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Who should win the Vezina Trophy? |
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Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
On Tuesday afternoon Pekka Rinne, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Connor Hellebuyck were announced as the finalists for the Vezina Trophy. In this edition of the hotstove, we share our thoughts on who should come out on top.
Todd Cordell
Of the group, Rinne has the highest save percentage, high-danger save percentage, and the largest positive difference between expected save percentage and actual save percentage.
He did that while playing behind a Nashville team that, believe it or not, bled chances at a higher clip than both Tampa Bay and Winnipeg.
By all accounts Rinne had a spectacular season for the league's No. 1 seeded team and deserves to take home the hardware.
As a side note, I thought John Gibson was deserving of at least being a finalist. He posted very similar numbers to this crop despite playing behind a much weaker team.
Adam French
Pekka Rinne.
He stole the trophy as the season went on. While Vasilevskiy understandably faded in his first season as a starter and Hellebuyck is a great story, Rinne is the clear choice.
42 Wins .927sv% and 8 shutouts.
I can understand the argument that Vasilevskiy and Hellebuyck played more games and had worse defensive teams in front of them. I just think Rinne deserves this award as a participation trophy. He has been in that weird "second tier" of starting goalies for a long time and much maligned online due to his salary. Plus...spelling his name is simply easier. Nobody wants "skiy" with an i and y or "byuck" on a trophy. That's ridiculous.
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