Different trophies and awards in the NHL haven't always been in place. They are established from excellence early on and sometimes change, but not very often. One very known trophy in the NHL today that was introduced in the 1981-82 season was the Vezina trophy for the best goaltender that season.
Billy Smith of the New York Islanders won the first season with eight first place votes, but it is year two that we are more interested in. That was the season Chicago Blackhawks' 25-year-old Murray Bannerman and 39-year-old Tony Esposito both received votes for the award.
Pete Peeters won with all 21 first place votes, but Bannerman finished third in the voting with six second place votes and four third place votes. He went 24-12-5 with a 3.10 GAA and .901 SV%. It was a much different time in the NHL if those numbers for a goalie third place. Esposito still had game and finished tied for eighth with one third place vote. He went 23-11-5 with a 3.47 GAA and .887 SV%.
This was the season Chicago finished first place in the Norris Division with a record of 43-27-10 (104 points). Of the 21 teams in the NHL at the time, the Blackhawks finished fourth best in goals against with 268. After going 7-2 in the first two rounds to advance to the conference finals, they were swept by Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers.
Bannerman played eight playoff games and Esposito only five, but the latter had the better stats. The Oilers absolutely hurt those numbers.
Bannerman would go on to play four more seasons with the Blackhawks and in the NHL as his numbers just got progressively worse. It was a season to remember for him in his shorter career as he stopped playing in the NHL before 30 years old.
It was a bounce-back year for Esposito, who only played one more season after that at age 40. He is a Hall of Famer, three-time Vezina Trophy winner, Calder Trophy winner, and one of the NHL's 100 greatest players.
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