Thomas wins second Vezina, joins elite club

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By Joe Haggerty
CSNNE.com Bruins InsiderFollow @hackswithhaggs
LAS VEGASTim Thomas captured the final portion of the hockey triple crown when he was named the Vezina Trophy winner as best goaltender during the NHL Awards ceremony at the Palms Casino Resort on Wednesday night.

With the honor, he becomes only the second goalie in NHL history to win the Vezina Trophy, Conn Smythe and Stanley Cup all in the same season.

The 37-year-old received first-place votes on 17 of the 30 ballots handed in by the NHL general managers, and won convincingly over second-place finisher Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators for his second Vezina in the last three years.

Thomas also joined Philadelphia Flyers legend Bernie Parent as the only goaltender to win the Vezina, Conn Smythe and Stanley Cup in the same year. Parent did it twice in a row, in 1973-74 and 1974-75.

Parent was on Twitter after Thomas won the Vezina with this tweet: Congratulating Tim Thomas. Welcome to the club.

Thomas set the NHL record in save percentage with a .938 mark and then dominated the Stanley Cup playoffs while leading the Bruins past Montreal, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Vancouver en route to the Stanley Cup.

Thomas was happy to talk about all of work he did to rehabilitate himself from hip surgery last summer and how much he owed to his teammates, but his face really brightened up when a reporter mentioned to him that Parent had welcomed him to the elite club of two goaltenders in NHL history.

Thats the stuff that I enjoy hearing more than anything else, said Thomas. Its amazing that Parent did it two years in a row. Were just coming off winning the Cup and its been crazy.

I havent had time to sit down and think about it, but I would love to be able to accomplish something like that. So many things have to fall into place. I bet you Bernie would say the same thing. It takes a unique set of circumstances to win it two years in a row. Thats an amazing accomplishment.

So Thomas has found his motivation to do the whole thing over again next year: Matching Parents feat.

Joe Haggerty can be reached at jhaggerty@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Joe on Twitter at http:twitter.comHackswithHaggs

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