For the second straight season, Ben Bishopย of the Tampa Bay Lightning is among the finalists for the year’s best goaltender.
Once again, he is not expected to win.
Bishop, 29, is among the finalists for the Vezina Trophy for the second straight season. However, Washington’s Brian Holtby is the favorite to win. Jonathan Quick of Los Angeles is the third contender.
Bishop led the NHL in goals against average (2.06) and save percentage (. 926). Bishop lost 11 games when allowing two goals or fewer, however. Holtby won the most games (48).
โI would be pleasantly surprised if I won,โ Bishop told the Tampa Bay Times. You hear that Holtby has kind of got it wrapped up. I’m not going to expect to win, even though I think I could. He numbers talk for themselves. We’ll see.โ
There has been speculation that the Bolts might consider trading Bishop because of his age and salary ($5.95 million per season).
โI expect to be back,โ Bishop said. โIt’s never really crossed my mind going somewhere else. As far as I’m concerned, I have another year here, and I fully expect to be back. If I’m not, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.โ
In his last two seasons, Bishop has won 75 games in the regular season and 21 more in the playoffs.
