Mike Chen at SBN’s From The Rink makes the case that Taylor Pyatt of the Phoenix Coyotes should be a nominee for the Masterton Trophy. It’s an awkward argument, considering you don’t want to take away from any of the three guys who are finalists. Nevertheless, Chen makes a compelling case.
Taylor Pyatt: The Missing Masterton Finalist
Pyatt’s long-time girlfriend passed away in 2009 while he was playing with Vancouver. He got that dreaded, middle-of-the-night phone call that we all fear, passing on the news.
From all accounts, Pyatt was looking to find a place to heal away from the spotlight, which meant going to a market where it wasn’t hockey 24/7. Even now, it sounds like he doesn’t want the attention, doesn’t want to be known as the guy who’s still in mourning. He just wants to be a hockey player with a gigantic Game 7 tonight.
Perhaps, then, it’s fitting that Pyatt wasn’t nominated by his local hockey writers for the Masterton -- and maybe he even requested to stay away from the spotlight. For guys that come back from injury like Foster, or for guys that overcome a disease like Ortmeyer, it can be a bit of validation that their hard work means something. For someone like Theodore, he can use it to promote the charity established in memory of his child. But for a guy like Pyatt, I imagine it’d be a bittersweet thing. On one hand, he’d know that he has the support and respect of his peers, but on the other hand, it’s just more spotlight for a guy who wants to focus on hockey right now.
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