Patrick Kane becomes NHL's first MVP born and raised in the United States

Kane was the overwhelming selection for the Hart Trophy after his 106-point season

Patrick Kane's Hart Trophy win helped him make NHL history. Getty Images

Patrick Kane's history-making season ended with one more piece of hardware. After becoming the first American-born player to win the Art Ross Trophy as the league's scoring champion, he is now the first player born and raised in the United States to capture the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player.

The first American-born player to win the Hart was actually Billy Burch, who was born in Yonkers, N.Y., and won the award in 1925. Burch moved to Canada at a young age, however, and identified himself as a Canadian. Additionally, Brett Hull, who won the Hart in 1991 represented the United States internationally, but was born in Ontario. Kane was born and raised in Buffalo, playing every year of his amateur hockey in the United States, save for his pre-draft season in the Canadian junior ranks.

His victory comes at a time when American players are making their presence known in a bigger way in the NHL. Three of the six players named to the NHL's All-Rookie team were American-born, including Calder Trophy finalist Shayne Gostisbehere. Additionally, Scottsdale, Ariz., native Auston Matthews is expected to go No. 1 in this year's NHL Draft. He'd be the first since Kane in 2007 to go No. 1.

Despite the progress made by American players in recent years, with many more making their way to NHL rosters, the Hart Trophy had remained elusive.

That was until Kane won the award in a rout this year. The Blackhawks winger secured 121 first-place votes and 1,395 points from the Pro Hockey Writers Association, which chooses the MVP. The next closest competitor was Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, 595 points behind Kane with only 11 first-place votes.

Those results certainly reflect what was true of Kane on the ice. He was by far the best player in the entire NHL this season. He led the league in scoring by 17 points and was the first NHLer to eclipse 100 points since Evgeni Malkin did it with 109 points in 2011-12.

Kane's 106 points represented an 18-point increase from his previous career high. He also scored 46 goals, 16 more than his previous career best. On top of that, he was involved in 40 percent of the goals Chicago scored during the regular season. He also had points in a staggering 78 percent of his 82 games this year as he found the scoresheet in 64 contests.

Now at the age of 27, Kane has already won three Stanley Cups and the rest of his trophy cabinet is pretty stacked, too. He also has a Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) and Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) to add to this year's collection that includes the Art Ross, the Ted Lindsay Award (MVP as voted on by the players) and the Hart. He also was selected to the NHL's First All-Star Team for the second time in his career.

In addition to winning the Hart, Kane also set the record for longest point scoring streak by an American in NHL history. His 26-game run from Oct. 17 to Dec. 13 had people seriously wondering if he could find a way to catch Wayne Gretzky's 51-game mark. While Kane did not end up getting all that close, he did put up 40 points over that span. We haven't seen a stretch of dominance like that in the parity-driven NHL in quite some time.

The Blackhawks, despite all of their recent successes, had not had a Hart Trophy winner since Stan Mikita won it back in 1968.

While Kane's honor was historic, his season-ending accolades have also brought attention back to how his season began. Kane was the subject of a rape investigation after he was accused of assaulting a woman in his Buffalo-area home in August. After the lengthy investigation, no charges were ever brought against Kane, with the Erie County District Attorney stating there was no evidence to support the claim. The NHL also investigated the situation and found no reason for additional discipline against the forward.

Despite the absence of charges, Kane has remained the subject of great scrutiny and debate in the months since. That debate was renewed Wednesday, particularly on social media, in the wake of his being chosen for the league's highest-profile individual award.