MAPLE LEAFS' AUSTON MATTHEWS AMONG NHL STARS TO BE FEATURED IN TV SPECIAL ON SATURDAY
Auston Matthews is getting his own special.
The Maple Leafs superstar, along with Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets, will be featured in the 2024 NHL Regular Season Awards Show, premiering on Saturday on the NHL Network at 4 p.m.
The show, produced by the NHL, will honour the trio for their regular season awards and will include interviews with Matthews and Hellebuyck.
In scoring a franchise-record 69 goals in 81 games for the Leafs in 2023-24, Matthews has won his third Rocket Richard Trophy in the past four years. That was 12 goals clear of Sam Reinhart of the Florida Panthers, who was second among NHL goal scorers with 57.
Kucherov won the Art Ross Trophy for the second time, recording 144 points in 81 games to finish four points ahead of Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche.
And Hellebuyck will be part of the show after leading the Jets to their first William M. Jennings Trophy, awarded for allowing the fewest goals against. Hellebuyck had a 2.39 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage as the Jets allowed 199 goals, one fewer than the Panthers.
The show will be available on the NHL’s YouTube channel following its premiere on Saturday.
As for the other trophies, most of which are voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, the finalists for each will start to be revealed on Monday when the Vezina Trophy finalists are announced.
The Calder Trophy finalists will be revealed on Tuesday, followed by the Norris Trophy on Wednesday, the Bill Masterton Trophy on Thursday and the Jack Adams Award on Friday, with more to come in the days that follow.
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2024-04-26T16:19:20Z dg43tfdfdgfd