Georges Vezina

The Vezina Trophy was named in honor of Georges Vezina. After his tragic death from tuberculosis, the owners of the Montreal Canadians (Leo Dandurand, Louis Letourneau, and Joe Cattarinich) donated a trophy to the National Hockey League during the 1926-27 season. The Vezina was originally given to the goaltender who played the most games for his team and allowed the fewest number of goals during the regular season. The first goalie to win it was George Hainsworth, who succeeded Vezina between the pipes for the Canadians. Beginning in the 1964-65 season until the 1981-82 season, the Vezina was given to all the active goalies on the team with the lowest goals against average, as many teams used two goalies after the NHL expanded. After the 1981-82 season, the trophy was given to the best goalie in the league. Jacques Plante won the most Vezinas with seven, followed by Bill Durnan and Dominik Hasek with six each. The modern day winner also received $10,000, with the runners up receiving $6000 and $4000.