Minnesota Wild Players Snubbed for NHL Awards
The Wild have plenty of worthy candidates for the NHL awards but only one of them is a finalist and one isn't even nominated.
There will likely be more to talk about as more announcements are made, but several NHL award finalists have been announced, and a couple of Minnesota Wild players have been snubbed. Brock Faber is a finalist for the Calder trophy for best rookie in the NHL, which is a given, but the Masterton trophy and the Selke trophy don’t have a Wild player as a finalist, yet they should.
The Masterton trophy is probably the hardest to pick a winner for because many players have been through more than you can imagine and still come back to the game. Look at Kris Letang, last season’s winner. Unlike many around him, he overcame two strokes and still plays a defensive game.
This season, the Wild have two deserving Masterton players, Marco Rossi and Mason Shaw. Shaw may be up for it next year and likely wasn’t eligible this season for how few games he played. He only came back a month before the season ended. However, his recovery from four ACL tears and his return to playing at an NHL level is inspiring, to say the least. Hopefully, he’ll be recognized nationally for his accomplishments and dedication next season.
As far as the player who was the Wild’s nominee, Rossi, he was not named a finalist. Reading the stories of this season’s finalists, it’s understandable why they were picked and why it’ll be equally as hard to pick a winner; however, Rossi deserves as much. He overcame Myocarditis, which caused him to sit out nearly an entire season, and while he didn’t have the rookie season his teammate Faber did, he still had a great debut season.
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