The 2011 NHL Vezina Award WInner Should Be.........

The National Hockey League is full of superstars and elite athletes.

One of these players is Henrik Lundqvist.

In a game where the playoff life and death of a franchise lays upon the broad shoulders of the goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist is more than qualified to be considered for the Vezina Trophy.

Named after famed Montreal Canadiens’ goalie Georges Vezina, the Vezina Trophy is awarded to the top NHL goaltender each season.

As it has been widely documented, the New York Rangers have fought and overcame injuries this entire season. Lundqvist is the backbone of the Rangers and John Tortorella has treated him as such.

Henrik has proven his dominance over elite teams such as the Washington Capitals, the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks this season, defeating them via a shutout.

Over the course of the season, Henrik has posted a record of 32-24-5 along with 10 shutouts, a 2.28 goals against average and a .922 save percentage so far this year.

Henrik has been well rested during the year, thanks to backup goaltender Martin Biron.

However, the injury bug bit the Rangers again and it came at a very inopportune time. A little over three weeks ago, veteran backup goaltender Martin Biron broke his collarbone in practice. 

This was a huge blow to the Rangers. Glen Sather’s purpose of signing Biron was in order to give Coach Tortorella the opportunity to rest Henrik when needed.

At the end of last season, Henrik felt burned out after appearing in a career high 73 games.

Since the injury to Biron, Henrik has appeared in 19 straight games. Lundqvist has been red hot as of late and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

As the Rangers have been making a run at the playoffs, with every point counting, Henrik has responded with his superb play.

Before last night's loss to the Ottawa Senators, Henrik was 7-1 with two shutouts, a G.A.A. of 1.87 and a save percentage of .936 during his last eight games.

As a result of Henrik’s stellar play, the Rangers currently sit comfortably in the 7th seed of the Eastern Conference, trailing No. 6 seed Montreal by one point and leading the No. 8 seed Buffalo Sabres by four points.

It goes without saying that the favorites to win the Vezina include the Boston Bruins’ Tim Thomas, the Montreal Canadiens’ Carey Price and the Nashville Predators’ Pekka Rinne but Henrik Lundqvist at least deserves to be in the conversation.

Each of these players could also garner consideration for the Hart Trophy. Many hockey analysts have claimed that the goalie is the most important player on a team.

Even with that being said, the last goalie who won the Hart Trophy was Jose Theodore, who won the award back to back in the 2001-2002 season.

Even though Tim Thomas and Carey Price have better cumulative numbers than Lundqvist it can be argued the Lundqvist has been the most important player to his respective team. The Bruins and Canadiens have had consistent scoring from their players.

Brian Gionta, Tomas Plekanec and Scott Gomez have been leaders for the Canadiens while Milan Lucic, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara have led the Bruins.

When you factor in all the variables, Henrik Lundqvist makes one of the better cases for the Vezina. Henrik has great numbers, has been the backbone of his team and has played well under pressure.

He may not win the Vezina this year but he does make a strong case, and at least deserves consideration.

Comments, Questions, Concerns? 

For more Rangers news follow Tom Urtz on twitter @SH_TomUrtzNYR for updates, news, and rumors regarding the Rangers.

Check out this story to find out why John Tortorella deserves consideration for the Jack Adams Award.