BISHOP, HOLTBY AND QUICK VOTED VEZINA TROPHY FINALISTS
Ben Bishop of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals and Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings are the three finalists for the 2015-16 Vezina Trophy, which is awarded “to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at his position,” the National Hockey League announced today.
The general managers of the 30 NHL clubs submitted ballots for the Vezina Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters designated as finalists. The winner will be announced Wednesday, June 22, during the 2016 NHL Awards, hosted by actor Will Arnett, at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Following are the finalists for the Vezina Trophy, in alphabetical order:
Ben Bishop, Tampa Bay Lightning
After establishing a career high and franchise record with 40 victories in 2014-15, Bishop shared fourth place in the NHL with 35 wins this season. He also surpassed Nikolai Khabibulin (83) as the winning goaltender in Lightning history, finishing the campaign with 115 for Tampa Bay. Bishop paced the NHL with a 2.06 goals-against average and ranked second with a .926 save percentage, both career highs and single-season franchise records. His six shutouts also were a career high and tied for second place in the League. Bishop is a Vezina finalist for the second time after a third-place finish in 2013-14.
Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
Holtby equaled a single-season NHL record with 48 wins, tying the mark set by New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur in 2006-07, to backstop the Capitals to the 2015-16 Presidents’ Trophy as the League’s top regular-season club. Holtby, who tied a franchise record with 41 victories in 2014-15, became the seventh goaltender in NHL history to record consecutive 40-win seasons – and the first to do since San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov from 2007-09 (3x). The first-time Vezina finalist ranked fifth in the NHL in goals-against average (2.20), sixth in saves (1,661) and eighth in save percentage (.922).
Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings
Quick led all NHL goaltenders in appearances (68), starts (68) and minutes (4,034), and ranked second in wins (40), fifth in saves (1,671) and tied for fifth in shutouts (5) in 2015-16. He became the first Kings goaltender to reach 40 wins in a season, breaking his own club record (39, 2009-10). The Milford, Conn., native recorded his 41st career shutout March 14 at Chicago, passing Frank Brimsek (Eveleth, Minn.) and John Vanbiesbrouck (Detroit, Mich.) – both with 40 – for the most by a U.S.-born goaltender in NHL history. Quick is a Vezina finalist for the second time after a second-place finish in 2011-12.
History
Leo Dandurand, Louis Letourneau and Joe Cattarinich, former owners of the Montreal Canadiens, presented the trophy to the National Hockey League in 1926-27 in memory of Georges Vezina, the outstanding Canadiens goaltender who collapsed during an NHL game on Nov. 28, 1925, and died of tuberculosis a few months later. Until the 1981-82 season, the goaltender(s) of the team allowing the fewest number of goals during the regular season were awarded the Vezina Trophy.
Announcement Schedule
The three finalists for NHL trophies are being announced by NBCSN in the United States and Sportsnet/TVA in Canada on Stanley Cup Playoff broadcasts through May 7, during pregame programming. The series of announcements continues on Thursday, April 28, when the three finalists for the Frank Selke Trophy will be unveiled.
* Information provided via NHL Press Release
National Hockey League Press Release. Information provided from the NHL that describes various news releases that describe current events in the league.