On Monday, September 21, the National Hockey League announced its major individual award winners for the 2019-20 season. Voted upon prior to the league’s restart following the COVID-19 pause, the awards were presented with zero consideration given to playoff performance.
The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually “to the player adjudged to be the best at his position” throughout the course of the season. It is voted upon by the 31 league general managers, and out of a pool of three finalists, one winner is announced.
-
Ep 57: Conference Finals, Dubas Out, Coyotes Wandering
by Full Press Coverage on May 23, 2023 at 11:38 am
Jim and Chris discuss the Conference Finals, the departure of Kyle Dubas […]
In mid-July, the league announced that Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck, Boston’s Tuukka Rask and Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy had been named finalists. On Monday, the numbers were released with Hellebuyck receiving 19 of a possible 30 first-place votes, and garnering up 123 total votes, finishing above Rask (99 points and 10 first-place votes) and Vasilevskiy (31 points and one first-place vote). The voting is weighted on a 5-3-1 points scale.
“It’s very rewarding,” Hellebuyck said post-announcement. “It’s almost a little bit of a sigh of relief because I was so close last time; I wanted it so badly. This year was such a mental grind, but also so fun. I would have liked for the playoffs to go a little better, but when I’m looking back on this year, I’m going to say that we did some great things.”
From runner-up in 2017-18 to Vezina Trophy winner in 2019-20, Hellebuyck is sticking to the same story: one of a long-time dream of winning both a Vezina Trophy and a Stanley Cup.
“It almost feels like I’m getting a little bit of a monkey off my back after saying that,” Hellebuyck laughed. “Now I’m really am looking forward to the next one and the next is going to be glorious. That’s winning a Cup. But it’s not going to be easy and it’s not going to be just me. There’s going to be a whole team in front of me that are all going to have to buy in, kind of like we did this year, and just battle and grind. We have the locker room for it, it’s only going to get better and I’m really excited for that grind.”
Latest Jets News
- NHL Insights: New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Calgary Flames
- NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, Los Angeles Kings
- 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs Results: April 24th
- 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs Results: April 22nd
- 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs Results: April 20th
Hellebuyck, 27, was actually eating dinner with his family and girlfriend while taking in the award show when the announcement of his award recognition was made.
“It was just one of those moments where I couldn’t believe that it actually happened,” he said. “Everyone had a big smile on their face and they were all clapping. It was just a proud moment, and a huge moment in my life.”
In collecting the major award, the fifth-year NHL backstop became the first Winnipeg Jet to ever earn that particular trophy, while also becoming the first Jets player to take home any major individual award since Teemu Selanne‘s Calder Trophy in 1993. More recently, Dany Heatley (2001-02) won the Calder Trophy as a member of the Atlanta Thrashers, while Ilya Kovalchuk won the Rocket Richard in 2003-04, also with the Thrashers.
Going 31-21-5, Hellebuyck put up a 2.57 goals against average, .922 save percentage, and a league-best six shutouts. He allowed two or fewer goals in 32 of his 58 games last season. Hellebuyck was first amongst all goaltenders in shots faced (1,796), saves (1,656) and games played (tied with Carey Price).
“I think my whole game has kind of sculptured itself,” Hellebuyck said on his collective strides to the Vezina Trophy. “I’ve tightened up a lot of things. I think the biggest and most important part is my mind and my mental game. It’s gotten a lot calmer. I only care about the things that I need to care about and I focus on the things I need to focus on, and I got some experience under the belt. I don’t let my mind and the roller coaster happen too big.”
On top of taking home the Vezina Trophy, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Michigan product was also announced as a first-team all-star for the 2019-20 season, while he was revealed to have finished sixth overall in Hart Trophy voting with 283 total points, including three first-place choices.
Winnipeg’s 2012 fifth-round draft selection beat out Rask – who went 26-8-6 on the season while finishing first in GAA (2.12) and second in both save percentage (.929) and shutouts (five) – as well as Vasilevskiy – who led the league in wins for the third-straight season (35) while boasting a 2.56 GAA and a .917 save percentage and three shutouts.
2020 Vezina Trophy voting (1st-2nd-3rd)
1. Connor Hellebuyck, WPG 123 (19-9-1)
2. Tuukka Rask, BOS 99 (10-15-4)
3. Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL 31 (1-3-17)
4. Jacob Markstrom, VAN 7 (0-1-4)
5. Elvis Merzlikins, CBJ 4 (0-1-1)
-
Ep 57: Conference Finals, Dubas Out, Coyotes Wandering
by Full Press Coverage on May 23, 2023 at 11:38 am
Jim and Chris discuss the Conference Finals, the departure of Kyle Dubas […]
-
Ep 56: Leafs, Oilers, Eastern Conference Preview
by Full Press Coverage on May 16, 2023 at 12:21 am
Jim and Producer Ian discuss the Leafs and Oilers early exits and they […]
-
Eastern Conference and Western Final Previews and More NHL Talk
by Full Press Coverage on May 18, 2023 at 11:00 pm
Full Press NHL Podcast with Jim Biringer and Vox Media AM/FM NHL Analyst […]
-
Taking a Trip Around the NHL as Changes Fill The Air
by Full Press Coverage on May 17, 2023 at 5:10 pm
Jim is back once again joined by Russ Cohen of Sportsology and Buffalo […]
-
Ep 83: Stanley Cup Playoffs Are Here; Can Bruins Keep Up Pace?
by Full Press Coverage on April 17, 2023 at 4:06 pm
Ian and Chris are back to give their thoughts on the Stanley Cup Playoffs, […]
-
Ep 82: Bruins Set Wins Record, Pasta Hits 60, Playoffs Around The Corner
by Full Press Coverage on April 10, 2023 at 2:27 pm
Ian and Chris react to the Bruins 63rd win of the season, David Pastrnak's […]
-
The Hockey World Revolves Around Toronto
by Jim Biringer on May 23, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Jim is back for a fourth season of the Final Word on Hockey as he is […]
-
S4Ep28 - Stanley Cup Playoffs - Conference Final Preview
by Jim Biringer on May 16, 2023 at 7:28 pm
Jim is back for the fourth season of the Final Word on Hockey previewing […]
-
Stars at Golden Knights
by Broken Controller Media on May 27, 2023 at 4:05 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
-
Golden Knights at Stars
by Broken Controller Media on May 25, 2023 at 12:35 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
-
Hurricanes at Panthers
by Broken Controller Media on May 24, 2023 at 4:00 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
-
Golden Knights at Stars
by Broken Controller Media on May 23, 2023 at 4:00 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
-
Episode #141: Tend The Goal
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 2:24 pm
The 2023 AHL Calder Cup Playoffs have reached its final four teams, and […]
-
Episode #140: Stone Cold's 4th Line
by Full Press Coverage on May 23, 2023 at 1:41 pm
And then, there were four. The 2023 AHL Division Finals have concluded, […]
-
Renegades Of Puck Ep 766
by Charlie Saunier on May 28, 2023 at 7:01 am
Ep 766 The Renegades Of Puck Recap Game 2 Preview Game 3 Milwaukee […]
-
Renegades Of Puck Ep 765
by Charlie Saunier on May 26, 2023 at 11:23 pm
Ep 765 The Renegades Of Puck Recap Game 1 Preview Game 2 Milwaukee […]
-
Full Press Hurricanes - Thursday, May 25th
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 4:00 pm
The Carolina Hurricanes are eliminated in four games in the Eastern […]
-
Full Press Kraken - Thursday, May 25th
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 3:15 pm
Taking a look at Vince Dunn’s season Learn more about your ad choices. […]
-
Full Press Blackhawks - Thursday, May 25th
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 1:15 pm
What team blueprint should the Blackhawks follow and what is will the […]
-
Renegades Of Puck Ep 764
by Charlie Saunier on May 24, 2023 at 5:19 am
Ep 764 The Renegades Of Puck Preview AHL WCF Milwaukee Admirals Vs […]
-
5/26 - Celtics Force Game 6; Mahomes QB List
by Full Press Coverage on May 26, 2023 at 2:12 pm
Ian and John discuss the Celtics big Game 5 win the Top 5 quarterbacks of […]
-
5/25 - Panthers Advance To Stanley Cup Finals; Celtics/Heat
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 3:00 pm
Ian and John discuss the Celtics and the Heat and welcome in Jim Bringer […]
-
5/24 - Lakers Eliminated, Celtics Force Game 5
by Full Press Coverage on May 24, 2023 at 2:08 pm
Ian and John discuss the Lakers loss to the Nuggets in the Western […]
-
5/22 - Celtics, Lakers Face 0-3 Deficit
by Full Press Coverage on May 22, 2023 at 1:58 pm
Ian and John react to the Celtics and Lakers being down 0-3 in their […]