- Andrei Vasilevskiy wins his second Vezina Trophy, his first since 2018-19
- Tampa police staged a fake car break-in to surprise him with the award
- Read below for the K-9 reveal and the numbers that earned it
Andrei Vasilevskiy thought someone had broken into his car.
The Tampa Bay Lightning goalie had just finished an offseason workout at Benchmark International Arena last week when Tampa police rolled up. Someone had been spotted near his vehicle in the parking lot, they told him, so he kept his distance while the department’s K-9 unit moved in.
Dutch, the Tampa PD K-9, flagged a suspicious package in the front seat. Officers pulled out a big black bag and went to open it. Inside was the Vezina Trophy.
Watch the league spring the whole thing on him:
The Vezina goes to the goalie voted best at his position by the league’s general managers. Vasilevskiy won it for the second time in his career, his first since 2018-19.
He talked about the stunt once he realized his car was in one piece.
“It was a surprise. I was just happy that my car was in one piece and I didn’t want to go through the insurance process. Big surprise. This was a great show.”
Vasilevskiy earned it on the ice, too. The 31-year-old led the NHL with 39 wins and posted a .912 save percentage and a 2.31 goals-against average across 58 starts. He ranked second in both save percentage and GAA among goalies with at least 45 starts.
The vote wasn’t close. He collected 17 first-place nods and 114 points, with Jeremy Swayman landing third. It is the latest piece of hardware to come off the board this NHL awards season.
Tampa highlighted his five best moments from the year:
One of the first people he showed the trophy to was Frantz Jean, his goalie coach of more than a decade:
Vasilevskiy walked away with a trophy and his car back. Not a bad afternoon at the rink.
