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Victor Hedman voted winner of 2020 Conn Smythe Trophy

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Victor Hedman is presented with the Conn Smythe Trophy for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, becoming the 10th defenseman in NHL history to win the award after posting 10 goals and 22 points in 25 playoff games.

Victor Hedman will be going home to Tampa with two trophies this week.

Before he had his chance to lift the Stanley Cup, Hedman was voted winner of the 2020 Conn Smythe Trophy. The award is given to the NHL postseason MVP and voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

“That last period was probably the longest period of my life,” Hedman said after Tampa’s 2-0 Cup-clinching win in Game 6. “I’m at a loss for words. You obviously wish your family and fans could be here, but we felt the support from back home.”

Hedman led all blue liners in the postseason with 10 goals and finished with 22 points in 25 games. Only two defenseman -- Paul Coffey (12) and Brian Leetch (11) -- scored more goals in a single playoff than Hedman.

The 29-year-old Hedman is now the 10th different defenseman to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, joining Duncan Keith, Scott Niedermayer, Nicklas Lidstrom, Scott Stevens, Brian Leetch, Al MacInnis, Larry Robinson, Bobby Orr, and Serge Savard.

He joins Brad Richards as the only Conn Smythe Trophy winners in Lightning franchise history and is only the third Swedish-born play to ever win it after Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg.

PHWA VOTE TOTALS
Victor Hedman 70 points (9-8-1)
Brayden Point 66 points (8-8-2)
Nikita Kucherov 25 points (1-2-14)
Andrei Vasilevskiy 1 point (0-0-1)

Voting was scored in a 5-3-1 points format and ballots were due with 10 minutes remaining in Game 6.

MORE: Lightning win Stanley Cup by smothering Stars in Game 6

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.