Ottawa and Alex Ovechkin of Washington were forwards along with, yep, Crosby.

Crosby led the NHL with 120 points (36 goals, 84 assists) this season, earning him the Ross Trophy and making him the seventh in league history to win the Hart, Pearson and Ross.

● FLAMES HIRE KEENAN: Mike Keenan was hired to his eighth league coaching job by the Clagary Flames.

Keenan agreed to a three-year deal to replace Jim Playfair, who will remain as an assistant after leading the Flames to the playoffs.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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