Connor Hellebuyck Wins Two Postseason NHL Awards

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While the Stanley Cup was being played, the league held its annual awards night for the regular season last Thursday night. A former UMass Lowell River Hawks picked up some significant hardware during the night. Connor Hellebuyck, who played two seasons in Lowell as their goaltender, is now a member of the Winnipeg Jets. He was awarded both the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s Most Valuable Player, and then won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender.

He became the fifth player in the league’s history to win both awards in the same season. The other four goaltenders who did this are Jacques Plante (1961-62), Dominik Hasek (1996-97 and 1997-98), Jose Theodore (2001-02), and Carey Price (2014-15). He is the fourth goalie in the expansion era to pull off this feat. This is the second straight season that Hellebuyck has won the Vezina, joining the likes of Patrick Roy (1989-1990), Hasek (1994-1995, 1997,1999), and Martin Brodeur (2003-04, 2007, 2009). Connor becomes just the fourth netminder to win the award three or more times, joining Hasek and Brodeur.

Hellebuyck led the Jets to the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s best regular-season team by winning 47 games, posting a league-best 2.00 GAA, and having eight shutouts in 63 games played. The games played were also tied for the league lead. His save percentage of .925 was second best in the NHL. Connor would finish the season with 1,539 saves, which was fourth best in the NHL.

The Jets ended the 2024-25 season with 116 points. Hellebuyck’s netminding has a lot to do with the year that Winnipeg had. One way to measure this is. During the season, Connor saved 49-48 goals above expected. That number was third third-best by a goalie since 2007.

His career at UMass Lowell lasted two seasons, and his record was 38-12-2 in 54 games. His GAA was 1.60 with a .945 save percentage with 12 shutouts. He helped the River Hawks win two Hockey East championships and make a Frozen Four appearance. He was named the Hockey East tournament MVP in both of his years at UMass Lowell and is the only player to do this. Connor won the Mike Richter Award in 2013-14 as the nation’s best goaltender. He signed with the Jets on April 5, 2014