Dallas Stars: Ben Bishop Set For Vezina Trophy Race At NHL Awards

With the 2019 NHL Awards taking place on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, we’ll finally figure out whether Ben Bishop will bring home the first Vezina Trophy in Dallas Stars history. Before the show begins, though, let’s take one last look at his case.

Ben Bishop has yet another chance to engrave his name in the Dallas Stars history books on Wednesday night at the NHL Awards. This time around, however, the opportunity is two-fold and applies to the NHL history books as well.

If Bishop ends up winning the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender for the 2018-19 regular season, he will be the first goalie to ever win it in a Stars uniform. Marty Turco currently marks the closest that a Stars goalie has ever come to winning the trophy when he finished second in the running in the 2002-03 season.

And while the trophy would provide a grand summation of Bishop’s year, it would simply be another mark on a long list of achievements made by the 32-year-old in the 2018-19 campaign.

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Ben Bishop was a lot of things for the Dallas Stars this year. But, more than anything, he served as the backbone of the team and helped them drive through a sluggish start and still end up in a good enough position to contend for a playoff spot at the end of the year. He finished the season with a 27-15-2 record, a .934 save percentage (best in the NHL), a 1.98 goals against average (best among NHL goaltenders with at least 35 games played), and 7 shutouts (third in the NHL).

When the postseason rolled around, Bishop backstopped the Stars to a 4-2 series win against the Nashville Predators in the first round. He posted a save percentage above .935 in four of the six games and allowed a total of 12 goals in the series against the Predators.

In round two, he helped push Dallas to a Game 7 showdown with the St. Louis Blues, where he stopped 52/54 before the Stars fell 2-1 in double overtime to end their playoff run.

Regardless of how the season ended, Bishop made a solid case for being named the league’s top goaltender. In addition, he also penned his name across the Dallas Stars history books, setting the record for highest save percentage, finishing in the top five all-time in goals against average and shutouts, and setting a new franchise record for consecutive shutout streak after not allowing a goal in 233:04 of play in mid-March.

But, now that he is up for the Vezina Trophy for the third time in his career and going against Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Robin Lehner (New York Islanders), the question remains: will he win?

We’ve spent the past few weeks diving into Bishop’s history as a Vezina finalist, how he stacks up to the other finalists in this year’s race, and how Vegas sees his odds panning out.

So, before the NHL Awards show begins on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, here’s a quick refresher on the argument for the Dallas Stars goalie.

On April 20, 2019, Ben Bishop was named a finalist for the 2019 Vezina Trophy while putting on an impressive performance in Game 5 against the Nashville Predators. Here’s the announcement on his nomination.

Ben Bishop, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Robin Lehner all turned in impressive seasons between the pipes and helped their teams reach impressive heights. But how do the three stack up against each other?

While Ben Bishop turned in a Vezina-caliber season with the Stars in 2018-19, it’s nothing new for the goaltender. Here’s a look at his numbers and performances from his other two Vezina finalists campaigns and how they compare to his showing this year.

If there’s a race, debate, or competition in sports, you can be assured that Vegas will be in on it. Here is how the oddsmakers see the 2019 Vezina Trophy race panning out for each of the three finalists.

The show will begin at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on NBCSN, with Kenan Thompson hosting the show and special guests including Alex Trebek and Jon Hamm helping with the awards presentations. The Vezina will be awarded towards the end of the show, following the Jack Adams Award (given to the NHL’s top head coach) and before the William M. Jennings Trophy (given to the league’s goaltender(s) playing in at least 25 games for the club that gives up the fewest goals).

Tune in to see if Ben Bishop can make Dallas Stars history and NHL history in the same night.