The Northern Star Award,[1] formerly known as the Lou Marsh Trophy, the Lou Marsh Memorial Trophy[2] and Lou Marsh Award,[3][4] is a trophy awarded annually to Canada's top athlete, professional or amateur. It is awarded by a panel of journalists, with the vote taking place in December. It was first awarded in 1936, named in honour of Lou Marsh, a prominent Canadian athlete, referee, and former sports editor of the Toronto Star. The trophy is made of black marble and stands around 75 centimetres high. The words "With Pick and Shovel" (the name of Marsh's long-running Star column) appear above the engraved names of the winners.[3] The voting panel consists of sports media voters from across the country[5] including representatives from the Toronto Star, The Canadian Press, FAN590, The Globe and Mail, CBC, Rogers Sportsnet, CTV/TSN, La Presse and the National Post.[6]
The award has been awarded 81 times and won by 63 individual athletes and three pairs; in the voting for the 2018 Lou Marsh Trophy, it was decided in the future pairs should not be eligible for the trophy, thereby disqualifying Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir from consideration.[7] Wayne Gretzky won the trophy four times, more than any other athlete, while Barbara Ann Scott won the trophy three times, more than any other woman. It was not awarded from 1942 to 1944 due to World War II.
There were ties between different athletes in 1978 and 2020 with soccer player Alphonso Davies & American football player Laurent Duvernay-Tardif as the most recent co-winners.[8] In 1982, Rick Hansen was the auxiliary award of special merit winner (he won nine gold medals at the Pan-American Wheelchair Games) alongside first-time winner Wayne Gretzky, "who was the unanimous choice of the selection committee".[9]
On November 16, 2022, it was announced the award would be renamed from the Lou Marsh Award to the Northern Star Award "after concerns were raised about racist language used by Marsh, who died in 1936, during his years of sportswriting."[1]
Winners
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- Key
- * = Also won the Lionel Conacher Award as Canadian male athlete of the year
- ^ = Also won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canadian female athlete of the year
Winners by sport
Not included in this table are Terry Fox and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, as their respective wins were based on their social contributions, rather than their participation in a sport in general. Fox was awarded for the Marathon of Hope; Duvernay-Tardif was awarded for opting out of playing in the 2020 NFL season for the Kansas City Chiefs after winning Super Bowl LIV to work as an orderly at a long-term care facility during the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec.
| Wins | Sport | # of Individuals |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Ice hockey | 10 |
| 9 | Swimming | 9 |
| 8 | Figure skating | 7 |
| Track and field | 7 | |
| 6 | Alpine skiing | 5 |
| 4 | Gridiron football | 4 |
| Rowing | 4 | |
| Baseball | 3 | |
| 3 | Golf | 3 |
| Speed skating | 3 | |
| Basketball | 2 | |
| 2 | Kayaking | 2 |
| Shooting | 2 | |
| Soccer | 2 | |
| Wheelchair racing | 2 | |
| Auto racing | 1 | |
| Horse racing | 1 | |
| 1 | Biathlon | 1 |
| Bobsleigh | 1 | |
| Equestrian | 1 | |
| Freestyle skiing | 1 | |
| Harness racing | 1 | |
| Marathon | 1 | |
| Synchronized swimming | 1 | |
| Tennis | 1 | |
| Weightlifting | 1 | |
| Wrestling | 1 |
See also
Notes
References
- General
- Bob Ferguson, Who's Who in Canadian Sport, Fitzhenry and Whiteside Ltd., 2005, p. 532 (through 2004).
- "Winners of the Lou Marsh Trophy". The Globe and Mail. 11 December 2006. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
- "Lou Marsh winners". Toronto Star. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
- "Lou Marsh Memorial Trophy". Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
- Specific
- "There's a new name to honour Canada's top athlete — The Northern Star Award". The Toronto Star. 16 November 2022.
- "Lou Marsh Memorial Trophy". Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
- "Sidney Crosby wins Lou Marsh award". Toronto Star. 11 December 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
- "Sidney Crosby wins Lou Marsh Award". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 11 December 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
- Dave Perkins (12 December 2006). "Turin queen reigns in 2006". Toronto Star. Retrieved 12 December 2007.
- "Petitclerc wins 2008 Lou Marsh Award". The Sports Network. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
- Kelly, Cathal (11 December 2018). "Congrats to Kingsbury on the Lou Marsh Trophy. Now here's who should have won". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- "Davies, Duvernay-Tardif named co-winners of 2020 Lou Marsh Trophy". Toronto: The Sports Network. 8 December 2020. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
- "Another honor for Oiler star". 17 December 1982. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
- "Fox's courage earns him Marsh Award". 18 December 1980. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
- "Gretzky snares award again". 22 December 1983. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
- The Canadian Press (15 December 2009). "Crosby beats out Kucera, Nash for Lou Marsh Award". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on 18 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- The Canadian Press (14 December 2010). "Votto wins Lou Marsh Award as Canada's athlete of the year". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on 17 December 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
- The Toronto Star (14 December 2011). "Patrick Chan wins Lou Marsh award". The Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
- "Christine Sinclair wins Lou Marsh Award". 10 December 2012. Archived from the original on 18 July 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- "Stamps' Cornish wins Lou Marsh Award as Canada's Top Athlete". 9 December 2013. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
- "Bobsled pilot Kaillie Humphries wins the Lou Marsh award as Canada's top athlete". Winnipeg Free Press. 11 December 2014. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
- "Canadiens goaltender Price wins Lou Marsh Trophy". NHL. 15 December 2015. Archived from the original on 14 January 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
- "Price earns the Lou Marsh Award". Montreal Canadiens. 15 December 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
- "Swimmer Penny Oleksiak wins Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top athlete". The Globe and Mail. 13 December 2016. Archived from the original on 30 April 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- "Reds Slugger Joey Votto Wins Lou Marsh Award as Canada's Top Athlete". Sportsnet. 12 December 2017. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017.
- "Moguls skier Mikael Kingsbury wins 2018 Lou Marsh award - Sportsnet.ca". Archived from the original on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- Armstrong, Laura (9 December 2019). "Bianca Andreescu named unanimous winner of Lou Marsh Award". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
- "Damian Warner crowned Canada's top athlete of 2021 with Lou Marsh Trophy". CBC Sports. 9 December 2021. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- "Hockey star Marie-Philip Poulin named Canada's top athlete of 2022". CBC Sports. 7 December 2022. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- "Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins Northern Star Award as Canada's athlete of the year". Sportsnet. 11 December 2023. Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- "McIntosh wins 2024 Northern Star Award as Canada's athlete of the year after historic Paris Olympics". CBC Sports. 10 December 2024. Archived from the original on 10 December 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- "Gilgeous-Alexander named 2025 Northern Star Award winner". TSN.ca. 9 December 2025. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
External links
- The Lou Marsh Legacy: Honouring Canada's Top Athletes in the Virtual Museum of Canada