Every player probably feels like their team's goaltender had a shot at the Vezina this year, and many could offer up a solid argument as to why. The San Jose Sharks' goaltender, Antti Niemi, had an outstanding season. He finished with a .924 save percentage and a 2.16 goals against average and helped the Sharks through some genuinely tough patches this past season.
Sergei Bobrovsky wound up winning the trophy this year and Logan Couture has a problem with that.
The tweet was later deleted, perhaps because he found it harsh, or perhaps people pointed out that Bob played in the Western Conference.
Couture still has a point, though. Columbus is in the Eastern Time Zone, and a player based in a team west of the Mississippi River hasn't won the award since Miikka Kiprusoff in 2006, and before that Grant Fuhr in 1988. Before that, the first and last time a goalie won it for a team west of the Mississippi was when the dynamic duo of Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante won in 1969. Then, though, the criteria was different; winning the Vezina then was akin to winning the Jennings now. So, basically, only two goalies in the current form of the award have won the award while playing on a team west of the Mississippi.
