Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky served as the backstop for the Columbus Blue Jackets’ third-ever trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and his efforts were recognized at the 2017 NHL Awards ceremony at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Wednesday night.
For the second time in his career, Bobrovsky was selected as the Vezina Trophy winner, given annually to the NHL’s best goaltender as voted by the league’s 30 general managers. Bobrovsky won the Vezina Trophy following the 2012-2013 season
In his seventh NHL campaign, Bobrovsky earned his second All-Star honor after a stellar opening three months to the season.
In his first 34 starts for the Blue Jackets, Bobrovsky stopped 894 of the 960 shots sent in on net. He had a 2.00 goals against average, .931 save percentage and three shutouts over 1,980 minutes of ice time. Bobrovsky started the year with a 26-6-0-2 record.
The NHL’s Player of the Month for December, Bobrovsky led the Blue Jackets to a perfect 12-0 slate and was in goal for Columbus’ 16-game winning streak, the best in franchise history and second-hottest run in league annals.
In those December games, Bobrovsky allowed just 21 goals on 343 shots, with 322 saves and a .939 save percentage.
For the entire season, Bobrovsky posted a 41-17-5 record in 63 games with a 2.06 goals against average, seven shutouts and .931 save percentage, which helped him once again become a finalist for the Vezina Trophy.
Bobrovsky is one of just six goaltenders since 1982 to win the Vezina Trophy multiple times, along with Patrick Roy (Montreal Canadiens), Dominik Hasek (Buffalo Sabres), Ed Belfour (Chicago Blackhawks), Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils) and Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins).
Additionally, Bobrovsky was selected as the All-NHL first-team goaltender on Wednesday night.
Bobrovsky received 144 first-team votes and totaled 764 points in the voting, more than 300 points better than the second-place finisher.
