2008 Masterton Trophy nominees
The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy "is given to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey."
Boston Bruins rookie Phil Kessel won the award last season.
I'll add the names as they are announced below (along with a related story and the latest additions are in bold):
Anaheim - Todd Marchant
Atlanta - Johan Hedberg
Boston - Glen Metropolit
Buffalo - Paul Gaustad
Calgary - Owen Nolan
Carolina - Glen Wesley
Chicago - Patrick Lalime
Colorado - Andrew Brunette
Columbus - Pascal Leclaire
Dallas - Sergei Zubov
Detroit - Chris Chelios
Edmonton - Fernando Pisani
Florida - Jassen Cullimore
Los Angeles - Jaroslav Modry
Minnesota - Aaron Voros
Montreal - Mike Komisarek
Nashville - Martin Gelinas
New Jersey - Colin White
N.Y. Islanders - Brendan Witt
N.Y. Rangers - none
Ottawa - Luke Richardson
Philadelphia - Jim Dowd
Phoenix - Shane Doan
Pittsburgh - Ty Conklin
San Jose - Jeremy Roenick
St. Louis - Manny Legace
Tampa Bay - Craig MacDonald
Toronto - Jason Blake
Vancouver - Trevor Linden
Washington - Quintin Laing
UPDATE Teams with nominees yet to be announced:
UPDATE Apparently the Rangers aren't submitting a nominee this year, so this is the final list of 29 nominees for 2008.
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Labels: Awards
by James Mirtle @ 2:50 PM
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Pisani would have to be nominated, no? Coming within days of having a (probable) career ending surgery, only to come back months ahead of schedule and score at a pace to nearly match your career best seems to be Masterton worthy, IMO.
Though I feel that Jason Blake's big-C will likely win him that award. Cancer is a scarier term then Ulcerative Colitis.
It's going to go to Conklin for his zombie like resurrection from the goalie graveyard.
Let's face it, zombies are a much more attractive angle than cancer.
Mmm...Brains!
Wouldn't it make sense to wait for the season to end before picking award nominees?
Its gotta be Conklin. This is a guy that just two years ago screwed up on the grandest stage of the game. He was so bad in his 5 minutes of play in the final that his team decided it was best to use their #3 goalie for the rest of the series. Ouch.
For all intents and purposes his career died that night and yet somehow he might be the starter for the #1 Seed in the East going in to the playoffs.
If he played a full season we might be talking about a Vezina nomination.
Somehow I think players fighting off potentially life-threatening and career-ending diseases will register more with voters then not playing like crap anymore. It was Kessel, he of the testicle cancer, who won last season.
Personally, getting diagnosed with Leukemia or losing 30 pounds (of blood and guts, literally) and barely missing a beat because of it seems a lot more like perseverance and a commitment to the game then rebounding well with a good team.
And by the way: Jussi Markkanen was the number two that season. Conklin was just dressed as the backup for that game, for whatever reason. It was always the intention (if MacTavish is to be believed) to go with Jussi for the rest of the series after Roloson went down.
@ the puck stops here:
Why, do you think something will happen in the last 10 games that will change everybody's mind about a particular player's perseverance and dedication to the game?
Andrew Brunette has been reported as the Colorado nominee.
Mike
I have no idea what will happen in the last ten games of the season. Probably nothing that changes our mins about a player's perserverence an dedication, but something *might* happen.
Hypothetically, imagine Teppo Numminen returning from open heart surgery. Imagine Richard Zenik returning from having his throat slashed. Imagine Jason Blake finds suddenly finds his cancer is far more serious and life threatening. None are likely to happen but who knows what the future holds. Voting on awards before the season ends is stupid because something might occur that should change our minds except we already voted.
That said at this point, my choice for Masterton is Owen Nolan. He was out of the NHL for two seasons due knee problems that would end a career for most players and he is back playing regularly in Calgary.
I thought Tim Thomas should be the Boston choice, and my choice for the NHL as a whole. But they didn't even pick him! I guess the career path he's had doesn't shout out perseverance and dedication so obviously to everyone else as it does to me. At 30 he's still playing in the minors or in Europe, with only one small sniff of NHL action. At 33, he's in the All-Star Game and one of the leaders in most goaltending categories.
i like the glen metro pick from boston.
Seemed like he was completely done finding a job in the NHL, but he pulled the fork out of himself and headed out to training camp where he won himself a spot.
If that's not perseverance and dedication to hockey, then, geez.
Fernando Pisani all the way!
If Luke Richardson wins, I will vomit myself to death.
Chris Chelios? seriously? Did someone in Detroit forget that "sportsmanship" part of the award?
My vote would go to Pisani. Much like how Kessel won last year.
What about Zhednik? Would he have to wait until next year to make sure he has a 'comeback'?
I think Owen Nolan because hes endured playing in Calgary these last few years.
Sedins are Gods,
Go Vancity
TO Joe
Conklin wasn't our 2nd best Goalie, he was considered 3rd. Just MacT put in Conklin in because he had confidence in him.
Markkanen was always the better goalie.
Komisarek is Montreal's man for the Masterton.
Forgot the links:
RDS:
http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/247655.html
Montreal Gazette: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/sports/story.html?id=73dd5955-d210-4cf3-a5c6-444c82a8f4c0&k=96860
glen wesley's still playing?
Does anyone in LA actually belong to the PHWA so that any Kings or Ducks can be nominated?
"Conklin wasn't our 2nd best Goalie, he was considered 3rd. Just MacT put in Conklin in because he had confidence in him.
Markkanen was always the better goalie."
I'd disagree with that last statement. I remember a lot of talk that year about "Conkanen" being the Oilers starter because the team couldn't decide who was their number 1 until injuries started to hit.
I just assumed Conklin eventually won the number 2 spot because the healthy Markenen wasn't dressed during the Stanley Cup final.
In any case, I stand by my Conklin vote. This award is the closest thing the NHL has to comeback player of the year and I can't think of a bigger comeback.
Note: Props to whoever mentioned Tim Thomas. He probably should have won a year or two ago.
If you look at the rosters throughout Edmonton's playoff run, the backup goalie position was switched game-by-game between Conklin and Markkanen. The fact that Conklin was backing up Roloson during Game 1 of the SCF wasn't because he was the #2, but because of pure chance.
James, Martin Gelinas has been nominated from Nashville.
Fernando Pisani
Pisani nominated for Masterton
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Edmonton/2008/03/13/4991736-sun.html
After seeing Pisani being interviewed during the preaseason I thought that there was no way he'd play hockey this year. He was weak, pale, and tiny. After losing a large portion of intestine he beat the odds and returned early. He gets my vote.
I thought Ray Emery would have received Ottawa nod.
I'm disappointed.
Pascal Leclaire is Columbus' Nominee
James,
Here is a better story on the Washington nomination.
I believe Emery was late for the vote.
If Ty Conklin beats Fernando Pisani for the Masterton trophy, I will shoot myself.
I'm an Sens fan and I know they don't have any good viable candidates this year, but Luke Richardson!? Really? Dedication - sure... he's older then skates but perseverance and sportsmanship are lackluster. How about Dean McAmmond? He's only a little younger then Luke, he had a hard time with the headshot from Philly earlier in the year and he's registered a little more then .5 PIMs per game since his days in the WHL... Just a bad choice here. Give it to Pisani.
James, according to the San Jose Mercury News it looks Like JR Superstar is the Sharks nominee.
According to the Wild beat writer, Aaron Voros will be the Minnesota nominee.
"Five years ago, Voros had a tumor behind his left knee half the size of a baseball. He needed six operations, had part of his femur removed and was bed-ridden for eight weeks. He’s come a long way."
The 2008 Bill Masterton should be award to Owen Nolan for great perseverance in last 16 years of his career especially the last two years for rally to comeback in Phoenix and Calgary.
Why this trophie is always give to a sick player ?
Here's a link to Modry's selection.
The final 3 will be Pisani, Blake, and someone who doesn't matter much. Blake will probably win.
Link to article mentioning Doan nomination:
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/articles/0320yotenb0320.html
I'm definitely rooting for Gaustad, for a NUMBER of reasons. Last year, he had his tendon sliced open and managed to make an amazing return from that. He's the 'celebrity' spokesperson for Camp Good Days, heads the Sabres' 'Blue & Green Make Gold' Initiative, continually volunteers at WNY schools to read to students, he's the front man for the Sabres’ children’s literacy program, plus he also came up the idea to auction custom-made Sabres bracelets (worn by each player in a pregame skate) to benefit the Buffalo Sabres Foundation. Not to mention, he's also a good player on the ice.
I don't think Conklin deserves it, at all. So he came to be a decent goalie after being.. erm, very bad. Big freakin deal. Blake and Pisani deserve it, but I think it should be more than just about sickness. It's also about sportsmanship and service.
GO MANNY LEGACE!!!!!
Got to be Jeremy Roenick... 10 GWGs leads the league. Not bad for a "wash-up"...
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