Tag: Vezina Trophy

Rinne Wins Vezina – Finally

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Image Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

It’s about darn time, y’all. After being nominated three times previously (2011, 2012, 2015), fourth time was the charm for our beloved Finnish goaltender.

Pekka knocked off Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and fellow Central Division goaltender, Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck.

Congrats, Peks!

2012 NHL Awards not so Nice to Nashville

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Mike Fisher brings home the only award back to Nashville.

Yet another disappointing NHL Awards for Nashville Predators fans.
Okay, so we can’t call it a complete loss; Mike Fisher did win the NHL Foundation Award thanks to his charitable work within the Nashville community. The NHL even donated $25,000 to Room in the Inn, a local non-profit that serves the homeless of Nashville. As residents of the city of Nashville, we are proud to have someone like Mike Fisher in our community and to us, this is the greatest award the Predators could have received…

HOWEVER, as proud as we are and excited for Mike Fisher, we still are a tad bit bitter.

Pekka Rinne fell short to Claude Giroux for the NHL13 cover, which completely baffles anyone involved with hockey (we’re pretty sure even EA Sports was confused by the announcement). However, according to EA Sports, it was decided “by less than a one percent margin, in what was the closest matchup of the entire campaign.” Hmm… as much as we were stunned by the announcement (I mean, jaws hit the floor), we can always cover the NHL13 box with this awesome photo:

Fan-made NHL13 Cover. Just print this out and tape over Giroux.

  • Surely, with the performance Shea Weber made this past season would edge him over Erik Karlsson and Zdeno Chara for the Norris Trophy, right? WRONG. Offensively, Karlsson deserved the trophy, but did anyone note Weber’s penalty kill moments? Not the NHL, obviously. Weber came in second to Erik Karlsson by just 12 points.
  • David Poile came in third between Doug Armstrong and Dale Tallon. Armstrong, who won GM of the Year, possibly won due to the fact he took over for the fired Ken Hitchcock, who enviably won the Jack Adams Trophy. We are exactly sure, but even after being praised for his Trade Deadline moves, Poile had no chance for the GM of the Year.
  • Second time Pekka has been robbed of the Vezina, Henrik Ludqvist (who was so happy he dropped the F Bomb) stole the spotlight from the deserving Finn. Okay, so we didn’t have too much faith he’d win this one, but the bitterness of the video game cover still stings. Lundqvist did lead his team to the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference, so no surprise that the Swede was given the Vezina.

Yes, we’re a bit bitter with the losses, but hey, Mike Fisher snuck by and nabbed an award, and an award to be proud of at that. Congratulations, Mike Fisher!

Friday begins the 2012 NHL Draft, in which Nashville gets two 2nd Round picks and the Predators Prospect Camp starts next Tuesday at Centennial Sportsplex. We’ll keep you updated on the trades and signings as they come in. And yes, Chris Mueller was signed to a one-year, $550,000 contract this morning.


Thanks to Gene Vestal for the video. Sums up all Preds fans thoughts exactly.

(Mike Fisher photo courtesy of Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)