Andrei Vasilevskiy had his vehicle searched by police dogs and we finally know why
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Daniel Lucente
Jun 7, 2026 (1:55 PM)
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Photo credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images
Andrei Vasilevskiy thought he was being investigated. Instead, he won his second Vezina Trophy.
Tampa police staged a fake car search outside Benchmark International Arena on Saturday, complete with a K-9 unit and a story about suspects fleeing into the parking lot.
The duffle bag officers pulled from Vasilevskiy's Porsche 911 held the Vezina, not contraband.
The clip went viral because Vasilevskiy looked genuinely rattled, a rare sight from a goaltender who almost never flinches in the crease.
His first words after the reveal said everything: "Now I'm embarrassed."
The prank is the headline everyone ran with. The part worth paying attention to is what happened three days earlier, when Jon Cooper got surprised with the Jack Adams Award at a children's hospital ribbon-cutting.
Two awards, one franchise, one week
Tampa Bay swept the NHL's top individual goaltender and coaching awards in the same week. That does not happen by accident.
Vasilevskiy posted a 39-15-4 record with a .912 save percentage and 2.31 goals-against average across 58 starts.
His 18-game point streak from December through February anchored a season where Cooper navigated significant injuries to Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, and Brayden Point.
Cooper's Jack Adams came in the closest three-way vote since the NHL began publishing results, edging Lindy Ruff and Dan Muse by just three points.
He became only the second Lightning coach to win the award, joining John Tortorella in 2004.
The consistency nobody is discussing
Tampa just made the playoffs for the ninth straight year, the longest active streak in the league.
Vasilevskiy became the sixth goaltender in NHL history to record nine 30-win seasons, and Cooper hit 600 career wins back in January.
The prank made for good content. The hardware sweep tells a deeper story about a franchise still operating at an elite level half a decade removed from back-to-back Stanley Cups.
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Previously on HockeyLatest