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Connor Hellebuyck wins the Vezina Trophy |
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In the 2017-18 season, Connor Hellebuyck was the Vezina Trophy runner-up, being beat out by Predators’ goalie Pekka Rinne.
Since that moment, Hellebuyck has used it as motivation, pushing himself to be better. In the 2019-20 season he certainly was much better and this time there was no falling short as the 27-year old Hellebuyck beat Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask and Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for the annual award.
“It’s very rewarding. Almost a little bit of a sigh of relief because I was so close last time,” Hellebucyk said during a zoom call with reporters following the announcement of the award on Monday.
“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.”
Hellebuyck received 19 first-place votes, nine second-place votes and one third-place vote for a total of 123 points. Hellebuyck beat the second-placed Rask by 24 points.
Although he’s only spent five seasons in the league, Hellebuyck feels he’s put a lot of time and effort into bettering his game and getting it to the Vezina-winning level it’s at today.
But things always haven’t always been pleasant for Hellebuyck. Back in the 2016-17 campaign, Hellebuyck had been pulled from a start after allowing five goals in the loss. It marked the sixth time he had been pulled from a start that season.
But instead of beating himself up over his struggles, he took the high road and showed a type of confidence that most lack.
“My game’s the best it’s ever been and If I continue to play this way, it’s going to be good enough,” said Hellebuyck. “If I stick with that game, I’m going to win a Stanley Cup and a Vezina one day.”
One day has arrived for the second part of Hellebuyck’s 2017 prediction.
“It’s great. It almost feels like getting a little bit of a monkey off my back after saying that,” said Hellebuyck.
“Now I’m really looking forward to the next one and the next one is going to be glorious. That’s winning a Cup. 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.”
Hellebuyck is the first goalie in franchise history to win the Vezina.
In each of his five seasons, Hellebuyck has undoubtedly made strides towards being a better goalie and this most recent honor is well deserved. He claims being in a better place mentally has been a big factor behind his improved success.
“Every year you learn a little more about yourself and your game and you learn how to manage the roller coaster,” said Hellebuyck. “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.”
No goalie has won the Vezina Trophy in back-to-back seasons since Martin Brodeur won the award in the 2006-07 season and again in 2007-08. He also won it in back-to-back seasons in 2002-03 and 2003-04.
Although repeating as the winner is more difficult today with the amount of talent between the pipes across the league, that doesn’t mean Hellebuyck is going to give up the fight.
“There’s a lot of good goalies in the NHL. I can’t really say one guy is going to win it because every year someone blossoms and every year there’s just a ton of guys that are putting up big numbers and having good years,” said Hellebuyck. “What I can say is that I’m not going to back down from it and I look forward to the fight to get back into the Vezina talks next year and I’m going to enjoy this one while I have it.”
Hellebuyck finished the season second in the league in wins (31), first in shutouts (six), and seventh in save percentage (.922) among goalies who played at least 20 games. Only Carey Price (58) made more starts then Hellebuyck’s 56.
Although those are all great numbers to have, Hellebuyck doesn’t put much stock into them.
“I do like numbers and I like watching them but that’s more for enjoyment. That’s just fun to watch and it’s kind of gives you goals along the way. Sometimes the numbers are not always going to tell a story,” said Hellebuyck.
While fancy stats and pretty numbers don’t tell Hellebuyck much of a story, his time spent with Jets’ goalie coach Wade Flaherty is much more valuable and paints a more realistic picture than stats do.
“After games I talk to my goalie coach right away and we go over the good, the bad and the ugly. I like It because it kind of puts me at ease, or lights a fire under my butt,” Hellebuyck said. “That’s why I like to go over, ‘what can we improve, what do we do well and what do we just need to completely forget about?’ Having a good goalie coach, Wade, with me every day, helps a lot, especially after games.”
Despite winning the league’s most prestigious individual goalie award, Hellebuyck knows his game can improve. With his first Vezina Trophy behind him, it’s time to find areas where he can be better so that in the not-so-distant future, he can complete the first part of that two-part goal he mentioned in 2017.
“Right now, we’re really going to analyze everything that happened this year and really try to improve on anywhere that I feel I can stop a couple more pucks,” said Hellebuyck.
“It might be my new areas, but those are going to go a long way. It’s going to be taking my game and making it more complete.”
On Monday Hellebuyck was also voted as the NHL’s first team All-Star goaltender
Winnipeg Jets Blogger • 
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