After missing two seasons for knee surgery, Landeskog overcame multiple setbacks to redefine resilience, helping the Avalanche toward a succesful season and hopes for another Stanley Cup
Continuing the NHL awards announcements, today's finalists for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy are: The NHL has announced that, alongside Rasmus Dahlin and Jonathan Toews, Gabriel Landeskog is one of the three finalists for the trophy.
The trophy is handed out to the winner who “who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.
This award and others are voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association (PHWA).
It's been one hell of a season for Landeskog. No matter how hot he is playing, there is always some sort of unfortunate injury that sets him back. It's already hard enough that he had to take two full seasons off while recovering from a surgery that not many hockey players generally have. He is the first NHLer to return after that work, when he started his rehab with the Colorado Eagles and then made his debut during last season's playoffs against the Dallas Stars.
Throw in the groin injury he suffered from Cale Makar when the Avalanche came back from the Olympic break, which kept him from February 25 to March 6. He has two goals and five assists for seven points, with the Avalanche going 5-1-0 in the stretch. Then the “96 miles-per-hour slapshot to the nuts” happened, keeping him out for three weeks.
Despite playing his first regular season in over two years, playing in the Olympics, and dealing with a pretty serious groin injury, he still managed to finish with 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points in 60 games. His impact on and off the ice is more than just a leadership role; it shows in the statistics.
With Landeskog in the lineup, the Avalanche had a record of 45-7-8; when he was out of the lineup, they had a record of 10-9-3. His leadership is much more than just in the locker room and on the practice ice; his knowledge and work ethic make the Avalanche a better, deeper team, and it showed on the ice. Through five playoff games so far, he has two goals and three assists for five points, tied for the third most on the team.
Landeskog's return to the team has been the biggest impact and story of the season. Not having your captain on the ice for the last two seasons hurt, and it showed. It's great to see the immediate impact he made on the team during his return, and it shows how much he means to the team and the league itself.
