Montreal goalie Price wins MVP in 4-award haul

Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens poses in the press room after winning the Jennings Trophy, the Vezina Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Trophy and the Hart Memorial Trophy at the 2015 NHL Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (AFP)AFP/Las VegasMontreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, who backstopped his club’s best regular season in 26 years, won four top honours Wednesday at the NHL Awards ceremony, including league Most Valuable Player. The 27-year-old Canadian led the NHL with 44 wins, a 1.96 goals-against average and a 93.3 save percentage, becoming the first goalie to pace the league in all three categories since Ed Belfour in the 1990-91 campaign. Price also broke the Montreal record for wins in a season, the 42 set by Jacques Plante in 1955-56 and matched by Ken Dryden in 1961-62. In addition to the Hart Trophy as MVP, Price won the Vezina Trophy as the top NHL goalie, the Ted Lindsay Award as most outstanding player and the Jennings Trophy as the goalie for the club that allowed the fewest goals in the season, an award he shared with Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford after the Canadiens and Chicago each allowed a league-low 189 goals. No goalie had ever swept the four awards. The Canadiens won 50 of 82 games and finished on 110 points, second in the Eastern Conference and overall NHL season standings with their biggest points run since 1988-89. Price had 1,498 points and 139 first-place ballots in Hart voting by a media panel to defeat Russian runner-up Alex Ovechkin of Washington on 888 with John Tavares of the New York Islanders third on 739. He dominated Vezina voting by team general managers with 144 points to 60 for Finnish runner-up Pekka Rinne of Nashville. No goalie had won the Hart MVP award since Montreal’s Jose Theodore in 2002 and Price is only the seventh goalie to do so in NHL history. Ovechkin was named to his seventh NHL First team All-Star squad, being joined by first-time selections Price, Tavares and Philadelphia right wing Jakub Voracek plus second-time defensive selections Erik Karlsson of Ottawa and P.K. Subban of Montreal. Calgary’s Bob Hartley won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s best coach while Czech left wing Jiri Hudler of the Flames won the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship and skill. They helped the Flames win 45 games and finish on 97 points to claim their first playoff spot since 2009. In the tightest vote of the night, Boston’s Patrice Bergeron took the Frank Selke Trophy as the top NHL defensive forward for the third time in four years, edging Jonathan Toews of Stanley Cup winner Chicago by 1,083 to 1,051. Bergeron led the NHL in face-offs, face-offs won and face-off win percentage. Chicago captain Toews received the NHL Leadership Award for service to charity and community. Yzerman voted top GM Tampa Bay’s Steve Yzerman, a former star player with Detroit, won the NHL General Manager of the Year Award after the Lightning’s run to the NHL Final. In the closest three-way voting fight, Florida’s Aaron Ekblad won the Calder trophy as the NHL’s top rookie by 69 points over Ottawa’s Mark Stone with Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau third. Canada’s Ekblad, the 2014 top draft pick, scored 12 goals and set up 27 others. The NHL’s All-Rookie Team included Ekblad, Stone, Gaudreau plus Nashville forward Filip Forsberg, St. Louis goalie Jake Allen and Dallas defenseman John Klingberg. Ottawa’s Karlsson won his second career Norris Trophy as top defenseman. The 2012 winner led all NHL defenders in scoring for the third time in four years. Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk received the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication. Ovechkin accepted the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the League’s leading goal-scorer after his sixth 50-goal campaign. He had 25 power-play goals and 11 game-winning goals, both league highs and personal bests. Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn took the Art Ross Trophy as the top NHL man in goals and assists after 35 goals and 52 assists.