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Since 1963, only three goaltenders have received the Hart Memorial Trophy as the National Hockey League’s Most Valuable Player.
For a position often credited with having the most do with teams winning or losing in hockey, that seems pretty strange.
A forward has won the Hart the last nine years and expect that trend to continue this season. The leading candidates are Nathan MacKinnon of Colorado, who led the league with 116 points entering Wednesday’s play, and Leon Draisaitl of Edmonton, who had a league-leading 52 goals.
Why should area fans care?
It’s my contention the 2024-25 recipient should be none other former UMass Lowell star Connor Hellebuyck, the goaltender for the Winnipeg Jets.
Since 1963, the only goaltenders named the NHL’s top player have been Dominik Hasek of Buffalo (1997 and 1998), Jose Theodore of Montreal (2002) and Carey Price of Montreal (2015).
Hellebuyck should join that list. No player is more instrumental to his team’s success than Hellebuyck. One betting site recently had Hellebuyck finishing behind only Draisaitl.
Let’s take a look at the facts. Goaltenders are generally judged by four major categories: Wins, save percentage, goals against average and shutouts.
Entering Wednesday, Hellebuyck led in all of them thanks to 44 wins (no one is close), a .924 save percentage, a 2.02 GAA (no one is close) and seven shutouts. He had played in 60 games, tying for the league lead.
That, my friends, is dominance. No forward is leading in every major statistical category. The Hart has been given out since 1924 and only seven goaltenders have received it.
Hellebuyck should become the eighth.
I’m not alone is my assessment.
“I would agree with that,” said head coach Norm Bazin, who watched Hellebuyck put up eye-popping numbers for his team as a UML freshman and sophomore. “Nobody has been more important to his team. Obviously I have a bias.”
Among NHL franchises, Winnipeg, to put it mildly, is not a haven for top free agents. The Jets have struck gold in the draft, most notably when they mined Hellebuyck with the 130th pick in 2012.
“What they’ve done with the people they have is fantastic,” Bazin said. “No one has been more important to their hockey team than Connor Hellebuyck.”
Hellebuyck won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender in 2000 and again last season. He’s a shoe-in to win for the third time this season. His numbers are better than last season when he received 31 of 32 first-place votes.
Winning three Vezina’s will put him in some impressive company and the Hockey Hall of Fame chatter is getting louder.
And he’s only 31. Bazin suggests something that should make NHL opponents shiver.
“He’s getting better. I’m not kidding,” he said. “He is continuing to improve. He’s got a good team.”
Bazin is pulling for Hellebuyck to take his winning ways and shine in the playoffs. The one knock on Hellebuyck is his regular season success hasn’t translated over into the playoffs. We’ll see what happens this spring.
But for the 2024-25 regular season, no NHL player has been more consistent, better or more important to his team’s success.
Winnipeg is trying to hold off Washington for the most points in the league, an impressive accomplishment for a small market franchise.
River Hawk fans who marveled at Hellebuyck’s two seasons between the pipes at the Tsongas Center have followed his pro career with pride.
So has his former coach, Bazin, who says he’s “very proud” of the 6-foot-4 netminder from Michigan.
UML has been a gold standard among college programs for producing top-flight goalies. Bazin rattles off the names of some of them: Dwayne Roloson, Carter Hutton, Scott Fankhouser, Kevin Boyle and Tyler Wall.
That pipeline figures to continue next season.
In addition to Beni Halasz, who figures to return after a strong first season at UML, the River Hawks are adding goaltender Austin Elliott.
A 6-1, 180-pound puck stopper from Strathmore, Alb., Elliott has been nearly unbeatable since joining the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League this season.
Playing on a loaded team, Elliott posted a head-turning 32-1-0 record (one loss, that’s not a typo) during the regular season with a 2.10 goals against average and .924 save percentage. He’s continued his winning ways, going 4-0 for the Knights, one of the favorites to win the CHL’s Memorial Cup.
Talented goaltenders continue to be drawn to the program. Hellebuyck is a major reason. The best goaltender in the world was developed as a River Hawk.
Was he the NHL’s best player (regardless of position) during the regular season? No announcement will be made until after the playoffs, but he’s an underdog. Familiar territory for Hellebuyck, who wasn’t taken by the Jets until the fifth round.
Has Hellebuyck done enough to sway voters? Maybe the only thing he hasn’t done is the one thing fans always say when a goaltender steals a game with a superb performance.
Stand on his head.
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