Arizona Coyotes goaltender Connor Ingram has won the 2024 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
Arizona Coyotes goaltender Connor Ingram has won the 2024 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
Arizona Coyotes (and now NHL Utah) goaltender Connor Ingram has won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for the 2023-24 season.
The Masterton Trophy is awarded to the NHL player who "exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey." Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association voted for the winner.
Carolina Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen and Calgary Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington were the other finalists for the award.
Ingram is certainly a deserving recipient of the award. The 27-year-old previously considered retiring due to an undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression. In 2021, he entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and has said it helped not only turn his career around but also his life.
After having trouble cementing himself a spot in the NHL with the Nashville Predators, Ingram was claimed off waivers by the Coyotes during the 2022-23 campaign. After getting his chance with Arizona, he has become an effective NHL netminder.
However, this past season was Ingram's most impressive campaign. He earned the Coyotes' starting goalie job, posting a 23-21-3 record, a 2.91 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage in 50 appearances.
"I think once you get away, get out of your own head, it makes it easier," Ingram told Ken Campbell in April. "I mean now, it's just back to playing hockey, which is huge. That's all you can really ask for, I guess, is just, 'Clear mind, full heart, can't lose.'
"You get the odd message of somebody saying, 'Hey, this is what it took for me to get help,' or you get a parent that says, 'I showed my child this, and now, they want to talk to somebody, too.' So, I mean, that's all you can really ask for."
It is very impressive to see Ingram get rewarded for not only getting through such a dark period but thriving afterward. His story should inspire fans.
A $2,500 grant from the PHWA is awarded to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund in Ingram's name.
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