Igor denied MVP award, takes Vezina
Toronto’s Auston Matthews won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player on Tuesday night, beating out Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Igor Shesterkin of the Rangers to win the award for the first time.
Shesterkin claimed the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender. Colorado’s Cale Maker took the Norris Trophy, presented to the league’s best defenseman, and Detroit’s Moritz Seider claimed the Calder Trophy as the top rookie.
Matthews became the first player to score 60 goals since Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos did it 10 years ago.
Shesterkin became the third Rangers goalie in the past 40 years to win the Vezina, joining Henrik Lundqvist (2011-12) and John Vanbiesbrouck (1985-86). He went 36-13-4 with an NHLbest 2.07 goal-against-average and .935 save percentage before leading a playoff run that ended against Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference finals.
STARS TAB DEBOER AS NEW COACH
The Dallas Stars announced Peter DeBoer will be their new coach on Tuesday, a month after he was fired by the Vegas Golden Knights.
DeBoer, who previously led the Devils and San Jose to the Stanley Cup finals in his first season with both of those clubs, was let go by the Knights after they missed the playoffs for the first time in the franchise’s five-season history. He had been their coach for 2½ seasons after replacing Gerard Gallant, who took Vegas to the Stanley Cup finals in its inaugural 2017-18 season and back to the playoffs in 2019.
Dallas was in the Stanley Cup finals two summers ago with Rick Bowness as interim head coach before he got a two-year contract that went through this season. Bowness was 89-62-26 with two playoff appearances in his nearly three seasons.
This will be the fifth head coaching job for DeBoer, who over the past 14 seasons has coached Florida (2008-11), the Devils (2011-15), San Jose (2015-20) and Vegas. He has a 513-379-123 record in 1,015 regular-season games. His 68-55 playoff record includes the Stanley Cup finals with the Devils in 2012, and four years later with the Sharks.
EX-PURDUE STAR DEAD AT 25
Former Purdue basketball star Caleb Swanigan has died at 25.
The Allen County Coroner’s office confirmed Tuesday that Swanigan died Monday of natural causes at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
A private doctor will be handling his death certificate, according to Rebecca Maze, a senior investigator at the coroner’s office.
Purdue men’s basketball tweeted Tuesday: “Devastated,” and “Our thoughts and prayers to Caleb Swanigan’s family and friends. The world lost a gentle soul last night. Love you Biggie.”
The 6-foot-9 center was from Fort Wayne and attended Homestead High School before playing for the Boilermakers from 2015-2017. He averaged more than 14 points and 10 rebounds for Purdue.
Swanigan was a first-round draft pick in 2017 by the Portland Trail Blazers. He also played for the Sacramento Kings.