Revisiting Vezina Trophy Seasons: George Hainsworth’s 1927-28 Season

If you recognize the name — George Hainsworth — it would make sense. After all, he was the inaugural winner of the Vezina Trophy in 1926-27 as a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

At the time, the award which was named after former Canadiens’ goalie Georges Vezina who tragically passed away, was an award given to the goalie who played more than 25 games and was on the team that allowed the fewest goals against.

While the award has since shifted, Hainsworth was fortunate to be a part of some incredible Canadiens’ teams to kick off his career. In fact, the 1927-28 season marked his second season in the NHL and would ultimately be his second straight Vezina Trophy to open up said career.

With that, here’s a look back on Hainsworth’s 1927-28 season and his road to his second Vezina Trophy in two years.

Hainsworth Becomes Back-to-Back Vezina Winner

As a 31-year-old rookie, Hainsworth won his first Vezina with the Canadiens. A year later, he followed that up by becoming the first player in NHL history to win the award in back-to-back seasons.

Hainsworth played in 44 regular season games for the Canadiens in 1927-28 and posted a 26-11-7 record giving up just 48 goals over that span. He finished with a league-best 1.05 goals against average (GAA) and 13 shutouts — one less than his 14 in his rookie season.

He started off the season going undefeated in the first three games with two wins and a tie. He gave up just two goals and earned his first shutout of the season in their third game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Separated by one loss, Hainsworth went on another undefeated run of 18 games, including five shutouts.

The second half of the season he seemed to have a tougher run and come playoff time the team finished with a tie and a loss at the hands of the Montreal Maroons. Still, Hainsworth gave up just three goals over that span and played nearly 130 minutes.

While the Maroons would go on to win the Stanley Cup, Hainsworth would earn his second straight Vezina and continue his run as one of the best goalies in the league at the time.

Canadiens, Hainsworth Were Untouchable

As regular season performers, the team and Hainsworth were top dogs. They were the highest scoring franchise with 116 goals — the closest to them being the Maroons with 96. They also gave up the fewest — thanks to Hainsworth — with just 48 goals against. The closest team to that was the Ottawa Senators who gave up 57 in their 44 games that season.

As for Hainsworth individually, he topped the NHL in games played with 44, wins with 26 and, as mentioned before, goals against average with 1.05. Even as an adjusted number, Hainsworth’s GAA is 1.65 for the 1927-28 season.

Hainsworth Remains Amongst Canadiens’ Best

His efforts weren’t unrecognized either — even to this day. Even given the great goaltenders who’ve passed through Montreal, Hainsworth remains seventh on the franchise’s all-time list in games played (318) and first in GAA (1.78). He’s sixth in wins (167) behind names like Carey Price, Jacques Plante, Patrick Roy, Ken Dryden and Bill Durnan, and remains number one in shutouts (75) — a mark that is likely untouchable for the foreseeable future.

As for Hainsworth’s career, his second Vezina wasn’t the end of the road in terms of personal accomplishments either. He had more hardware coming in his career including Stanley Cups and another Vezina Trophy.

He was eventually inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame posthumously in 1961 and remains — to this day — one of just five goalies to win the Vezina in three consecutive seasons.