Montreal Canadiens Andrei Markov (L) celebrates with goaltender Jaroslav Halak (R) at the conclusion of the third period of their NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in New York, March 16, 2010. REUTERS/Jessica RinaldiJESSICA RINALDI/Reuters
Leafs netminder Jonas Gustavsson was revealed as the Toronto hockey writers' choice for the Masterton Trophy today at the Air Canada Centre, and around the league, other nominees have slowly been coming in this week. I'll keep a running tally here of who is selected from each team for the award dedicated to the player who displays "qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey."
Anaheim: Teemu Selanne Atlanta: Jim Slater Boston: Mark Recchi Buffalo: Ryan Miller Calgary: Craig Conroy Carolina: Rod Brind'Amour Chicago: Brent Sopel Colorado: Matt Hendricks Columbus: Jared Boll Dallas: Mike Modano Detroit: Tomas Holmstrom Edmonton: Jason Strudwick Florida: Bryan Allen Los Angeles: Brad Richardson Minnesota: Guillaume Latendresse Montreal: Jaroslav Halak Nashville: Joel Ward New Jersey: Patrik Elias NY Islanders: Jack Hillen NY Rangers: Chris Drury Ottawa: Matt Carkner Philadelphia: Mike Leighton Phoenix: Vernon Fiddler Pittsburgh: Bill Guerin San Jose: Jed Ortmeyer St. Louis: Erik Johnson Tampa Bay: Kurtis Foster Toronto: Jonas Gustavsson Vancouver: Henrik Sedin Washington: Jose Theodore
Essentially what happens with this award is all of the members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association give their votes to their local chapter chairman (in Toronto, that's Lance Hornby), they're compiled and each chapter names its nominee. At the end of the regular season, from the 30 players nominated, we'll all vote again for the leaguewide winner. (I believe we pick a top three and rank them.)
That winner will be named at the awards ceremony in Vegas in late June.
In my mind, the best candidates this year are players like David Booth, Kurtis Foster, Fernando Pisani and Jose Theodore. We'll have to wait and see if they're nominated.
If you see players named who I don't have listed here, drop me an email and I'll post it.