[Report] Bishop, Holtby, Quick voted Vezina Trophy finalists

[-Vintage Canuck-]

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NEW YORK -- 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.

 

A full lineup of presenters and entertainment, information on broadcasting and tickets, as well as hospitality and travel packages through PrimeSport will be announced at a future date. In addition, fans can tweet about the event using the official hashtag #NHLAwards.

https://www.nhl.com/news/vezina-trophy-finalists-announced/c-280492602

[Monty]

Holtby wins, only because anyone else winning wouldn't make a lick of sense.

[HerrDrFunk]

It'll be Holtby....obviously.

[DJSkingz]

Holtby is the obvious choice after the season he had. Never saw him becoming as good as he is honestly. Good for him.

[Bissurnette]

Holtby no doubt in my mind

[Jaku]

It has to be Holtby, there was no one even close to the level Holtby was playing at this year.

[pluralsight]

I'm surprised that Jonathan "I'm so sensitive" Quick made the list. I thought Bobby Lu and Corey Crawford were more deserving of a nomination. 

[Honeydew]

If anyone else other than Holtby wins then wow.

[proheffanol]

See I was thinking of doing a poll like this, but I figured you would do this at some point so I didn't bother haha! 

 

My vote though is for Holtby obviously, but Bishop does certainly at least deserve the nomination. He carried Tampa into a playoff spot. 

[Winter Soldier]

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Unlike a year ago when Montreal's Carey Price was the no-doubt-about-it winner of the Vezina Trophy, the 2015-16 season had no sure thing.

I'm still waiting for the punchline. 

[HC20.0]

Holtby. Gotta be Holtby.

 

How the hell did Quick get a nomination, but not Crawford, Luongo, or Schneider? The NHL is full of morons. 

[Winter Soldier]

56 minutes ago, HC20.0 said:

Holtby. Gotta be Holtby.

 

How the hell did Quick get a nomination, but not Crawford, Luongo, or Schneider? The NHL is full of morons. 

It's an award nominated and awarded by the General Managers so I don't know what exactly slagging the league accomplishes. 

[Riviera82]

I'd say Holtby would be a shoe-in for the win but his lack of shutouts might hurt his chances. It's just window dressing but it still counts.

[Coconuts]

Bishop had some good numbers but things will be absolutely bonkers if the winner is anyone but Holtby. He was on a level of his own this season.

[Moonshinefe]

It isn't close this year. Holtby by a large margin.

 

If Price stayed healthy and kept his play up to the level it was, it might be close, but I don't think any other goalie is quite as good as those 2 on their games at the moment. Their reading of plays and positioning are just things of beauty.

[poetica]

I really don't understand these nominees. Apparently they didn't go off of just stats, games played, or even the team in front of the goalie. Just who is talked about and liked most I guess. Otherwise several goalies would have been ahead of Quick (including Schneider and Luongo.)

 

Of these nominees (and probably even if I could amend the list) I'd say Bishop should win it.  But we all know Holtby will win it because that was apparently decided shortly after Price went down. It doesn't matter that he doesn't deserve it.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

I think Braden Holtby is the obvious choice here.