Petr Mrazek’s numbers were not worthy of winning the Vezina Trophy, but he played well enough in goal for the Chicago Blackhawks to keep them in games.
It has been a while since the Blackhawks have one of their goaltenders win the prize for best netminder.
That is when Eddie the Eagle went 41-18-11 with a .906 save percentage and a 2.59 goals-against-average. He also won the Vezina in 1991 when he had a 2.47 GAA and a .910 save percentage.
The ironic thing is that Belfour had Dominik Hasek as one of his backups in 1991. Hasek went on to win six Vezina Trophies after he went to Buffalo in 1992.
Tony Esposito won three Vezina Trophies during the 1970s. He took home the NHL’s top goalie honors in 1970, 1972, and 1974. He had a .932 save percentage in 70, .934 in 72, and .929 in 74. Teams could barely score against him in 72 when he had a 1.77 GAA.
Glenn Hall won two Vezina’s in 1963 and 1967. He split the honor in 67 with Denis DeJordy.
Charlie Gardiner won the first Vezina in franchise history. He won it in 1932 and 1934. He was also the first Blackhawks goalie to win the Stanley Cup when the Hawks won it all in 1934.
Lorne Chabot is the other Blackhawks goalie to win the Vezina honors in 1935. Corey Crawford is beloved by the Hawks faithful for winning two Stanley Cups last decade, but the closest he came to a Vezina was fifth in 2016.
Drew Commesso looks to be the heir apparent in goal. Hopefully, he is the guy who can snap the franchise’s Vezina drought whenever he is ready to take over in goal.