Connor Hellebuyck wins Vezina Trophy as NHL’s top tender
Connor Hellebuyck is now a two-time winner of the Vezina Trophy.
The Winnipeg Jets goaltender was named the NHL’s outstanding goalie in a landslide at the NHL Awards on Thursday.
In a nearly-unanimous selection, Hellebuyck received 31 of the 32 first place votes. Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks was second in voting by the league’s general managers. Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers received the only other first-place vote and finished in third place.
It’s the second major award for Hellebuyck this season as he also won the William M. Jennings Trophy after the Jets allowed the least number of goals in the regular season.
Hellebuyck was second in the NHL with 38 regular season wins, only one behind Colorado Avalanche tender Alexandar Georgiev. He had a 2.39 goals against average and ranked second in the league with a .921 save percentage in 60 appearances.
This was the fourth time Hellebuyck was voted a finalist. He won the award in 2020, finished third last season, and was the runner-up in 2017-2018.
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Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche was the big winner. He claimed the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player to his team and also won the Ted Lindsay Award for the MVP as voted by the players.
Hellebuyck was also sixth in voting for the Hart.
Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks took home the Calder Trophy as the rookie of the year. Winnipeg’s Joel Hofer of the St. Louis Blues finished tied for 11th in voting.
The Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes is the league’s best defenceman after winning the Norris Trophy. Jets blueliner Josh Morrissey finished seventh with 19 third place votes, 16 fourth place votes and 23 votes for fifth place.
