Islanders' Ilya Sorokin a first-time finalist for Vezina Trophy
Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin adjusts his mask in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Seattle Kraken at UBS Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Ilya Sorokin was asked what being a first-time Vezina Trophy finalist would mean to him. The Islanders goalie quickly countered he doesn’t think about individual awards.
“He doesn’t like to talk about it,” said defenseman Alexander Romanov, whose locker stall is adjacent to his fellow Russian at the team’s East Meadow practice rink.
On Thursday, the NHL announced Sorokin along with the Bruins’ Linus Ullmark and the Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck were the finalists for the Vezina, awarded to the league’s top goalie as voted upon by the NHL general managers.
The winner will be announced at the NHL Awards Show in Nashville on June 26.
Bill Smith, in 1982, is the only Islanders goalie to win the Vezina. Robin Lehner, in 2019, was the last Islanders goalie to be a finalist.
“It’s nothing if you don’t have a team playing a part,” Sorokin said during the team’s breakup day on May 1. “If not’s my result, it’s team results.”
Sorokin, playing a career-high 62 games, went 31-22-7 with a 2.34 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage and a league-high six shutouts. He went 2-4 in the playoffs with a 2.60 GAA and .929 save percentage as the Metropolitan Division-champion Hurricanes eliminated the wild-card Islanders in the first round.
Vezina voting does not take the postseason into account.
“It’s a lot of emotions,” Sorokin said when asked to assess his season. “It’s not a bad season but in the playoffs, you always want more.”
Ullmark, also a first-time finalist, is the presumptive favorite after going 40-6-1 with a 1.89 GAA, a .938 save percentage and two shutouts as the Bruins set NHL records with 65 wins and 135 points.
Hellebuyck, a three-time finalist who won the award in 2020, went 37-25-2 with a 2.49 GAA, a .920 save percentage and four shutouts.
“In my mind, [Sorokin] deserves to win the Vezina this year,” Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov said. “He played outstanding.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
