CANADIENS’ PRICE A FOUR-TIME WINNER AT 2015 NHL AWARDS
Honors Include Hart and Vezina Trophies as League’s MVP, Top Goaltender
Goaltender Carey Price, who backstopped the Montreal Canadiens to their best regular season in 26 years, was an historic four-time winner at the 2015 NHL Awards, held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Price captured the Hart Memorial Trophy as the most valuable player to his team, the Ted Lindsay Award for most outstanding player as selected by NHL players and the Vezina Trophy as the League’s top goaltender. He also accepted a previously-won honor, the statistics-based William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltender (min. 25 GP) on the club allowing the fewest regular-season goals. Price and Chicago’s Corey Crawford are the 2014-15 winners, as the Canadiens and Blackhawks both allowed a League-low 189 goals.
Price is the first goaltender ever to sweep these four awards in the same season.
The 27-year-old native of Anahim Lake, B.C., led the NHL in wins (44), goals-against average (1.96) and save percentage (.933), becoming the first goaltender to pace the League in all three categories since Ed Belfour in 1990-91. He also surpassed the Montreal franchise record for wins in one season (42), set by Jacques Plante in 1955-56 and equaled by Plante in 1961-62 and Ken Dryden in 1975-76.
With Price appearing in 66 of their 82 regular-season contests, the Canadiens (50-22-10, 110 points) finished second in both the Eastern Conference and the League’s overall standings, compiling their highest points total since a 115-point campaign in 1988-89.
Price was a runaway choice in Hart voting by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, receiving 139 first-place votes and appearing on 155 of the 157 ballots cast. He collected 1,498 voting points to outdistance second-place Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (888) and third-place John Tavares of the New York Islanders (739).
He dominated Vezina Trophy voting in near-unanimous fashion, garnering 27 first-place votes from the 30 cast by NHL General Managers. His 144 voting points placed him ahead of Nashville’s Pekka Rinne (60) and Minnesota’s Devan Dubnyk (28).
Price is the first goaltender to win the Hart Trophy since Montreal’s Jose Theodore in 2002 and becomes the seventh in League history to do so, joining Theodore, Dominik Hasek (1997, 1998), Jacques Plante (1962), Al Rollins (1954), Chuck Rayner (1950) and Roy Worters (1929).
[pb_vidembed title=”” caption=”” url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8S5ujzywDk” type=”yt” w=”600″ h=”485″]
Heading a pair of Calgary Flames representatives honored at the 2015 NHL Awards was Bob Hartley, who captured the Jack Adams Award as the League’s outstanding head coach. Hartley led the Flames (45-30-7, 97 points) to a 20-point gain in standings points over 2013-14, the highest jump among Western Conference teams and third-highest in the League overall, in capturing their first playoff berth since 2009.
Joining Hartley in the winner’s circle was Flames forward Jiri Hudler, who accepted the Lady Byng Trophy recognizing skill and sportsmanship. Hudler finished eighth in the NHL scoring race, establishing career highs in goals (31), assists (45) and points (76). The first-time NHL Trophy finalist was assessed just 14 penalty minutes all season, fewest among the League’s top 20 scorers.
Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron took home the Frank Selke Trophy as the League’s top defensive forward for the third time in four years, edging Chicago Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews by the narrowest margin in 2015 voting (1,083-1,051). Bergeron led the NHL in total face-offs (1,951), wins (1,175) and winning percentage (60.2%) and also ranked among the League’s top five forwards in a host of statistics that measure team puck possession while on the ice at five-on-five.
The closest three-way race in the this year’s balloting was for the Calder Trophy as the League’s top rookie, where Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad’s 1,147 voting points were just enough to hold off challengers Mark Stone of the Ottawa Senators (1,078) and Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames (1,026). Ekblad, the No. 1 overall selection in the 2014 NHL Draft, set club records for goals (12), assists (27) and points (39) by a rookie defenseman. His 39 points were two shy of the NHL record for an 18-year-old defenseman (at the start of the season), set by Bobby Orr in 1966-67 (13-28—41).
Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson won his second career Norris Trophy after leading all defensemen in scoring for the third time in four seasons (21-45—66). Karlsson, who previously captured the award in 2012, joins Chicago’s Duncan Keith as the NHL’s only active defensemen with multiple Norris Trophy wins.
Following his club’s most successful regular season ever, Steve Yzerman of the Tampa Bay Lightning received the NHL General Manager of the Year Award. After leading Tampa Bay to the Conference Finals in 2010-11, his first season in charge, Yzerman oversaw the rebuild to a roster that returned to the final four with just two holdovers from the 2011 squad, cornerstone center Steven Stamkos and defenseman Victor Hedman. Bolstered by key acquisitions through the draft, free agency and trades, the Lightning set franchise records with 50 wins and 108 points during the regular season. They also led the League with 262 goals and 32 home wins.
Minnesota Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk received the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Eight points outside of a playoff spot when he made his team debut on Jan. 15, Dubnyk backstopped the Wild — his fifth NHL organization in the past two seasons — to their third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He set a franchise record with 38 straight starts following his acquisition from Arizona, going 27-9-2 with a 1.78 goals-against average, .936 save percentage and five shutouts after joining the Wild.
Nine days after lifting the Stanley Cup for the third time in six years, Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews received the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award presented by Bridgestone in recognition of his commitment and service to charities in his community. Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks and Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings also were honored for outstanding leadership and community service. Burns received the NHL Foundation Player Award, while Zetterberg was honored with the King Clancy Memorial Trophy.
For the third consecutive season and the fifth time in his career, Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin received the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the League’s leading goal-scorer. Ovechkin became the sixth player in NHL history to record six 50-goal seasons, joining Mike Bossy (9), Wayne Gretzky (9), Marcel Dionne (6), Guy Lafleur (6) and Mario Lemieux (6). He also led the League and set a career high/franchise record with 25 power-play goals, while his 11 game-winning goals paced the NHL and matched a personal best.
The other statistic-based award was presented to Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn, who received the Art Ross Trophy as the League’s points leader (35-52–87). Benn, the first player in Stars history to win the scoring title, notched multiple points in five of his final six games of the season (7-8–15), including 10 points in his last three contests. The Stars captain established career highs in goals, assists and points, ahead of his previous highs of 34, 45 and 79, respectively, set in 2013-14.
Voting for these awards was conducted at the conclusion of the regular season. The Professional Hockey Writers’ Association (PHWA) cast ballots for the Hart, Norris, Selke, Lady Byng, Calder and Masterton Trophies. The 30 NHL General Managers voted on the Vezina Trophy. The NHL Broadcasters’ Association (NHLBA) submitted votes for the Jack Adams Award. Voting for the NHL General Manager of the Year Award was conducted among the 30 Club General Managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media. Results were tabulated by Ernst & Young with the exception of the Masterton Trophy (PHWA).
* 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.