Panthers’ Bobrovsky: fourth goalie with multiple Stanley Cups and Vezinas since 1982
Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky entered rarified air on Tuesday night when he won the second Stanley Cup of his career.
The veteran held the Edmonton Oilers to just one goal in the Stanley Cup Final-clinching game, securing back-to-back championships for the Panthers in the process.
In doing so, he became just the fourth goalie since 1982 to win multiple Stanley Cups and Vezina Trophies as the NHL’s top goaltender in a single season.
The company he joined is the elite of the elite of the profession, with Dominik Hasek, Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy the others to achieve the feat.
Bobrovsky, 36, has spent the past decade-plus assembling a worthy Hall of Fame resume.
For his career, he’s posted a 429-243-57 record with a .914 save percentage and 2.58 goals against average.
The Russian backstop broke into the NHL in 2010-2011 with the Philadelphia Flyers, finishing seventh in Calder Trophy voting before starting the next season serving as the backup to Ilya Bryzgalov after the Flyers landed the latter in a massive free agent splash.
The following summer, Philadelphia moved Bobrovsky to Columbus for a package of draft picks. All Bobrovsky did in his first year in Ohio was take his first Vezina Trophy in the lockout-abbreviated 2013 season.
He won it again in a ridiculous 2015-2016 campaign in which he posted. .931 save percentage and finished third in the league in Hart Trophy voting as the most valuable player.
After a 2018-2019 season that saw Bobrovsky and the Blue Jackets stun the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning with a sweep in the first round, he signed his current massive free agent contract with Florida.
It appeared as though his best days were behind him a few years ago, as he struggled to a .901 in 2022-2023 before eventually taking back the net in the playoffs on what became the Panthers’ first of three runs to the Stanley Cup Final.
Bobrosvky has one more year on his deal, and it will be interesting to see if he and the team work out a short-term extension this summer to keep him in South Florida past his age-37 season.