The move didn't help the on-ice performance of the team very much.
They reveal the candid, petty assessments by an NHL executive on the league's on-ice officials' performances.
The winner is the player who best combines on-ice performance with success in school.
Both awards are independent of on-ice performance, unlike the Bobby Smith Trophy which combines performance with academics.
Mark Messier felt the unhappiness, heard the grumbling, and saw all of it followed by a dismal on-ice performance.
They were able to pull this off despite the poor on-ice performance by making each game a unique, fun family experience.
These are things that affect a team's on-ice performance, as Mark Messier has pointed out.
In a season pretty much rotten from the beginning, the last six weeks have been downright dreadful when it comes to production, if not on-ice performance.
Bobby Smith Trophy (Top academic player combined with on-ice performance)
Messier denies all of those things, admitting only to having let down his team with a poor on-ice performance, one he attributes mainly to injury problems.