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The nominees for the Masterton Trophy were released yesterday and Pittsburgh's Kris Letang was among the finalists. He joins goaltenders Devan Dubnyk and Andrew Hammond.
The Masterton Trophy is awarded for the following:
The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey
All due respect to the other two candidates but this should be a runaway award for Kris Letang.
Letang has suffered from non-hockey related migraines throughout his career but last year he had to overcome a stroke to make his way back to playing professional hockey. For right or wrong he also continues to battle back from concussions as well.
No offense to Devan Dubnyk but playing one below average season in Edmonton and then rebounding elsewhere seems like what a lot of other goalies do. Mind you his play was phenomenal this year but when I think of perseverance I don't think of playing through a bad stretch while being compensated handsomely.
Andrew Hammond also had a great run but once again I don't see what being a below average AHL goalie that went on an terrific hot streak has to do with perseverance.
If this is the standard for the award then Jhonas Enroth and Michael Neuvirth deserve consideration. They persevered playing goal for the 2014-15 Buffalo Sabres. So much that they played their way out of town via trade because they were playing so well. Now that is perseverance!
Kris Letang deserves the award. He's really the only option here.
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