The Bill Masterton Trophy is awarded “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.”
The finalists for this year are Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog and Columbus Blue Jackets center Sean Monahan. All three of these players had a storied journey before and during this season.
Fleury wrapped up a memorable NHL career on Thursday as Minnesota was eliminated from the playoffs by the Vegas Golden Knights. Toward the end of last season, he made it clear that the 2024-25 campaign would be his last.
The 40-year-old featured in 26 games for the Wild this season, earning a 14-9-1 record. He posted a 2.93 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage. The three-time Stanley Cup champion also appeared in one last playoff game to sub in for an ill Filip Gustavsson.
It was an emotional farewell tour for ‘Flower’ throughout the season, but Thursday’s game hit the hardest as he left the ice in tears, saluting the crowd as they gave him a standing ovation.
“The always-jovial Fleury is one proud athlete, yet at age 40, he signed for one final year and accepted his role as (Filip) Gustavsson’s backup to prioritize team success over personal accolades despite being on the cusp of retirement,” Michael Russo wrote in the Athletic.
Landeskog, meanwhile, had been on a mission to return to the NHL and was finally able to play in Colorado’s first-round series against the Dallas Stars.
After three years of training, rehab, and recovery, the Avalanche’s captain was back on the ice, making his season debut in Game 3 of the series. He dealt with a knee injury that he suffered in 2020, when he was accidentally sliced by a skate blade above his knee. While his availability was inconsistent, he was able to feature over the next two seasons and hoisted the Cup with Colorado in June 2022. However, he didn’t play again after the 2022 Cup final until this year.
Landeskog scored his first goal since the injury in Game 4, and the 32-year-old preached about his perspective after the game.
“I didn't know if I was ever going to get to score again,” he told reporters.
His perseverance and dedication to hockey pushed him through the injury and got him back to where he wanted to be.
Monahan’s first season with the Blue Jackets didn’t go how he or anyone expected it to go. On Aug. 29, not long before training camp, Blue Jackets left winger Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew Gaudreau, were killed.
Monahan was close friends with Johnny Gaudreau, and playing with him again was one of the big reasons he wanted to join Columbus in 2024 free agency. The NHL community and the Blue Jackets leaned on each other to mourn the loss of the Gaudreau brothers.
Gaudreau was honored with pre-game ceremonies multiple times in the regular season. The most memorable ones were during their home-opener on Oct. 15 and when the Calgary Flames (Johnny Gaudreau and Monahan’s former team) hosted Columbus on Dec. 3.
Monahan scored in Columbus’ home-opener against the Florida Panthers and pointed up to the sky in honor of his old teammate and friend.
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