William M. Jennings Trophy

The William M. Jennings Trophy is an award in the National Hockey League (NHL) given each year to "to the goalkeeper(s) having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it. Winners are selected based on regular-season play." Up until 1981, the Vezina Trophy had been awarded under that definition, but it was later changed and replaced by the Jennings Trophy. Since it began in 1982, it has been awarded at the end of 25 seasons to 27 different players. The most recent winners are Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks and Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens, who both allowed only 189 team goals against for their teams in the 2014–15 NHL season.

History
Until the 1980–81 season, the Vezina Trophy was awarded to the goaltender(s) of the team allowing the fewest goals during the regular season. However, it was discovered that this often meant the trophy went to the goaltender of the better team rather than the individual, so they changed it to offer the Vezina to the most outstanding goaltender, as voted by the NHL General Managers. The William M. Jennings Trophy was created as a replacement and is given to the goaltender(s) playing for the team with the fewest goals scored against them.

The Jennings Trophy was donated by the NHL's board of governors and first handed out at the end of the 1981–82 season. It is named for the late William M. Jennings, who was a governor and president of the New York Rangers and who helped build ice hockey in the United States. Normally the lowest number of games a goaltender must play to be eligible for the trophy is 25, but for the lockout shortened 1994–95 season, the lowest was fourteen games.

Five players have won both the Jennings and Vezina Trophy for the same season: Patrick Roy (1988–89 and 1991–92), Ed Belfour (1990–91 and 1992–93), Dominik Hasek (1993–94 and 2000–01), Martin Brodeur (2002–03 and 2003–04) and Miikka Kiprusoff (2005–06). Roy has won the trophy five times, the most of any goaltender. Belfour and Brodeur are tied for second, having each won the trophy four times. It has been won most often by the Montreal Canadiens, on 5 occasions. The New Jersey Devils have won four times, and Buffalo Sabres and Chicago Blackhawks have three wins each.

Winners

Bold Player with the fewest goals ever scored against in a season.

+William M. Jennings Trophy winners Season Winner Team  Win # Team Win #   Montreal Canadiens 223 1 1 Denis Herron 1   New York Islanders 226 1 1 Billy Smith 1   Washington Capitals 226 1 1 Pat Riggin 1   Buffalo Sabres 237 1 1 Bob Sauve 1   Philadelphia Flyers 241 1 1 Darren Jensen 1   Montreal Canadiens 241 1 2 Brian Hayward 1   Montreal Canadiens 238 2 3 Brian Hayward 2   Montreal Canadiens 218 3 4 Brian Hayward 3   Boston Bruins 232 1 1  1   Chicago Blackhawks 211 1 1   Montreal Canadiens 207 4 5   Chicago Blackhawks 239 2 2   Buffalo Sabres 218 1 2 Grant Fuhr 1   Chicago Blackhawks 115 3 3   Detroit Red Wings 181 1 1 Mike Vernon 1   New Jersey Devils 182 1 1 Mike Dunham 1   New Jersey Devils 166 2 2  Dallas Stars 168 4 1 Roman Turek 1   St. Louis Blues 165 2 1   Buffalo Sabres 184 2 3   Colorado Avalanche 169 5 1   New Jersey Devils 166 3 3 Philadelphia Flyers 166 1 2  1   New Jersey Devils 164 4 4         Calgary Flames 200 1 1  Minnesota Wild 191 1 1  1  Detroit Red Wings 184 3 2 Chris Osgood 2  Boston Bruins 196 1 2  2   New Jersey Devils 191 55   Vancouver Canucks 185 1 1  1   St. Louis Blues 165 1 2 Jaroslav Halak 1  Chicago Blackhawks 102 1 4Ray Emery 1   Los Angeles Kings 174 1 1  Chicago Blackhawks 189 2 5  Montreal Canadiens 1 6   Anaheim Ducks 192 1 1  1   Washington Capitals 182 1 2   Los Angeles Kings 203 2 2   New York Islanders 191 1 2  1   Boston Bruins 174 1 3  2   Vegas Golden Knights 124 1 1  2   Carolina Hurricanes 202 2 1  1   Boston Bruins 177 1 4  1   Winnipeg Jets 199 1 1

Notes
For the 2002–03 season, there was a tie between Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils and Robert Esche and Roman Cechmanek of the Philadelphia Flyers. This is the only time that there has been a tie between players from different teams.

References
General

Specific

Category:National Hockey League trophies and awards