1. Jim Carey (1995-96)
Funny story. I thought Jim Carey the goalie was Jim Carey the actor. Don’t judge me, I was 7 years old at the time! And yes, Jim Carey the goalie had the nickname “The Net Detective” because his fame overlapped with the actor’s most famous film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
Anyway, Jim Carey of the Washington Capitals had a heck of a start to his NHL career. He took over the net in 1994-95. In his rookie season, he played in 28 games, accumulating an 18-6-3 record with a .913% save percentage and four shutouts. Carey only played in 28 games, but he still finished second in the Calder Trophy voting and third in the Vezina Trophy voting.
He won it the next season even though he didn’t deserve it at all. Carey didn’t finish in the top 10 among qualified goaltenders in save percentage. He finished in third place in GAA, though the Capitals made his job easy. Carey probably won it because of his league-high nine shutouts in 71 games. He was out of the league three seasons later.
Chris Osgood would have been a great choice to win. Sure, he had a loaded Detroit Red Wings team in front of him, but he posted a better save percentage, a lower GAA, and had a league-high 39 wins in 50 games. I guess 1995-96 was the one year voters didn’t care about wins!
Or they could have just given it to Dominik Hasek, who had won the previous two Vezina Trophies and led the league in save percentage.