Russian "Vezina": Vasilevsky is the favorite in the fight for the prize of the best NHL goalkeeper

The National Hockey League (NHL) has announced the nominees for the main goaltending prize of the season, the Vezina Trophy. And for the first time in history, two Russians are competing for the trophy at once — Andrei Vasilevsky from Tampa and Ilya Sorokin from the Islanders. In addition to them, Boston goalkeeper Jeremy Swayman is also in the top three. The winner of the prize will be determined by a vote of the general managers of the NHL clubs. Who has the best chance of success is in the Izvestia article.

Seven to zero

Andrey Vasilevsky (58 games, 3430 minutes) became the best in the league in terms of wins (39) for the sixth time in his career, took second place in goals per match (2.12), and also shared fourth place in percentage of deflected shots (91.2%). This is the sixth time he has been nominated for Vezina, which only three other goalkeepers in history have achieved.: Martin Brodeur has nine nominations, Patrick Roy has seven, and Dominique Hasek has six. But Vasilevsky won only once — it was in 2019, and last season the Russian took second place in the voting, losing to Connor Hellebike.

Ilya Sorokin (55 games, 3,226 minutes) scored 29 wins in 55 matches, conceding 2.68 goals per game and deflecting 90.6% of shots. At the same time, he is the league leader in the number of zero matches (7). This was a repeat of the Islanders' club record, which was set by Glen Chico Resch in 1976, and then repeated by Semyon Varlamov and Sorokin himself. Ilya claims to be the first Islanders goalkeeper in the last 45 years to win this trophy.

It is noteworthy that Sorokin himself had previously estimated his chances of "Vezina" as minimal.

— I don't think there's anything to talk about. There's no chance. And I don't think about it at all," Sorokin said earlier in an interview with the Islanders club press service.

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Different style

However, experts have a different opinion.

"Sorokin and Vasilevsky have been breathing down each other's backs all season," said The Hockey Writers' Harrison Smeowitz. — It would not be surprising if there is an intense struggle in the voting. However, according to polls conducted by journalists on the official NHL website, Vasilevsky was the best goalkeeper. He became the clear favorite, receiving 14 first places out of 16 votes. Sorokin took the second place, he has two first places.

Based on these scenarios, Jeremy Swayman (55 games, 3235 minutes) simply has no chance. The Boston goalkeeper does a great job with medium—range shots-he's the best in the league here. However, according to four other main indicators, it is not in the top 3. The question arises: is it enough to be the best in one indicator to be considered a contender for the "Vezina"? Therefore, it is highly likely that the prize will go to one of the Russians.

"Their style of play is slightly different, Vasilevsky plays more in the full butterfly style," Vladislav Tretyak, president of the Russian Hockey Federation, was quoted as saying by TASS. — They both deserve to be the best. Of course, Sorokin got hurt more — his defense is weaker than in Tampa. I've watched his matches, and I've been told that if he doesn't pull, then the team doesn't win. Therefore, a lot depends on him, and he has done a lot to ensure that his team is close to the playoffs. The fact that the federation did everything 20 years ago to ensure that we have as many good goalkeepers as possible gives us reason to be proud of their every success. This is their personal success, and the success of the clubs that brought up these guys.

Among our other goalkeepers, Sergey Bobrovsky (2013, 2017) and Igor Shesterkin (2022) have previously won the trophy.