Dallas Stars: Comparing Ben Bishop To 2019 Vezina Trophy Finalists
The race for the 2019 Vezina Trophy includes three skilled goaltenders in Ben Bishop, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Robin Lehner. And while he served as the MVP of the Dallas Stars during the 2018-19 season, how does Bishop stack up against the other candidates?
When it comes to NHL Awards, the Dallas Stars aren’t a team that you’ll frequently find on the list of winners. In fact, they’re also a team that you won’t frequently see when scanning the list of finalists with each passing year.
After the conclusion of each season, the league hosts its annual NHL Awards show. It’s a chance for the best and brightest players of the year to get together in Las Vegas and hope to hear their name called for one of the various awards.
Among those individual awards not based on postseason play are the Hart Trophy (league MVP), Calder Memorial Trophy (league’s top rookie), Norris Trophy (league’s best defender), Art Ross Trophy (league’s highest points scorer), and Selke Trophy (league’s top defensive forward), and the list goes on.
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And yet, the Dallas Stars franchise has struggled with finding their way onto the awards conversation on a yearly basis. They’ve only had one Art Ross winner in Jamie Benn back in 2014-15 (though the winner of the award is determined solely by player production). They’ve claimed the Selke Trophy just three times, with all three being picked up by Jere Lehtinen. And the last time the franchise saw a Calder Trophy or Masterton Trophy, they were still called the Minnesota North Stars.
Now, it’s not like they’ve never been close. For instance, three different Stars were up for awards in 2016. Jamie Benn was nominated for both the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award, while Lindy Ruff was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award (given to the league’s top head coach) and Jim Nill earned a spot on the ballot for GM of the Year. But even with the hefty number of nominations, the team went 0/4 at the show and came home empty-handed.
But through all of the awards, there’s one that the Dallas Stars have surprisingly never brought home. That’s the Vezina Trophy, which is awarded annually to the league’s top goaltender.
Even with names like Ed Belfour and Marty Turco scattered across the team’s past, the Vezina has never called Dallas home.
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Eyes On Isles
But in 2019, it will have its best chance yet of coming to the Lone Star State.
Back in April as he was in the middle of shutting down the Nashville Predators in Game 5, Dallas starter Ben Bishop was announced as a finalist for the 2019 Vezina Trophy. And if you followed the Dallas Stars in any sort of fashion during their 2018-19 campaign, you know why.
And while his stats from this past season deserve recognition and applause, he’s not alone in the race. In addition, Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Robin Lehner (New York Islanders) were also named as finalists to round out the top three.
The funny part about this Vezina Trophy “race” is that a winner has already been determined. The 31 NHL general managers voted on a winner at the conclusion of the regular season, meaning that the “finalists” are simply the top three vote-getters in the race.
And so, we have three more weeks to wait and debate further on a race that has already been decided.
But while we await the official awards show on June 19, the question must be asked: where does Bishop rank among the other two finalists? Does he have a realistic shot at winning the award? What do the other two bring to the race?
Let’s compare the three goaltenders.
Ben Bishop
Record: 27-15-2
Save percentage: .934
Goals against average: 1.98
Shutouts: 7
First off, let’s start with the Dallas Stars’ hero.
It’s no secret that Ben Bishop served as the backbone for the Stars during their 2018-19 campaign. In fact, if he hadn’t been in the crease for 46 of their games, you can be assured that Dallas wouldn’t have made the playoffs and would be riding a three-year postseason drought right now. As a result, the 2019 offseason would probably look significantly different.
But, thanks to the efforts of Bishop, the Dallas Stars became a playoff team.
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SenShot
While there were many parts of the team’s overall game that fluctuated throughout the year, Bishop remained effective and steady in his production and performance. When the Stars struggled to stand up and stay consistent through the first part of the regular season, Bishop was the force that kept them in games and, as a result, in a decent spot in the standings. And when Dallas took off in the second part of the year, Bishop’s heroics only contributed further to their success as they surged towards the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
As a result, Bishop posted some of the best numbers in the league and the best numbers of his career. He won 27 games and posted a save percentage of .934 (best in the NHL) and goals against of 1.98 (best in the NHL). He also had seven shutouts, which pinned him third in the NHL. All three of those marks were career-highs for the 32-year-old goalie.
And though postseason play doesn’t factor into the award, it’s hard to not mention Bishop’s efforts in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He was the Stars’ MVP through the first round against the Nashville Predators as they cruised to a six-game series win. And though he hit a few bumps in the second round against St. Louis, he was the sole reason that Dallas made it to double overtime as he stopped 52-54 in 85:50 of action. He finished with a record of 7-6-0 along with a .933 save percentage and 2.22 goals against average.
Bishop’s performance was elite during the 2018-19 season. Without him in the pipes, there’s no telling what kind of train wreck the Stars might have been in for. He helped them gut out 1-0 wins, provided consistency on a nightly basis, and always fought to keep a struggling offense in front of him in each game. He shut the door at times while also partnering with Anton Khudobin to provide a shutdown effort in the crease.
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When you look at Bishop’s stats, it seems as though he should have the Vezina locked up. After all, he finished with the highest save percentage and lowest goals against average, the top two statistical categories for goaltenders, in the NHL. His play provided an ultimately lasting spark for the Dallas Stars and there were very few opponents that knew how to beat him more than once.
The question mark in Bishop’s case has to do with games won, which roots from games played.
Bishop won a total of 27 games in 45 starts and 46 games played during the 2018-19 regular season. In the past three years, the goalie that has won the Vezina did so by winning 42, 41, and 48 games along with having stellar stats.
Injuries played a key role in limiting Bishop’s playing ability as he was sidelined on three separate occasions with some sort of issue. So, you could make the argument that he couldn’t control his limited number of games. But, is that how the GMs look at it?
Of the three finalists, Bishop has both the best statistical numbers and the fewest number of wins. And so, it seems as though Bishop’s chances of winning depend solely on how much weight wins and games played carry in the minds of the voters. If only he had been injured one less time or playoff performance had been counted in the judging, right?
Still, it’s hard not to point to Bishop as a deserving finalist and even winner. He was just that good for his team and was the primary catalyst in their success.
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Record: 39-10-4
Save percentage: .925
Goals against average: 2.40
Shutouts: 6
Next up is the goaltender that backstopped for one of the best regular season teams in the history of the NHL.
When the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft came into focus, the Tampa Bay Lightning had a decision to make in their crease. Would they keep Ben Bishop, a goaltender in the middle of his prime at the time that had recently taken the Lightning to the Stanley Cup Final? Or would they go with Andrei Vasilevskiy, the young phenom that had established himself as one of the best backups in the NHL?
With the expansion rules only allowing teams to keep one goalie, the Lightning decided to deal Bishop to the Los Angeles Kings at the Trade Deadline and commit to Vasilevskiy for the future.
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Bolts by the Bay
And so far, he hasn’t disappointed them.
During the 2018-19 season, the Tampa Bay Lightning were electric (for lack of a better pun). Tampa Bay surged through the regular season, posting a record of 62-16-4 with 128 points on the year. Just for reference, the next closest team to them in the standings was the Calgary Flames with 107 points.
The Lightning tied the NHL record for most wins in a season and only built two losing skids in total, with neither one lasting more than two games. Simply put: they were a heavy Stanley Cup favorite for the entire regular season before a monumental collapse in the opening round of the playoffs that led to them being swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
But we’re here to talk about the regular season and, more importantly, the impressive play of their goaltender.
Vasilevskiy started in 53 games for the Lightning during the season and recorded a mark of 39-10-4, giving him more wins than any goalie in the NHL. In addition, he also posted a save percentage of .925 and goals against average of 2.40. Both of those numbers are career-highs for the 24-year-old. He also registered six shutouts on the year.
With another dominant year, this is Vasilevskiy’s second consecutive Vezina nomination. He finished third in the voting in 2018.
When comparing him to Bishop, there are two main factors that come into play. On the one hand, he does have 12 more wins than the Dallas Stars net minder. So, if wins are the primary deciding factor, he has a clear advantage.
On the other hand, though, Vasilevskiy had the best offense in the NHL playing in front of him. While the Lightning averaged 3.89 goals per game, the Stars put up 2.55 for Bishop (28th in the NHL). So, while Vasilevskiy was good when he needed to be, Bishop had to be good on a nightly basis if his team had any hope of winning.
Most of the Vegas odds have Bishop and Vasilevskiy as the top two contenders for the trophy, and it’s obvious why. Both built a legitimate case using career-best performances and each have a valid claim for the award.
But if Vasilevskiy does win, it will come via his league-leading 39 wins and stellar showing throughout the season as he backstopped the Lightning to the President’s Trophy.
Robin Lehner
Record: 25-13-5
Save percentage: .930
Goals against average: 2.13
Shutouts: 6
Finally, we have the goaltender that helped turn the New York Islanders into a Stanley Cup contender practically overnight.
Robin Lehner has been on quite a long and winding personal journey over the past few years. That journey has included battling depression, addiction, suicidal thoughts and bipolar disorder while playing for three different NHL clubs in a five-year span. From Ottawa, to Buffalo, and finally to New York, he’s been through a little bit of everything.
And now, he’s a 2019 Vezina Trophy finalist.
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Eyes On Isles
The 27-year-old signed a contract with the Islanders on July 3, 2018 and officially embarked on what looked to be a long and hefty rebuild campaign for the team. After losing their franchise centerpiece in John Tavares, who signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1, things looked pretty bleak in Long Island. After all, a team that had only qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in three of the previous 11 seasons now didn’t have a captain or superstar scorer.
But, as it turns out, they didn’t need one. The Islanders defied the odds during the regular season, posting a record of 48-27-7 with 103 points and finishing in second place in the Metropolitan division. With head coach Barry Trotz at the helm and a crop of young and determined players, the Islanders built a playoff contender in a span of one year.
And they didn’t stop there. New York entered the playoffs on a hot note and completed a quick sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins in round one before being swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in round two. Even so, a precedent was established and the future looks bright for the Isles.
A large part of that success had to do with the play of Lehner (though his partner Thomas Greiss helped a good bit, too).
Lehner composed one of the most impressive turnarounds in the NHL, bouncing back from some horrible internal problems to become a Vezina-caliber goaltender.
He finished the regular season with 46 games played and posted a record of 25-13-5. On top of that, he also registered a .930 save percentage, 2.13 goals against average, and six shutouts. All were career-high marks in his tenure as an NHL starter and helped establish him as one of the best goalies in the NHL during the 2018-19 campaign. And, along with the help of teammate Thomas Greiss, the goalies secured the William M. Jennings Trophy, which is awarded annually to the NHL team that gives up the least amount of goals in the regular season.
His playoff performance was even more remarkable as Lehner went 4-4 with a .936 save percentage and 2.00 goals against average.
And when you bundle all of this together, it’s obvious that Lehner has earned a spot in the race. The question is: does he deserve to win it?
There’s a few things working against Lehner in this race. To start things off, he has the least amount of wins of the three finalists at 25. If wins play a big part in determining the Vezina winner (and history says that they do), Lehner is at the bottom of the pack in that regard. He also started in the least number of games of the three finalists.
But his numbers do speak for themselves. He finished the year with the second-best save percentage and second-best goals against average among goaltenders that played in at least 35 games. The only goalie with better numbers? Ben Bishop.
So, as you can see, there’s a reason that these three goaltenders are in the running for the 2019 Vezina Trophy. While there are plenty of similarities in their numbers and performances, each one has his own unique point that stands out from the rest.
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And because of that, the debates will rage on for the next three weeks as we await the final word on who truly was the goaltender “adjudged to be the best at this position.”