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With the nominees for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy announced, some of the heart-wrenching stories from the NHL this season were brought back to the forefront this morning.
Here are your Canucks news and notes for Tuesday.
- As mentioned, here are the nominees for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.
The Professional Hockey Writers’ Association proudly announces chapters’ nominees for the 2020 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: pic.twitter.com/EpBQDoMhe5
— PHWA (@ThePHWA) June 9, 2020
Markstrom ended up being the Canucks nominee, in a season where he was unquestionably the team’s MVP despite dealing with the terminal illness and sudden death of his father Anders.
The 30-year-old flew back to Sweden early in the season to attend the funeral, but the pain of his father’s loss did not negatively impact his performance. For those reasons, his nomination makes a ton of sense for the Canucks.
- There are some quotes from Travis Green in this piece regarding Markstrom’s nomination. [Sportsnet]
- As TSN rightly points out, Ottawa Senators forward Bobby Ryan, St. Louis Blues defenceman Jay Bouwmeester and Philadelphia Flyers Oskar Lindblom are the headliners among players nominated for the award. [TSN]
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- Ryan took a leave of absence from the team in November to deal with issues related to alcohol abuse. You might recall that during his first home game back in Ottawa, he potted a hat trick against the Vancouver Canucks. Here’s a write-up in his nomination. [Ottawa Sun]
- Oskar Lindblom took a leave of absense from the Flyers after he was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare type of cancer. He gave a statement following his Bill Masterton nomination. [NBC Sports]
- This is the second season in a row that Jay Bouwmeester has been nominated for the award. The 36-year-old suffered a cardiac episode on the Blues bench during a game against the Anaheim Ducks on February 11th. [Blues]
- While other teams around the NHL are beginning to re-open their facilities, the Canucks have no current plans to do so. [TSN]
- Oh look, Tanev is skating!
Look who’s back on the ice skating again! #NHL Phase 2 “return to play” began today...we’ll discuss tonight @GlobalBC NewsHour Sports. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/3JRBYr92TM
— JAY JANOWER (@JayJanower) June 8, 2020
- Finally, with a much-too-early update on the World Juniors, it sounds like Vasily Podkolzin could captain the team next year.
There is a good chance Podkolzin could be the captain of the Russian junior team says Larionov, “You can read between the lines, he will be a strong candidate to get the C.” #Canucks
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) June 9, 2020
Thanks for the info Rick, but you should have stopped there...
Who does Podkolzine remind Larionov of in the NHL : “That is a good question, Mark Messier, I see Messier in him. His character and desire to get better enables him to get better and develop.”
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) June 9, 2020