Hellebuyck: Vezina would be great, but I want Stanley Cup
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was one of the league's top performers inside the crease this season, and while he's honored that his name is in Vezina Trophy talks, he says his focus remains on something else.
"It would be a great milestone and it would definitely be one of my goals achieved, but at the end of the day, what I truthfully want is the Stanley Cup and a chance to win it," Hellebuyck said, according to the Winnipeg Sun's Scott Billeck. "So anything that gets me closer to that, I would do for sure."
Hellebuyck had put together an impressive 31-21-5 record alongside a .922 save percentage and 2.57 goals-against average when the NHL hit the pause button March 12.
He helped keep the Jets competitive all season long, backstopping one of the worst defensive teams in hockey. He started the second-most games in the league (56), faced the most shots (1,796), and saw the most high danger shots (509).
The 26-year-old says his secrets to success were greater amounts of preparation and experience coming into the season.
"I think I came in with the right mindset," Hellebuyck said. "I was ready to prove myself. I had another year under my belt, so I had a little more experience. Not only that, I had this new chest pad that I finally had figured out. It took all training camp to really fine-tune some things. Once I finally had my trigger, which I'm going to keep as a secret for me, once I had that figured out, things were falling into place."
The Jets sat in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference when play was halted.