When Kris Letang won the Bill Masterton Trophy at last night’s NHL Awards Night, he said it was a “family trophy”, and he was most proud that his kids would see it and know that their father never gave up. Thanking his wife, especially, Letang said it was “pretty amazing” that she let him go back to work after suffering the second stroke of his career in December. Letang was more than deserving of the award presented by the Professional Hockey Writers Association to the player “who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.” Not only did he overcome the stroke, he also dealt with a severe foot injury and the New Year’s Eve death of his father.
After the ceremony, Letang talked about the adversity he’d had to handle, saying he didn’t want to go to the rink and be a distraction to his teammates. But he recalled the day the Penguins flew to Montreal to attend his father’s funeral, and said that was the impetus for him to start skating again.
Letang says he still has the fire to keep playing hockey and is ready to lace up the skates again.
Penguins teammate P.O. Joseph, a fellow Quebec native who as a rookie lived with the Letang family, presented his friend on the stage in Nashville. Joseph says he loves Letang and is enjoying working with him this offseason.
Joseph says Letang inspires his teammates to keep getting better.
NHL
Edmonton center Connor McDavid won his third Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and also took home the Ted Lindsay Award for most outstanding player as voted by the NHL Players Association. San Jose’s Erik Karlsson won the Norris Trophy as the top defenseman, and Seattle’s Matty Beniers earned the Calder Trophy for top rookie. The Bruins’ Linus Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy as top goaltender, while his coach, Jim Montgomery was named winner of the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year, and the Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron claimed his sixth Selke Trophy as top defensive forward. LA’s Anze Kopitar won the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play.
The Bruins are making moves to get under the salary cap. Boston has traded former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall and the rights to unrestricted free agent Nick Foligno to the Chicago Blackhawks for the rights to restricted free agent defensemen Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula. The Bruins also swapped forward Shane Bowers to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Reilly Walsh.
A proposed trade between the Flyers and Hurricanes is being hung up by a league rule that says you can’t reacquire a player you’ve previously had on your Reserve List in the same calendar year and have the other team pay part of his salary. The trade would send defenseman Tony DeAngelo back to the ‘Canes for a prospect, with the Flyers paying 50 percent of DeAngelo’s salary.
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