Craig Anderson leads NHL’s crop of Masterton Trophy nominations

On Monday evening, Craig Anderson, Andrew Cogliano, and Derek Ryan were announced as the NHL’s Masterton Trophy nominees.

The Masterton Trophy is a bit of a strange award. Unlike other league awards that reward players based on their on-ice skills, the Masterton goes to a player who best shows “perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.”

It’s an award that often goes to players coming back from serious injuries or ones who suffer from off-ice tragedies. This year’s nominees are an interesting spread, with one extreme standout.

Anderson, the starting goaltender for the Ottawa Senators, missed over two months of play this season to be with his wife, Nicholle, as she underwent cancer treatments. Nicholle has been battling with nasopharyngeal cancer, one which affects the head and neck area of the body. She was in attendance on Sunday when the Senators bested the Bruins in Game 6 to move on to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Andrew Cogliano, on the other hand, has been nominated for the fourth time in six seasons with the Ducks because of his longevity in the league. Cogliano leads the NHL with an iron-man streak of 786 consecutive regular season games, a streak dating back to the 2007-08 season.

Rounding out the list is Ryan, who is a 30-year-old rookie for the Hurricanes. Ryan put up 29 points in 67 games with Carolina this year after bouncing between the AHL, the Swedish Hockey League, college hockey, and the WHL since the start of his career in 2003.

The Masterton will be awarded at the NHL Awards on June 21 in Las Vegas.