(New York) at 17e The season in the NHL, after eternity at the top, Marc-André Fleury finally won the Vézina Cup awarded to the best goalkeeper in the NHL.
It was Martin Browdor who told him the news, before asking him in an interview to explain the secret of his success. Fleury’s response was a bit awkward: “Having a good team always helps the goalkeeper, the supervisors and the handlers. I love to play. I still have a passion for hockey. I’m lucky to do what I love.”
He then thanked his teammates, goalkeeper Robin Lehner, the goal coach, and the Vegas fans. Then, in French, he thanked his family and friends in Quebec, as well as his wife and children. “After a good match, a bad match, you are always there to make me happy. Thank you very much everyone.”
At a press conference on Tuesday night, he added this about his unexpected career with the Golden Knights, an expansion team that has everything to prove: “I never thought I’d win this cup or even win so many games. In four years in Vegas. It was so much fun. .”
For a Quebec, this is a very extraordinary feat as he won his first title in Vezina at the age of 36, after another fantastic season. He finished third in the NHL with 26 wins, as well as an average of 1.98 and an efficiency of .928.
It’s another chapter in a career that should definitely open the doors to the Hall of Fame.
“It’s a great honor. I still love to play. I look at those who won this cup, I loved them. It’s an honor to be among them. Our team is doing everything they can to make me look good. To win this cup, it takes a good team.”
I don’t think about it [au Temple de la renommée]. I’m just thinking about banning the pucks. I’m not sure what that means for the future. I had a tough year, lost my dad, I wish he was there to talk to him. I’m just happy with the way this season has gone. “
In addition to his three Stanley Cups and five Finals games (with two different teams), Florey has racked up 492 regular season wins over the course of his career. This puts him third in the standings behind legendary Martin Browdor (691) and Patrick Roy (551). His ’90s series victories also earned him fourth on this list, behind Roy (151), Brodur (113) and Grant Four (92).
Trophy in hand, Florey still sees him as not the best goalkeeper in the National Hockey League. To whom does dignity go according to his saying? “Andrei Vasilevsky is the best goalkeeper in the world right now.”
McDavid hat trick
Conor McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers quarterback, completed a hat-trick of the National Hockey League on Tuesday, adding to Art Ross, the league’s top scorer, Hart and Ted Lindsey.
Photo by Jason Franson, AP
Conor McDavid
McDavid, who hit an identical triple in 2017, took home the Hart Cup after collecting all 100 first place votes. Suddenly, he became the second player in NHL history to be chosen unanimously for this honor, after Wayne Gretzky, in 1982.
The 24-year-old MacDavid is the fifth player in NHL history to win the Hart Cup at least twice before the age of 25, after Gretzky (six times), Bobby Orr (three times), Gordie Howe (twice) and Alexander Ovechkin (twice).
Additionally, this is the first time in more than 50 years that two players from the same team have won the Hart Cup in consecutive seasons, after Phil Esposito (1968-1969) and Orr (1969-1970) with the Boston Bruins.
Like McDavid this year, Leon Drystel won the Art Ross, Hart, and Ted Lindsay awards last year.
It was Draisaitl who announced McDavid’s selection for the Hart and Lindsay Awards at a gala held at a distance for the second year in a row due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In recent years, the trophy presentation ceremony has been held at a party in Las Vegas.
“Being recognized by your fellow hockey players means a lot,” McDavid said after being named winner of the Ted Lindsay Trophy.
“These are the people you encounter every night, with whom you fight so hard, and it is a very special feeling to be recognized by them. It is an honor for me and grateful to have had this honor so many times.”
Since joining the NHL in the fall of 2015, McDavid has won the Art Ross Awards (2017, 2018, 2021) and the Ted-Lindsay Trophies (2017, 2018, 2021) three times and the Hart Cup (2017, 2021) twice. In 2019, he placed third in the Hart Award ballot which was won by Nikita Kucherov.
The Hart Trophy is awarded to the best player in the NHL according to a vote of journalists, while the Ted-Lindsay Trophy is awarded to the most valuable player after a ballot among members of the players’ union.
For the Hart Cup, McDavid was selected over Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nathan McKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche. Matthews and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins were the finalists for the Ted Lindsay Cup.
McDavid won the Art Ross Cup with 105 points in 56 games, 21 points behind Drytaille.
Fox and the others
New York Rangers defender Adam Fox and Minnesota Wildcat left winger Kirill Caprissoff took the James Norris (Best Defense) and Calder (Most Rookie) Cups respectively.
On the ballot, Florey scored 108 points, nine ahead of Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevsky. Philip Grobauer of Colorado Avalanche scored 36 points.
Fox beat Cal McCar of the Colorado Avalanche and Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The 23-year-old Fox topped all NHL defenders with 42 assists and came second in points with 47.
He became the second defensive man to win the Norris Cup in his second National Hockey League campaign, after Orr, in 1968.
For Kaprizov, he is the first player in Wild history to receive the Calder Cup. The 24-year-old Russian player took first place among the juniors with 27 goals and 51 points. He is also the fourth junior player since 1993-1994 to lead his team on points.
Kaprizov received 99 out of 100 votes for first place, ranking second on the other ballot.
Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson finished second, ahead of Carolina Hurricanes guard Alex Nedelijkovic.
With Jean Francois Tremblay, Journalism