After missing nearly two years of hockey following two back surgeries, Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier has earned a nomination for the Bill Masterson trophy as a credit to his resiliency and commitment to returning to the NHL.
After missing nearly two years of hockey following two back surgeries, Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier has earned a nomination for the Bill Masterson trophy as a credit to his resiliency and commitment to returning to the NHL.
After missing nearly two years of hockey following two back surgeries, Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier has earned a nomination for the Bill Masterson trophy as a credit to his resiliency and commitment to returning to the NHL.
There was plenty of uncertainty regarding whether or not Couturier would be able to fully recover from his back problems—not just from outsiders, but from the player himself.
"I started to have doubts and questions, like, 'Is this gonna come back every time?'" Couturier said. "I'm glad the second surgery and everything went well and I recovered well. Just happy that it's behind me now and I can focus on playing hockey and enjoying playing the game I've been playing since I was a kid."
The 2023-24 season is the first full one he's been able to participate in since having his 2021-22 season cut short, and sitting out 2022-23 altogether.
"I'm definitely happy to be back playing all year," he said. "The back's been feeling great, so I'm really happy with that. There was a lot of questions and doubts over the last year and a half, two years about how I recover and respond, so I'm really happy how the year has gone, personally, with how my back feels and all that stuff. I'm just happy that I proved I can sustain somewhat of an 82-game season with my back."
Despite there still being some challenges for him to overcome, the 31-year-old center is grateful to be back on the ice at the top level.
"I don't take anything for granted—not that I did before, but you try to enjoy every moment as much as you can through the ups and the downs," he stated. "Like I said, the past couple of weeks, the past month or so, personally tough for me on the ice, but I'm trying to stay focused and enjoy the game through the grind and the downs. If I look back to a year, year and a half ago, I'm able to play hockey and prove myself. I'm just happy to be back."
Couturier has the chance to join four other Flyers players who have won the Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy—Oskar Lindblom, Ian Laperriere, Tim Kerr, and Bobby Clarke—a group that he would be honored to be a part of, even though the nomination alone means a lot to him.
"It's a big honor to go through any adversity and come back with some kind of success," he said. "I think we each have our own stories—different backgrounds, different stories, different adversities to go through. We each have our own stories. I guess that's how you go through it and approach it, and I think it would be a great honor to win it next to Oskar [Lindblom], I think [Ian Laperriere] won it a couple years prior. Each nominee really has their own story, their own things they go through, it's not really that one's more important than the other, it's just how you get through it."
The nominees list—comprised of one player nominated from each team in the league—will be shortened to three finalists, with a winner being announced during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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