Buffalo Sabres History: Jennings Trophy Winners
The National Hockey League will hold its annual year-end awards ceremony this year on June 24 in Las Vegas. The league will celebrates its top players in both on-ice and off-ice performances, rewarding representatives from the top scorers to the best goaltenders and everything in between. As the NHL continues to announce its nominees for the yearly awards, we’ll take a look back at the history of each award and when – if ever – a member of the Buffalo Sabres franchise has won it.
Some of these awards have been given out for 90 years, while others are newer. Regardless, it’s a true honor for any player to receive these awards.
Today, we’ll look at the NHL’s William M. Jennings Trophy.
The Jennings Trophy is annually awarded to the goaltender(s) with the fewest goals against, with a minimum of 25 games played. The criteria is based on regular-season play only. The Trophy was initially presented after the 1981-82 season to honor William M. Jennings, longtime governor and president of the New York Rangers.
Prior to 1982, the Vezina Trophy was awarded on the same merits.
Historically, the William M. Jennings Trophy has been won three times by a goaltender – or goaltenders – from the Buffalo Sabres.
Most recently, it was Dominik Hasek who won it in 2001.
He was also part of the tandem that won the award in 1994, with Grant Fuhr as the other half of that partnership. He’d also win it once more, sharing the honor with Chris Osgood in 2008 as a member of the Detroit Red Wings.
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Finally, in 1985, Buffalo Sabres netminders Tom Barrasso and Bob Sauve combined to win the award, marking the first time a Buffalo Sabres goaltender won it – in just its fourth year of being awarded.
Due to its nature, this is one of those awards that we already know the winners of, prior to the end of the NHL playoffs and prior to the awards ceremony itself.
This year, it was a tie, with both Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks and Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens getting the honor.
Historically, goaltenders for the Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils have won the William M. Jennings Trophy the most: five times each.
Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy have won the award most in its history, each picking it up five times. Brodeur had four solo wins, sharing it once with Mike Dunham. Roy won it solo twice, sharing each of the three other wins with Brian Hayward.
Overall, though it has often happened where two goaltenders from the same team end up sharing the award, this year marks the first time history that two goaltenders playing for different teams have tied to take the honor together.
Next: Year in Review: Brian Gionta
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