While the Boston Bruins pieced together the best statistical regular season of all time in 2022-23, their goaltender duo of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark had remarkable campaigns that rank amongst the most outstanding individual performances in club history. Furthermore, with a stat line that read 40-6-1 with a 1.89 goals-against average (GAA) and .938 save percentage (SV%), Ullmark would go on to become only the sixth netminder in Bruins history to win the prestigious Vezina Trophy.
Related: Bruins’ Ullmark & Swayman Both Have Vezina Potential in 2023-24
Historically, there have been 60 goalies to capture the Vezina Trophy, awarded for the first time after the 1926-27 season. Interestingly, only 20 teams have had a goalie win the award, with the Bruins earning the second most wins with 11, trailing the Montreal Canadiens, who currently have 30.
Moreover, many teams have won the Vezina Trophy in back-to-back years, with several franchises winning multiple years with the same netminder. However, only twice has a team secured the award with two separate goalies, the Chicago Blackhawks (1934, 1935) and the Bruins (1938, 1939). Considering that Ullmark is the reigning winner and Swayman started 2023-24 with even better statistics than last year, this bear-hugging duo is chasing an unimaginable milestone in the modern era.
Blackhawks’ Gardiner and Chabot Exchange Vezina Wins
In 1933-34, the Blackhawks would finish the 48-game season with a 20-17-11 record, good enough for 51 points and second place in the American Division behind the Detroit Red Wings (58 points). During the final season of his Hall of Fame career, Charlie Gardiner would capture his second Vezina Trophy and his only Stanley Cup title. After suiting up in all 48 games, the native of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, compiled a 20-17-11 record with ten shutouts and a 1.63 GAA.
Although the Blackhawks did not repeat as champions in 1934-35, they finished in second place in the American Divison once again, thanks to a 26-17-5 record and 57 points, one less than the Bruins (58) for the top spot. However, after Gardiner’s retirement at 29, Chicago employed 34-year-old Lorne Chabot to patrol the crease, and he produced a 26-17-5 record in 48 appearances.
Despite not advancing past the first round, losing to eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Maroons, Chabot won the Vezina Trophy thanks partly to a 1.80 GAA. Interestingly, it was Chabot’s only season in Chicago and the only time he earned All-Star honors. Meanwhile, his victory in 1935 marked the first time in history that two separate goalies from the same franchise won the award in consecutive seasons.
Bruins’ Iconic Duo of Thompson and Brimsek Duplicate History
By the end of the 1930s, Boston was on the cusp of winning the Stanley Cup twice in three seasons. Thankfully, the franchise was led by hall-of-famers like Eddie Shore, Dit Clapper, Tiny Thompson, and Frank Brimsek during this era. Eventually, the team would win championships in 1939 and 1941, with Thompson and Brimsek capturing the Vezina Trophy six times between 1930 and 1942.
However, the duo have a special place in NHL history, becoming only the second goalies to win the award in back-to-back seasons for the same franchise. Interestingly, though, Thompson would win the award for the final time in his career in 1938, only to depart the Bruins after five games the following season to play with the Red Wings. Ultimately, that left the crease to Brimsek, who didn’t disappoint in his first season as a starter, capturing the Vezina in 1939.
Related: History of Vezina Trophy Winners Who Moved On
During his Hall of Fame career, Thompson was named goalie of the year four times, claiming the title in 1930, 1933, 1936, and 1938. Statistically, his numbers were better in 1936, but in his final season (1938) with the Bruins, at 34, he skated in all 48 games while compiling a 30-11-7 record and a 1.80 GAA to backstop the team to the best record in the league. Surprisingly, he only led the NHL in wins and GAA, still walking away with the Vezina Trophy.
Once Thompson left, the Bruins rallied on 23-year-old Brimsek to carry the load, with the rookie winning the Calder Trophy while guiding Boston to their second-ever Stanley Cup championship in the same season. Besides being the league’s top rookie, the native of Eveleth, Minnesota, was the top goalie, suiting up in 43 games and finishing with a 33-9-1 record, ten shutouts, and a 1.56 GAA. Eventually, the two-time Vezina winner would win another championship in 1941 en route to the Hall of Fame.
Ullmark and Swayman on Path to Vezina Trophy Immortality
As mentioned, the Bruins dominated the NHL in 2022-23, and Ullmark and Swayman were a significant reason behind the team’s unheralded success. Before compiling a 40-6-1 record last year, Ullmark’s career totals were just 76-57-15 with a 2.69 GAA and .913 SV%.
Interestingly, the native of Lugnik, Sweden, never had a campaign with a sub-2.00 GAA before setting a personal best of 1.89 while registering a league-leading .935 SV% in 2022-23. Even though many considered his heroics a by-product of the team’s overall success, he won his first-ever Vezina Trophy and continues to win games in 2023-24 while watching his GAA and SV% numbers return to his career averages.
Meanwhile, 25-year-old Swayman also had a career year in 2022-23, going 24-6-4 in 37 games, compiling a 2.27 GAA and .920 SV%. However, after watching Ullmark take home some hardware in the offseason, Swayman returned to camp and has outplayed his partner thus far in 2023-24 with an impressive 8-1-2 record after 12 starts, with a 2.17 GAA and .930 SV%. Statistically, Swayman has only given up three or more goals in just three starts and is currently on pace to shatter his career-best four shutouts, achieved in 2022-23.
Historical Perspective
Although a quarter of the season is over, there have already been a lot of conversations that Swayman is one of the favorites to win his first Vezina Trophy, which would give the Bruins back-to-back wins for the first time since Thompson and Brimsek over 84 years ago. Furthermore, Swayman and Ullmark could become just the third set of netminders to win the award for the same team in consecutive seasons. Even though the goal is to win the Stanley Cup, finding your name in the record book for a feat unimaginable for almost a century is also a very nice consultation prize if the Bruins don’t hoist the silver chalice in June.
