Gabe Landeskog’s incredible comeback journey earned more plaudits Friday morning.
The Avalanche captain was named one of three finalists for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is awarded by the Professional Hockey Writers Association to “the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.”
Landeskog did not play in an NHL game for 1,032 days because of recurring issues with his right knee. His last NHL contest was Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final before he returned for Game 3 of the Avs’ current series with the Dallas Stars.
The voting for the award took place at the end of the regular season, before Landeskog’s return. But his journey — which included a knee cartilage transplant surgery that he is now the first NHL player to ever return from — made him one of the finalists, along with Columbus’ Sean Monahan and Minnesota’s Marc-Andre Fleury.
Landeskog’s story has become even more remarkable since his emotional return at Ball Arena for Game 3. The Avs captain scored his first goal in Game 4, and now has four points in four playoff games after not playing for nearly three years.
“It was kind of more than just a playoff goal. I think it was a life goal,” Avs star Nathan MacKinnon said after Landeskog’s goal in Game 4. “It meant a lot to all of us for him to score a goal, and then he had an assist. It was just awesome out there.
“It just shows you … his story, everyone has seen it, I guess, but how hard he’s worked. It just shows if you’re good at hockey, you’re good at hockey. He can come back and he’s one of our best players out there. It’s amazing. We missed him.”
Related Articles
Renck: TV schedule is (heck) for Game 7 heaven. But let’s savor Nuggets, Avs’ moment Keeler: Whiny Pete DeBoer’s already working refs for Avalanche-Stars Game 7 Cale Makar leads trio of breakout efforts to help Avalanche win wild Game 6 Mikko Rantanen on Ball Arena boos after four-point night: “I didn’t really hear them” Avs-Stars Game 6 slapshots: Mikko Rantanen’s revenge game falls short as Colorado forces Game 7Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog named finalist for Masterton Trophy )
Also on site :