Jets announce year-end award winners for 2020-21 regular season

WINNIPEG, May 14, 2021 - The Winnipeg Jets announced today the winners of their regular season year-end awards for the 2020-21 regular season.
The Hercules Tire Three Stars Award was presented to Connor Hellebuyck as the Jets player to receive the most 'Three Stars' honours in 2020-21. The 27-year-old goaltender has been recognized game-after-game for his outstanding play and he is the reigning Vezina Trophy winner (awarded to the goaltender adjudged to be the best at his position). Hellebuyck leads the league in games played (44), minutes played (2,543), shots against (1,299), and saves (1,189), while he ranks in the top five in wins (23) and shutouts (4). The Commerce, Michigan native was recognized as the first star on six occasions, while he was second star five times and third star in four games.

The Wawanesa Insurance Community Service Award was presented to forward Blake Wheeler for his commitment to the community. During his 13 years in the NHL, Wheeler has been an important player on the ice and also in the cities he has played in. For the second consecutive year, the Plymouth, Minn. native and his wife Sam have been the presenting sponsors for the Cancer Care Manitoba's very successful Ride Inside event, which raised $360,000 for PROFYLE this year. That brings the total raised during their two years to over $600,000 to benefit the Terry Fox PROFYLE (Precision Oncology For Young people). Wheeler has also been an ongoing ambassador and supporter of the True North Youth Foundation, in addition to supporting a number of other community and charitable organizations in Winnipeg.

Finally, the Dan Snyder Memorial Award is awarded each year to the Winnipeg Jets player who embodies perseverance, dedication and hard work without reward or recognition, so that his team and teammates might succeed. Defenceman Neal Pionk was presented with the Dan Snyder Memorial Award for the 2020-21 season. The second-year Jet has played through numerous injuries since joining the club via trade from the New York Rangers on June 17/19 and been a model of consistency in his work ethic on and off the ice. For the second straight year, Pionk leads all Jets defencemen in points (32) and assists (29) and sits in the top-20 among NHL blueliners in both categories. The 25-year-old has racked up impressive offensive numbers since joining the team, but has also sacrificed his body and leads all Winnipeg players in hits (300) and blocked shots (150) since the start of 2019-20.