At the end of every calendar year, InGoal Magazine’s Kevin Woodley is asked to name a Goalie of the Year for his Unmasked column at NHL.com, and for 2024 the choice was clearly Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets, who posted one of the most dominant calendar years in NHL history. But the word count limits over at NHL.com made it impossible to include many of the insights into what makes Hellebuyck so special, so we wanted to publish an extended version here that includes video from past sit downs with Hellebuyck. We hope you enjoy it.

Connor Hellebuyck was an easy choice for the 2024 Unmasked Goalie of the Year Award, but not just because the Winnipeg Jets workhorse No.1 also won his second Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goalie and led — or in came cases, almost lapped — the field statistically during the calendar year.

From Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, Hellebuyck led the NHL in wins (44) and shutouts (9, which is four more than any other goalie and the most in a calendar year since Carey Price and Devan Dubnyk in 2015), and his .926 save percentage was 11 points higher than Linus Ullmark in second place among goalies that played at least 35 games. (Anthony Stolarz had a .928 save percentage in 2024 but started 32 games, half of Hellebuyck’s total). Just as impressive is how often Hellebuyck plays at a time when most teams are trending more towards tandems. His 64 starts in 2024 trailed only Juuse Saros (65) of the Predators, and no goalie faced more shots (1,900) and made more saves (1,759) than Hellebuyck.

But it’s how Hellebuyck succeeds that makes him a perfect for an annual award created to recognize not only individual excellence but also themes that dominate the conversation about goaltending during the previous 12 months.

For Hellebuyck, it starts with how well he thinks and studies the game.

“Helle’s hockey mind is better than anyone I’ve ever met,” Eric Comrie, who is back for a third stint in Winnipeg with Hellebuyck and the Jets over his nine NHL seasons, told the InGoal Radio Podcast back in mid-November. “I don’t think people realize that because he keeps it to himself, but he tells me things I would never have thought of in my life. It’s unbelievable. The way he breaks down everything is incredible, and his positioning is perfect.”

Hellebuyck’s ability to anticipate plays based on subtle details may have been hard to quantify in the NHL.com version of this article, but fortunately here at InGoal Magazine, we have the benefit of his Pro Reads video breakdown sessions.

As you will see in Hellebuyck’s first video breakdown with InGoal below, it really is incredible how early he makes his pass-or-shot reads off the rush:

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