Canucks goalie Demko finishes second in Vezina Trophy voting
Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko finished second in Vezina Trophy voting.
It was revealed today at the NHL Awards show in Las Vegas that Demko finished just behind Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck for the prestigious award. Sergei Bobrovksy was the other finalist, who finished third.
While Demko finished second, he wasn’t all that close to Hellebuyck, as the Canucks goalie didn’t receive a single first-place vote.
Demko finished 2nd in Vezina Trophy voting #Canucks pic.twitter.com/D2buXMBn6z
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) June 27, 2024
Demko finished the year with a 35-14-2 record, a 2.45 goals-against-average, and a .918% save percentage. He set new career bests in many major goalie statistics, including wins, goals-against-average, and save percentage.
He also finished the year with five shutouts, tied for fifth-best in the NHL. He only had three blank sheets entering this season.
The Canucks goalie’s finish in the voting is made more impressive by the fact that he missed a significant amount of time with injury. He played just 51 games compared to the 60 that Hellebuyck appeared in.
Despite not getting a single first-place vote, Demko still finished ahead of Florida Panthers goalie Bobrovsky, who did get a first-place vote but didn’t manage enough points to finish second.
Vezina Trophy is voted on by the 32 NHL general managers.
20 of them voted Demko 2nd, 10 voted him 3rd, and 2 didn't have him in their top 3
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) June 27, 2024
This is Demko’s best-ever finish in Vezina Trophy voting. He received votes once before when he finished seventh for his performance during the 2021-22 season.
Despite having some standout players between the pipes over the years, no Vancouver Canucks goalie has ever won the Vezina Trophy.
Demko now has the fifth-most games played of any goalie in franchise history, the fourth-most wins, and the seventh-most shutouts.
The goalie has two more years on his contract, which costs $5 million against the salary cap. He’s been one of the best goalies in the league for a few seasons now but has suffered major injuries in each of the past two years.
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