An annual award “to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at his position” as voted by the general managers of each of the 30 clubs. History: Leo Dandurand, Louis Letourneau and Joe Cattarinich, former owners of the Montreal Canadiens, presented the trophy to the National Hockey League in 1926-27 in memory of Georges Vezina, outstanding goalkeeper of the Canadiens who collapsed during an NHL game on November 28, 1925, and died of tuberculosis a few months later. Before the 1981-82 season, the goalkeeper(s) of the team allowing the fewest number of goals during the regular season were awarded the Vezina Tro phy. Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals captured the Vezina Trophy for the first time. He is the third Washington goalie to win the award, joining Jim Carey (1996) and Olaf Kolzig (2000). Holtby was a near unanimous choice with 26 of 30 first-place votes from NHL general managers, three second-place votes, and one third-place vote for 140 points. Ben Bishop of Tampa Bay had two first-place votes and 51 points. Jonathan Quick of Los Angeles had one first-place vote and finished third in the balloting with 36 points. Corey Crawford of Chicago also had one first-place vote, but finished tied for fifth overall with Cory Schnedier of New Jersey with 10 points apiece. Roberto Luongo of Florida finished fourth with 14 points. John Gibson of Anaheim and Martin Jones of San Jose each received one second-place vote, while Brian Elliott of St. Louis had three third-place votes to give them all three points. Holtby equaled the single-season NHL record of 48 wins set by New Jersey ’s Martin Brodeur in 2006-07 to backstop the Capitals to the 2015-16 Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top regular-season club. Holtby, who tied a franchise record with 41 wins in 2014-15, became the seventh goaltender in NHL history to record consecutive 40-win seasons and the first to do since San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov did it in three straight seasons from 2007 to 2009. Holtby ranked fifth in the NHL in goals-against average (2.20), sixth in saves (1,661) and eighth in save percentage (.922).

Leo Dandurand, Louis Letourneau, and Joe Cattarinich, former owners of the Montreal Canadiens, presented the trophy to the National Hockey League in 1926-27 in memory of Georges Vezina, outstanding goalkeeper of the Canadiens, who collapsed during an NHL game Nov. 28, 1925, and died of tuberculosis a few months later. Until the 1981-82 season, the goalkeeper(s) of the team allowing the fewest number of goals during the regular season were awarded the Vezina Trophy.