Braden Holtby Is A Humble Vezina Trophy Nominee

When you think of outstanding players in the National Hockey League, what typically comes to mind is a player who goes out and scores 40+ goals in a season. The past few years, though, this traditional definition has transformed into something much more broad and Braden Holtby is one of the reasons why.

What it comes down to is that Washington Capitals’ goaltender Braden Holtby had a breakout season. His performance in net blew away the hockey world.

Holtby’s phenomenal year included (but is definitely not limited to) tying Marty Brodeur’s single-season record of 48 wins, but in 12 less games. He finished out the season 48-9-7 with a 2.20 GAA and .922 save percentage. You could definitely say that he was a huge asset when it came to the Capitals winning the Presidents Trophy and finishing the season with 120 points (56 W, 18 L).

He is nominated – along with Dallas Stars’ Jamie Benn and Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane – for the Vezina Trophy, which is given to the league’s most “outstanding” player. Outstanding is right when it comes to his year, but the competition is definitely stiff.

Even his fellow nominees are highly impressed with the exceptional year that he had.

“It was pretty impressive what he did and to have such a great year, he definitely deserves to be up for this award,” said Jamie Benn about the season that Holtby had.

Braden Holtby is an all around ‘good guy’. His humble side is really starting to show, as he is hesitant to embrace the reality of his candidacy.

“It’s kind of weird to me because I keep forgetting that I’m nominated for it, because I don’t really think I should be there when you look at all of the outstanding players,” said Holtby about his Vezina nomination.

Braden Holtby is in Las Vegas for a reason, though. Through his humble protests, it is hard to fight the fact that Holtby is an exceptional player that deserves all of the recognition that he has come to received so far.