Martin Brodeur’s quest for a fifth Vezina trophy fell short tonight as Ryan Miller took home the Vezina at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.
Miller recevied 23 first-place votes, three-second place votes and two third-place votes. Ilya Bryzgalov finished second with five first-place votes, 16 second-place votes and six third-place votes.
Brodeur finished in third place with one first-place vote, six second-place votes and nine third-place votes.
This was the first time Miller won the Vezina trophy. It’s the second year in a row an American goaltender picked up the trophy (Tim Thomas won last year).
It was pretty shocking that Brodeur finished third. Going into the night, I figured that Miller would win the award, especially because the voters would take into account his Olympic performance. The Olympics don’t matter to the vote, but playing that well will get noticed no matter the rules. I know Bryzgalov played well, but I believe Brodeur outplayed the Phoenix goalie last season. Maybe the whole “Devils defensive system” caught up to Brodeur this year. Either way, he somehow finished third.
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