Lady-Byng: Cole Caufield showed some love to Johnny Gaudreau

Félix Forget
Lady-Byng: Cole Caufield showed some love to Johnny Gaudreau
Credit: Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

This morning, it was announced that Cole Caufield has won the Lady Byng Trophy for the 2025–26 season. The small Habs forward, who scored 51 goals this season, won the award, which recognizes sportsmanship and the ability to perform on the ice.

He edged out Anze Kopitar and Jake Sanderson in the voting.

And after the official announcement, Caufield (just like Nick Suzuki, who won the Selke Trophy) chatted briefly with the media. He took the opportunity to pay tribute to two former recipients of the trophy: his coach, Martin St-Louis… and Johnny Gaudreau.

Caufield praised Gaudreau as a person, saying that everyone wanted to be around him. He also added that he thinks Gaudreau would be proud of him today.

We know the two were very close… and that Caufield has long idolized Gaudreau. So it's quite touching to hear him say such things today.

Remember that Gaudreau, who had a reputation as a gentleman and was a true talent on the ice, won the Lady Byng Trophy in 2016-17. That year, he racked up 61 points in 72 games… while racking up just four penalty minutes.

The low number of penalty minutes is often a deciding factor: Caufield, for his part, had only 14 this season.

Caufield also had kind words for his coach, saying that it's inspiring for him to see how St. Louis conducts himself on a regular basis. He's impressed by how the coach handles the Montreal market, as well as his group of players.

And we know that St. Louis, just like Gaudreau, was a major source of inspiration for Caufield when he was younger. And like his two role models, he is now a Lady Byng Trophy winner.


In Brief

– Cliff Fletcher has passed away.

– Interesting.

– Could the Dodgers trade him?

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