History
Frank Calder, the president of the NHL, in 1937 began buying a trophy which he personally presented to the league's outstanding first-year player.
After Calder's death in 1943, the league established the Calder Memorial Trophy for the same purpose. It is awarded to the player named "the most proficient in his first year of competition" in the NHL, as chosen by vote of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.
The original criteria were that a player could not have played in more than 25 NHL games in any single preceding season nor in six or more games in each of the two immediately preceding seasons.
The award created controversy in 1990, when it went to 31-year-old Soviet Sergei Makarov. The NHL then adopted a rule that candidates who have turned 26 or older on or before Sept. 15 of the season are not eligible.