Vezina Trophy

The Vezina Trophy is awarded every year to the National Hockey League's goaltender who is chosen as the best goaltender. At the end of each season, the 30 General Managers of the teams in the National Hockey League vote to determine the goaltender who was the most valuable to his team during the regular season. Before 1981, it was awarded to the goaltender(s) of the team allowing the fewest goals during the regular season; now, the William M. Jennings Trophy is awarded under this previous definition.

Vezina Trophy
Sport	Ice hockey
Given for	National Hockey League's top goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position"
History
First award	1926–27 NHL season
Most recent	Andrei Vasilevskiy Tampa Bay Lightning

History

The Vezina Trophy was named for Georges Vézina, a very good goaltender with the Montreal Canadiens. Vezina was ill with tuberculosis. He felt sick during a game in 1925. When Vezina died, the trophy was given to the League by the former owners of the Montreal Canadiens, Leo Dandurand, Louis Letourneau and Joe Cattarinich. It was first awarded at the end of the 1926-27 NHL season.

Until the 1980–81 season, the trophy was awarded to the goaltender(s) of the team that gave up the fewest goals during the regular season. However, this system often meant the trophy went to the goaltender of the better team rather than the individual. A change was made to offer the William M. Jennings Trophy to the goaltender(s) playing for the team with the fewest goals against. Since 1981, the Vezina Trophy has been awarded by the NHL General Managers to the most outstanding goaltender. Billy Smith of the New York Islanders was the first winner of the Vezina under the current system.

There have been numerous instances of players receiving the trophy many times in different years. Players have also tied for the trophy. Jacques Plante holds the record for winning the most Vezinas with seven. Bill Durnan and Dominik Hasek both of who have won six. Hasek has won the most under the current system of honouring the best individual goalie. Players for the Montreal Canadiens have won the Vezina 28 times.

Under the original definition, there would often be multiple winners from the same team during one season. In the 1973-74 NHL season, Tony Esposito of the Chicago Black Hawks and Bernie Parent of the Philadelphia Flyers finished tied for the fewest goals against, the only time that there would be a tie between two players from different teams.

There are only three players that have won both the Vezina and Hart Memorial Trophy for the same season: Jacques Plante, who won both trophies for the 1961–62 season; Dominik Hasek who won both for the 1996–97 and 1997–98 seasons; and Jose Theodore, who won the Vezina and Hart for the 2001-02 NHL season. Two other Vezina winning goaltenders have also won the Hart Memorial Trophy: Roy Worters and Al Rollins. Chuck Rayner was the only goaltender to win the Hart Memorial Trophy, but never the Vezina.

The voting is conducted at the end of the regular season by the 30 general managers of the teams in the National Hockey League. Each individual voter ranks their top three candidates on a 5-3-1 points system. Three finalists are named. The trophy is awarded at the NHL Awards ceremony after the playoffs.

1927–1981

When introduced, the Vezina Trophy was awarded to the goaltender, or goaltenders, of the team that gave up the fewest goals in regular season play.

Season	Winner	Team	Win #
1926–27	George Hainsworth	Montreal Canadiens	1
1927–28	George Hainsworth	Montreal Canadiens	2
1928–29	George Hainsworth	Montreal Canadiens	3
1929–30	Tiny Thompson	Boston Bruins	1
1930–31	Roy Worters	New York Americans	1
1931–32	Charlie Gardiner	Chicago Black Hawks	1
1932–33	Tiny Thompson	Boston Bruins	2
1933–34	Charlie Gardiner	Chicago Black Hawks	2
1934–35	Lorne Chabot	Chicago Black Hawks	1
1935–36	Tiny Thompson	Boston Bruins	3
1936–37	Normie Smith	Detroit Red Wings	1
1937–38	Tiny Thompson	Boston Bruins	4
1938–39	Frank Brimsek	Boston Bruins	1
1939–40	David Kerr	New York Rangers	1
1940–41	Turk Broda	Toronto Maple Leafs	1
1941–42	Frank Brimsek	Boston Bruins	2
1942–43	Johnny Mowers	Detroit Red Wings	1
1943–44	Bill Durnan	Montreal Canadiens	1
1944–45	Bill Durnan	Montreal Canadiens	2
1945–46	Bill Durnan	Montreal Canadiens	3
1946–47	Bill Durnan	Montreal Canadiens	4
1947–48	Turk Broda	Toronto Maple Leafs	2
1948–49	Bill Durnan	Montreal Canadiens	5
1949–50	Bill Durnan	Montreal Canadiens	6
1950–51	Al Rollins	Toronto Maple Leafs	1
1951–52	Terry Sawchuk	Detroit Red Wings	1
1952–53	Terry Sawchuk	Detroit Red Wings	2
1953–54	Harry Lumley	Toronto Maple Leafs	1
1954–55	Terry Sawchuk	Detroit Red Wings	3
1955–56	Jacques Plante	Montreal Canadiens	1
1956–57	Jacques Plante	Montreal Canadiens	2
1957–58	Jacques Plante	Montreal Canadiens	3
1958–59	Jacques Plante	Montreal Canadiens	4
1959–60	Jacques Plante	Montreal Canadiens	5
1960–61	Johnny Bower	Toronto Maple Leafs	1
1961–62	Jacques Plante	Montreal Canadiens	6
1962–63	Glenn Hall	Chicago Black Hawks	1
1963–64	Charlie Hodge	Montreal Canadiens	1
1964–65	Johnny Bower Terry Sawchuk	Toronto Maple Leafs	2 4
1965–66	Gump Worsley Charlie Hodge	Montreal Canadiens	1 2
1966–67	Glenn Hall Denis DeJordy	Chicago Black Hawks	2 1
1967–68	Gump Worsley Rogatien Vachon	Montreal Canadiens	2 1
1968–69	Glenn Hall Jacques Plante	St. Louis Blues	3 7
1969–70	Tony Esposito	Chicago Black Hawks	1
1970–71	Eddie Giacomin Gilles Villemure	New York Rangers	1 1
1971–72	Tony Esposito Gary Smith	Chicago Black Hawks	2 1
1972–73	Ken Dryden	Montreal Canadiens	1
1973–74	Tony Esposito1	Chicago Black Hawks	3
1973–74	Bernie Parent1	Philadelphia Flyers	1
1974–75	Bernie Parent	Philadelphia Flyers	2
1975–76	Ken Dryden	Montreal Canadiens	2
1976–77	Ken Dryden Michel Larocque	Montreal Canadiens	3 1
1977–78	Ken Dryden Michel Larocque	Montreal Canadiens	4 2
1978–79	Ken Dryden Michel Larocque	Montreal Canadiens	5 3
1979–80	Don Edwards Bob Sauve	Buffalo Sabres	1 1
1980–81	Denis Herron Michel Larocque Richard Sevigny	Montreal Canadiens	1 4 1

1982–present

Patrick Roy, three-time winner.

Dominik Hasek, six-time winner.

Martin Brodeur, four-time winner.

The NHL adopted the current criteria for the Vezina Trophy beginning in 1982. The William M. Jennings Trophy was created as a new award for the goaltender(s) of the team that surrenders the fewest goals in regular season play.

     Player is still active in the NHL

Season	Winner	Team	Win #
1981–82	Smith, BillyBilly Smith	New York Islanders	1
1982–83	Peeters, PetePete Peeters	Boston Bruins	1
1983–84	Barrasso, TomTom Barrasso	Buffalo Sabres	1
1984–85	Lindbergh, PellePelle Lindbergh	Philadelphia Flyers	1
1985–86	Vanbiesbrouck, JohnJohn Vanbiesbrouck	New York Rangers	1
1986–87	Hextall, RonRon Hextall	Philadelphia Flyers	1
1987–88	Fuhr, GrantGrant Fuhr	Edmonton Oilers	1
1988–89	Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy	Montreal Canadiens	1
1989–90			2
1990–91	Belfour, EdEd Belfour	Chicago Blackhawks	1
1991–92	Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy	Montreal Canadiens	3
1992–93	Belfour, EdEd Belfour	Chicago Blackhawks	2
1993–94	Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek	Buffalo Sabres	1
1994–95			2
1995–96	Carey, JimJim Carey	Washington Capitals	1
1996–97	Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek	Buffalo Sabres	3
1997–98			4
1998–99			5
1999–2000	Kolzig, OlafOlaf Kolzig	Washington Capitals	1
2000–01	Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek	Buffalo Sabres	6
2001–02	Theodore, JoseJose Theodore	Montreal Canadiens	1
2002–03	Brodeur, MartinMartin Brodeur	New Jersey Devils	1
2003–04		New Jersey Devils	2
2004–05	Season canceled due to lockout
2005–06	Kiprusoff, MiikkaMiikka Kiprusoff	Calgary Flames	1
2006–07	Brodeur, MartinMartin Brodeur	New Jersey Devils	3
2007–08			4
2008–09	Thomas, TimTim Thomas	Boston Bruins	1
2009–10	Miller, RyanRyan Miller	Buffalo Sabres	1
2010–11	Thomas, TimTim Thomas	Boston Bruins	2
2011–12	Lundqvist, HenrikHenrik Lundqvist	New York Rangers	1
2012–13	Bobrovsky, SergeiSergei Bobrovsky	Columbus Blue Jackets	1
2013–14	Rask, TuukkaTuukka Rask	Boston Bruins	1
2014–15	Price, CareyCarey Price	Montreal Canadiens	1
2015–16	Holtby, BradenBraden Holtby	Washington Capitals	1
2016–17	Bobrovsky, SergeiSergei Bobrovsky	Columbus Blue Jackets	2
2017–18	Rinne, PekkaPekka Rinne	Nashville Predators	1
2018–19	Vasilevskiy, AndreiAndrei Vasilevskiy	Tampa Bay Lightning	1

Vezina Trophy Media

• 

  Turk Broda, two-time winner.

• 

  Tony Esposito, three-time winner.

• 

  Patrick Roy, three-time winner.

• 

  Martin Brodeur, four-time winner.

• 

  Miikka Kiprusoff, one-time winner.

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  Tim Thomas, two-time winner.

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  Sergei Bobrovsky, two-time winner.

• 

  Carey Price, one-time winner.

Related pages

• List of NHL players
• List of NHL statistical leaders

References

General

• Vezina Trophy history at NHL.com
• Vezina Trophy history at Legends of Hockey.net

Specific