Expectations for the Tampa Bay Lightning this season were low. Many thought they would get sixth place in the Atlantic Division at best. But by the end of the season they had 101 points and were third in the Atlantic Division with a playoff spot and home-ice advantage guaranteed. How did they get there? It all stems from goaltender Ben Bishop. Today, Bishop, along with Tuukka Rask of the Bruins and Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche were announced as nominees for the Vezina trophy which is awarded to the best goaltender of the regular season. Bishop set several Lightning franchise records and was the sole reason for the Bolts success. We’ll break down what makes Bishop a deserving candidate for the Vezina Trophy.

First we’ll discuss Bishop’s road to beocming a starting goaltender in the NHL. Bishop was drafted by the St. Louis Blues but things didn’t pan out. He was traded to the Ottawa Senators and again things didn’t work out. Then on April 3, 2013, Bishop was traded to the Tampa bay Lightning for rookie prospect Cory Conacher. Bishop played in nine games with Tampa in the remainder of the season and went 3-4-1 with 2.99 GAA and 0.917 Save Percentage. Going into the 2013-14 season Bishop would have to compete for a starting position with Anders Lindback. In the previous season, Lindback went 10-10-1 with 2.90 GAA and 0.902 Save percentage. Lindback got the first start of the season against the Boston Bruins and lost the game 3-1. Bishop got the start in the second game against the reigning Stanley Cup Champions Chicago Blackhawks. After initially being down 2-0, the Bolts won the game 3-2 in a shootout. Bishop would start in nine games for the Lightning that month and win seven of them. From then on he would be Tampa’s starter.

Bishop would play in 63 games for the Lightning this season. He went 37-14-7 for the Bolts with 2.23 GAA and a 0.924 Save Percentage. Bishop had five shutouts and set several Lightning records including most wins by a goalie and save percentage. He’s the first goaltender on the Lightning to be nominated for the award since Daren Puppa in 1996. Bishop was the sole reason why the Lightning made it to the postseason.

On November 11 in a game against the Bruins, Steven Stamkos broke his leg by colliding with a goal post after accelerating hard to stop a Bruins scoring opportunity. Stamkos would not play again until March 6. When Stamkos went down, the Lightning were 12-4-0 but the hockey world gave them no chance with their superstar center gone for the foreseeable future. But they would be proved wrong by one man, and that man was Ben Bishop. While new players would step up to take the place of Stamkos, the Lightning needed a solid netminder to cover up for the mistakes made by the rest of the team. Bishop was relentless and dominated his crease for the rest of the season. He dazzled for the Bolts who worked their way up the standings and would eventually clinch a playoff spot.

With Bishop playing at his A-game and Steven Stamkos finally returning from the gruesome leg injury, the Lightning had high hopes for a playoff push. But these hopes came to a crashing halt on April 8 when Bishop dislocated his elbow in a game against the Maple Leafs. Bishop left the game and never got the chance to play in a postseason game with the Bolts. Only a few days ago word broke of the exchange between Bishop and Stamkos that night in the Tampa dressing room. Stamkos approached Bishop and gave him a hug as Bishop began to cry, knowing he would miss the playoffs. But it may have been for the best. Bishop was already hurt. Almost three months earlier in a game against the Oilers, Bishop hurt his wrist and missed four games because of it. He wouldn’t say anything about what specifically happened until a few days ago when he announced he would need offseason surgery for torn ligaments. All of that and more is why Bishop deserves the Vezina. He played for about three months with this injury and likely would’ve played with it during the playoffs had he not hurt his elbow. Bishop carried a load that no goalie should have to. The simple fact is that without Bishop, the Lightning wouldn’t have made the playoffs. His stats and valiant efforts are why Ben Bishop deserves to win the Vezina trophy.