Vezina Trophy

Vezina Trophy
Established	1926–27 NHL season
Current holder(s)	Tim Thomas
Awarded to the	National Hockey League's top goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position"

The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the thirty NHL general managers vote to determine the winner. It is named in honour of Georges Vezina, goaltender of the Montreal Canadiens from 1910 until 1925, who died in 1926 of tuberculosis. It has been awarded annually since 1927.

History

Turk Broda with the Vezina Trophy in 1948.

The Vezina Trophy was named in honor of Georges Vézina, an exceptional goaltender with the Montreal Canadiens. Vezina collapsed during a game in 1925 and was diagnosed as having tuberculosis, of which he died in 1926. Upon Vezina's death, the trophy was donated to the League by the Canadiens' owners, Leo Dandurand, Louis Letourneau and Joe Cattarinich to honour Vezina permanently. It was first awarded at the end of the 1926–27 NHL season to George Hainsworth who was Vezina's immediate successor.

Donated in May 1927, the Trophy was initially to be awarded annually to the 'most valuable' goaltender in the league.

In 1946, the trophy was amended to go to the goaltender(s) of the team allowing the fewest number of goals during the regular season. This criterion was in place until the 1980–81 season. This system often meant the trophy went to the goaltender(s) of the better team rather than the individual, and the best goaltender would have been the player named to the NHL All-Star First Team, such as in the 1979-80 season when Don Edwards and Bob Sauve shared the Vezina while Tony Esposito was named to the First Team.

As a result, a change was made to offer the William M. Jennings Trophy to the goaltender(s) playing for the team with the fewest goals against. Starting with the 1981-82 season, the Vezina Trophy has been voted on by the general managers of the NHL teams 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, and players tying for the trophy during the period that it was awarded for fewest goals allowed. Jacques Plante holds the record for winning the most Vezinas with seven, followed by Bill Durnan and Dominik Hasek both of whom have won six, and Hasek has won the award under the current system of voting for the best individual goalie. Players for the Montreal Canadiens have won the Vezina 28 times. Under the criteria from 1946 to 1981, 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, and each individual voter ranks their top three candidates on a 5-3-1 points system. Three finalists are named and the trophy is awarded at the NHL Awards ceremony after the playoffs.

Winners

1927–1945

Harry Lumley, one-time Vezina winner.

Patrick Roy, three-time winner.

Dominik Hasek, six-time winner.

Jose Theodore, one-time winner.

Martin Brodeur, four-time winner.

Miikka Kiprusoff, one-time winner.

Tim Thomas, two-time winner.

When introduced, the Vezina Trophy was awarded to the most valuable goaltender in the league.

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

1946–1981

In 1946, the NHL Governors changed the criteria for winning to the team with the fewest goals scored against it during the season. The goalie playing the most games for the team was awarded the Trophy. The conditions were later amended to be given to goaltenders having played 25 games.

Season	Winner	Team	Win #
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 Esposito Bernie Parent1	Chicago Black Hawks Philadelphia Flyers	3 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

The NHL adopted the current criteria for the Vezina Trophy beginning in 1981-82. 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	Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy	Montreal Canadiens	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	Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek	Buffalo Sabres	2
1995–96	Carey, JimJim Carey	Washington Capitals	1
1996–97	Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek	Buffalo Sabres	3
1997–98	Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek	Buffalo Sabres	4
1998–99	Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek	Buffalo Sabres	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	Brodeur, MartinMartin Brodeur	New Jersey Devils	2
2004–05	ZZ2004–05 NHL lockout No winner	-	-
2005–06	Kiprusoff, MiikkaMiikka Kiprusoff	Calgary Flames	1
2006–07	Brodeur, MartinMartin Brodeur	New Jersey Devils	3
2007–08	Brodeur, MartinMartin Brodeur	New Jersey Devils	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

Notes

^ A. For the 1973–74 season, there was a tie between Tony Esposito of the Chicago Black Hawks and Bernie Parent of the Philadelphia Flyers, the only time that there has been a tie between two players from different teams.

See also

• List of National Hockey League awards
• List of NHL players
• List of NHL statistical leaders
• William M. Jennings Trophy

References

General

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

Specific