Martin Brodeur, Tim Thomas and Goalies with the Most Vezina Trophies

Georges Vezina and Martin Brodeur with the Vezina Trophy

The NHL’s Vezina Trophy is awarded to the season’s best goaltender (or, for a brief time in the 1960s and 1970s, a team’s best goaltenders). It is one of the oldest official awards in North American sports: Montreal Canadien George Hainsworth was the inaugural winner for the 1926-27 season.

Georges Vezina was the Montreal Canadiens‘ first goalie, in net from the NHL‘s first official season, 1917-18 (and  from before to be exact – 1910-11), to 1925-26. Vezina and the Habs made five Stanley Cup Finals appearances, winning the Cup three times (1919, 1924 and 1925). He was a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s first class.

Vezina never missed a single game – regular season or playoff – in his more than 15 years of service in goal (mind you, they played 24-game seasons for the most part). Then, he played one game in 1925-26, got sick, was diagnosed with tuberculosis and died several months later.

Very Lou Gehrig-like.

The Canadiens gave the classy and beautiful “Vezina Trophy” to the NHL the following season (1926-27), intended as an award for the goalie who gave up the fewest goals. Since then, various criteria have been used to make the selection, including fewest goals by a team and most recently (1981-82 to present) a league-wide GM vote.

Today’s list features all goalies who won more than one Vezina Trophy. There are 21 of them, led by another Canadien, Jacques Plante with seven.

Montreal Canadiens are all over this list. The Canadiens have the most Vezina Trophy winners of any team – more than a third of them – a full 34 of 99 given.

Only four goalies have won the Vezina for more than one team: Plante, Michel Larocque,  Terry Sawchuk and Glenn Hall.

So what about Martin Brodeur and Tim Thomas? They’re the only actives with multiple Vezinas.

Thanks to my source, hockey-reference.com, where you can see every Vezina Trophy winner in chronological order. Did you know there were several years when more than one was awarded?

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	GOALIE	VEZINAS	TEAM	TROPHY SEASONS
1.	Jacques Plante	7	Montreal Canadiens	1955-56 thru 1959-60, 1961-62
			St. Louis Blues	1968-69
2.	Bill Durnan	6	Montreal Canadiens	1943-44 thru 1946-47, 1948-49, 1949-50
2.	Dominik Hasek	6	Buffalo Sabres	1993-94, 1994-95, 1996-97 thru 1998-99, 2000-01
4.	Ken Dryden	5	Montreal Canadiens	1972-73, 1975-66 thru 1978-79
5.	Martin Brodeur	4	New Jersey Devils	2002-03, 2003-04, 2006-07, 2007-08
5.	Michel Larocque	4	Montreal Candiens	1976-77 thru 1978-79
			Montreal Canadiens / Toronto Maple Leafs	1980-81
5.	Terry Sawchuk	4	Detroit Red Wings	1951-52, 1952-53, 1954-55
			Toronto Maple Leafs	1964-65
5.	Tiny Thompson	4	Boston Bruins	1929-30, 1932-33, 1935-36, 1937-38
9.	George Hainsworth	3	Montreal Canadiens	1926-27 thru 1928-29
9.	Glenn Hall	3	Chicago Black Hawks	1962-63, 1966-67
			St. Louis Blues	1968-69
9.	Patrick Roy	3	Montreal Canadiens	1988-89, 1989-90, 1991-92
9.	Tony Esposito	3	Chicago Black Hawks	1969-70, 1971-72, 1973-74
13.	Bernie Parent	2	Philadelphia Flyers	1973-74, 1974-75
13.	Charlie Gardiner	2	Chicago Black Hawks	1931-32, 1933-34
13.	Charlie Hodge	2	Montreal Candiens	1963-64, 1965-66
13.	Ed Belfour	2	Chicago Blackhawks	1990-91, 1992-93
13.	Frank Brimsek	2	Boston Bruins	1938-39, 1941-42
13.	Gump Worsley	2	Montreal Canadiens	1965-66, 1967-68
13.	Johnny Bower	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	1960-61, 1964-65
13.	Tim Thomas	2	Boston Bruins	2008-09, 2010-11
13.	Turk Broda	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	1940-41, 1947-48

Photo: centrehice.blogspot.com / tenderslounge.blogspot.com