Apr 16, 2020
Hellebuyck's focus on Stanley Cup, not Vezina
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck said Thursday he's honoured to be considered among the Vezina Trophy candidates for this season, but his focus remains on a bigger prize.
TSN.ca Staff
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck said Thursday he's honoured to be considered among the Vezina Trophy candidates for this season, but his focus remains on a bigger prize.
"It’s an honour just to be mentioned with some of those great guys around the league... (But) at the end of the day what I truly want is the Stanley Cup,” Hellebuyck said on a video call.
The 26-year-old has a 31-25-1 record with a .922 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average. He leads the league with six shutouts this season and is tied for most starts (56) and games played (58) with Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price.
Hellebuyck was a unanimous selection for the Vezina among TSN's voting panel of Ray Ferraro, Dave Poulin, Jamie McLennan, Craig Button and Mike Johnson for awards with the season paused earlier this month.
The Jets sat in top wild-card spot in the Western Conference when the NHL season was paused on March 12, however the team would fall out of a playoff position if the standings were based on point percentage.
Head coach Paul Maurice told TSN's James Duthie last week he believes the team could win the Stanley Cup this season, if they get the chance to do so.
"I just want this season to be played [from] a personal point of view. I want to see this Winnipeg Jets team play," Maurice said. "I haven't seen them [all back together and healthy] all year. They went through so much and survived and we just started feeling good. Everybody got healthy. We won four in a row. We liked our March schedule. We're thinking, 'You know what? This could be our year. We could get on a run. We could win.' So, I want to see this team get that chance."
Maurice later credited Hellebuyck as a key reason for his optimism.
"We are in the position that we were in to be excited about our March to think we had a chance because Connor Hellebuyck was outstanding," Maurice said.