Crosby, 19, youngest MVP since Gretzky

TORONTO -- Sidney Crosby skated away with the Hart Trophy on Thursday night, becoming the NHL's youngest MVP since Wayne Gretzky.

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

"There's something above and beyond this I want to achieve but these are great honors," 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.

Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo was second with 25 first-place votes and 801 points. New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur was third with 21 first-place votes and 763 points, though he got to take home the Vezina Trophy for top goalie.

Crosby led the NHL with 120 points (36 goals, 84 assists) this season, earning him the Ross Trophy. Earlier in the evening, he won the Pearson Award, an MVP prize voted on by the players' union.

Vincent Lecavalier's 52 regular-season goals entitled him to collect the Maurice Richard Trophy.

The ceremony 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. Versus planned to air it later Thursday night.

The Calder Trophy for top rookie, went to Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin. The 20-year-old Russian beat out fellow Penguins player Jordan Staal and Colorado's Paul Stastny.

Crosby also was chosen as the center on the all-NHL first team with wingers Dany Heatley of Ottawa and Alex Ovechkin of Washington. Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom and Anaheim's Scott Niedermayer were the defensive pairing in front of Brodeur.

In other awards, Lidstrom won his fifth Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman, becoming the first five-time winner since Ray Bourque.

Rob Brind'Amour of Carolina won a second consecutive Selke Trophy as the league's top defensive forward, edging Samuel Pahlsson of the Stanley Cup-winning Anaheim Ducks and New Jersey's Jay Pandolfo.

Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk won the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship a second year in a row and Montreal's Saku Koivu won the King Clancy for humanitarian contributions.

Vancouver's Alain Vigneault won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year less than a year after he was hired from the AHL's Manitoba Moose.