Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser has been named the club's nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy awarded annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the game of hockey.
Brock Boeser has been named the Vancouver Canucks nominee for the NHL's Bill Masterton Trophy. The award is presented annually the Professional Hockey Writers Association to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
Boeser has played this season with a heavy heart since losing his father Duke at the age of 61 last May. Duke Boeser passed away after a series of medical battles including cancer, Parksinson's Disease and dementia.
In 71 games this season, Brock Boeser has 17 goals and and 37 assists. While the goal total is far short of his pre-season vow to reach 30 for the first time in his career, the 26-year-old Burnsville, Minnesota native is just two points shy of matching his career high for points in a season.
Boeser suffered a hand injury in training camp that forced him to miss the entire preseason, but he was ready for the Canucks season-opener October 12th in Edmonton. However, after six goalless games, Boeser suffered a setback from hand surgery and was forced to miss the next six games. Despite high hopes coming into the season, Boeser did not score his first goal until his 12th game of the year and the team's 18th.
In early December, still struggling to find his form, Boeser was very nearly a healthy scratch under Bruce Boudreau before teammate Dakota Joshua came down with an injury that allowed Boeser to remain in the Canucks line-up.
Boeser is among the 32 league-wide team nominees for the Masterton. The PHWA will select three finalists and the trophy will be presented at the NHL Awards show in Nashville in June.
Luke Schenn was the Canucks 2022 nominee. Montreal goalie Carey Price won the Masterton last year.