Thomas, Chara Hoping For More Hardware At NHL Awards
BOSTON (CBS) - The Boston Bruins already have the Stanley Cup to parade around, and parade around they have, but a couple of B's could have more for their mantle after Wednesday night.
The NHL Awards will be handed out in Las Vegas on Wednesday, with Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara looking to add to an already amazing season.
Thomas is a finalist for his second Vezina Trophy, awarded to the leagues best goaltender during the regular season. Thomas set a new NHL record with a .938 save percentage, but the impressive stats did not end there. He posted a 35-11-9 regular season record, and his nine shutouts were second only to the Rangers Henrik Lundqvist' 11. Thomas allowed just 2.00 goals per game, tops in the NHL.
Thomas is up against Roberto Luongo (38-15-11 record, 2.11 GAA, .928 save percentage) of the Canucks and Pekka Renne (33-22-9, 2.12 GAA, .930 save percentage) of the Nashville Predators.
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It would be Thomas' second Vezina trophy. He won his first after the 2008-09 season after posting a 36-11-7 record with a 2.10 GAA and .933 save percentage.
Defenseman Zdeno Chara is up for two awards Wednesday night, the James Norris Memorial Trophy for top defenseman and the Mark Messier Leadership Award. Chara was tops in the NHL with a plus-33 and displayed his physicality throughout the regular season. The Bruins Captain has some tough competition for his second Norris though, going up against six-time winner Nicklas Lidstrom of Detroit and Shea Weber of Nashville.
Chara would become the third Bruin to win the Norris trophy multiple times. Bobby Orr was named the top defender for eight straight seasons (67-68 through 74-75) and Ray Bourque won the award four times with Boston.
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Chara is also up for the Mark Messier Leadership award, which recognizes an individual as a superior leader in hockey and as a contributing member of society. Chara is up against Lidstron and Shane Done of Phoenix for the award.
