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Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award
Sport Ice hockey
Given for goaltender who has played a minimum of 25 games and finished the season with the best save percentage in the National Hockey League.
History
First award 1999–2000 NHL season
Final award 2006–07 NHL season

The Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award,[1] officially billed as the MBNA/MasterCard Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award,[2] was an award in ice hockey given annually to the goaltender who finished the regular season with the best save percentage in the National Hockey League (NHL).[3] Only goaltenders who played 25 games or more in the season were eligible for the award.[1] A goaltender's save percentage represents the percentage of shots on goal that he stops, and is calculated by dividing the number of saves by the total number of shots on goal.[4]

The award was first presented at the conclusion of the 1999–2000,[3] and was named in honor of former Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals goaltender Roger Crozier, a Calder and Conn Smythe Trophy winner who played in the NHL from 1964 to 1977.[5] It was presented by the MBNA corporation in memory of Crozier, who worked for the MBNA America Bank after retiring as a player, and died on January 11, 1996.[1] The winner of the trophy received a commemorative crystal trophy and was given US$25,000 to donate to a youth hockey or other educational program of their choice.[1]

By 2007, when it ceased being presented, the award had been handed to six different players on seven occasions. Marty Turco is the only goaltender to have won the award twice. Three Dallas Stars goalies have won the award, while two each have represented the Montreal Canadiens and the Minnesota Wild. Only seven awards were ever made. The award was not presented in 2005, as the entire 2004–05 was canceled due to the lockout.[6]

Winners[]

MartyTurco

Marty Turco is the only player to have won the award twice.

Denotes players who are still active in the NHL
Denotes player who was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame
Season Player Team Save % Win # Ref.
1999–2000 Belfour, EdEd Belfour Dallas Stars .919 1 [7]
2000–01 Turco, MartyMarty Turco Dallas Stars .925 1 [8]
2001–02 Theodore, JoseJose Theodore Montreal Canadiens .931 1 [9]
2002–03 Turco, MartyMarty Turco Dallas Stars .932 2 [8]
2003–04 Roloson, DwayneDwayne Roloson Minnesota Wild .933 1 [10]
2004–05 Not awarded due to NHL lockout
2005–06 Huet, CristobalCristobal Huet Montreal Canadiens .929 1 [11]
2006–07 Backstrom, NiklasNiklas Backstrom Minnesota Wild .929 1 [12]

- Belfour was a prior save percentage leader in the 1990-91 season, before the Crozier Award was first presented.

Save-percentage leaders (1956–1999)[]

Before 2000, there was no award for leading the league in save percentage. The NHL started counting the statistic in 1982,[13] while records have been compiled for save percentage back into the mid-1950s.[14]

Bold denotes highest season save percentage on record

* Season shortened by the 1994–95 NHL lockout

Season Player Team Save % Win #
1955–56 Plante, JacquesJacques Plante Montreal Canadiens .930 1
1956–57 Hall, GlennGlenn Hall Detroit Red Wings .928 1
1957–58 Worsley, GumpGump Worsley New York Rangers .927 1
1958–59 Plante, JacquesJacques Plante Montreal Canadiens .925 2
1959–60 Bower, JohnnyJohnny Bower Toronto Maple Leafs .919 1
1960–61 Bower, JohnnyJohnny Bower Toronto Maple Leafs .923 2
1961–62 Plante, JacquesJacques Plante Montreal Canadiens .923 3
1962–63 Hall, GlennGlenn Hall Chicago Black Hawks .918 2
1963–64 Bower, JohnnyJohnny Bower Toronto Maple Leafs .932 3
1964–65 Bower, JohnnyJohnny Bower Toronto Maple Leafs .924 4
1965–66 Bower, JohnnyJohnny Bower Toronto Maple Leafs .930 5
1966–67 Bower, JohnnyJohnny Bower Toronto Maple Leafs .925 6
1967–68 Gamble, BruceBruce Gamble Toronto Maple Leafs .934 1
1968–69 Plante, JacquesJacques Plante St. Louis Blues .940 4
1969–70 Esposito, TonyTony Esposito Chicago Black Hawks .932 1
1970–71 Plante, JacquesJacques Plante

Toronto Maple Leafs .944 5
1971–72 Esposito, TonyTony Esposito Chicago Black Hawks .934 2
1972–73 Dryden, KenKen Dryden Montreal Canadiens .926 1
1973–74 Parent, BernieBernie Parent Philadelphia Flyers .932 1
1974–75 Vachon, RogieRogie Vachon Los Angeles Kings .927 1
1975–76 Resch, GlennGlenn Resch New York Islanders .914 1
1976–77 Dryden, KenKen Dryden Montreal Canadiens .920 2
1977–78 Dryden, KenKen Dryden Montreal Canadiens .922 3
1978–79 Resch, GlennGlenn Resch New York Islanders .914 2
1979–80 Herron, DenisDenis Herron Montreal Canadiens .907 1
1980–81 St. Croix, RickRick St. Croix Philadelphia Flyers .913 1
1981–82 Herron, DenisDenis Herron Montreal Canadiens .910 2
1982–83 Melanson, RolandRoland Melanson New York Islanders .909 1
1983–84 Melanson, RolandRoland Melanson New York Islanders .903 2
1984–85 Skorodenski, WarrenWarren Skorodenski Chicago Black Hawks .903 1
1985–86 Froese, BobBob Froese Philadelphia Flyers .909 1
1986–87 Hextall, RonRon Hextall Philadelphia Flyers .902 1
1987–88 Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy Montreal Canadiens .900 1
1988–89 Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy Montreal Canadiens .908 2
1989–90 Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy Montreal Canadiens .912 3
1990–91 Belfour, EdEd Belfour Chicago Blackhawks .910 1
1991–92 Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy Montreal Canadiens .914 4
1992–93 Joseph, CurtisCurtis Joseph St. Louis Blues .911 1
1993–94 Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek Buffalo Sabres .930 1
1994–95* Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek Buffalo Sabres .930 2
1995–96 Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek Buffalo Sabres .920 3
1996–97 Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek Buffalo Sabres .930 4
1997–98 Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek Buffalo Sabres .932 5
1998–99 Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek Buffalo Sabres .937 6

Save-percentage leaders (2007–present)[]

* Season shortened by the 2012–13 NHL lockout
Season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic

Season Player Team Save % Win #
2007–08 Ellis, DanDan Ellis Nashville Predators .924 1
2008–09 Thomas, TimTim Thomas Boston Bruins .933 1
2009–10 Rask, TuukkaTuukka Rask Boston Bruins .931 1
2010–11 Thomas, TimTim Thomas Boston Bruins .938 2
2011–12 Elliott, BrianBrian Elliott St. Louis Blues .940 1
2012–13 Anderson, CraigCraig Anderson

1

Ottawa Senators .941 1
2013–14 Harding, JoshJosh Harding Minnesota Wild .933 1
2014–15 Price, CareyCarey Price Montreal Canadiens .933 1
2015–16 Elliott, BrianBrian Elliott St. Louis Blues .930 2
2016–17 Bobrovsky, SergeiSergei Bobrovsky Columbus Blue Jackets .932 1
2017–18 Hutton, CarterCarter Hutton St. Louis Blues .931 1
2018–19 Bishop, BenBen Bishop Dallas Stars .934 1
2019–20 Khudobin, AntonAnton Khudobin Dallas Stars .930 1
2020–21 Nedeljkovic, AlexAlex Nedeljkovic

2

Carolina Hurricanes .932 1
2021–22 Shesterkin, IgorIgor Shesterkin New York Rangers .935 1

See also[]

Notes[]

^ Craig Anderson only played in 24 games in the 2012–13, however due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout the minimum game restriction was reduced from 25 games to 14.
^ Alex Nedeljkovic only played in 23 games in the 2020–21, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic the minimum game restriction was reduced from 25 games to 17.

References[]

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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