Montreal Canadiens: Corey Perry Nominated For Bill Masterton Trophy

Corey Perry of the Montreal Canadiens has been nominated for the Bill Masterton Trophy. According to NHL.com, the Bill Masterton Trophy is awarded to the “player best exemplifying perseverance, sportsmanship, dedication to hockey.”

Since being signed to a league minimum salary in the offseason, Perry has been nothing but a professional on and off the ice. He grinded his way through the taxi squad and has become a regular in the lineup ever since.

He’s admired by many of the young Habs players to a point where the team has given him the “A” while Paul Byron and Brendan Gallagher are on the mend. Although the game has continued to get younger and quicker around Perry, who’s turning 36 on May 16th, the crafty veteran has managed to put up respectable numbers in a bottom 6 role with the Canadiens notching 9 goals and 12 assists for 21 points, with 7 of these points on the power play. He is scheduled to become a UFA at year’s end but we have predicted that the Peterborough-native will return for another year.

Perry has beaten Josh Anderson and Paul Byron as the Habs’ finalists in a vote conducted by the Montreal Professional Hockey Writers Association. The award will be handed out during the NHL Awards Ceremony. Past Canadiens winners were Claude Provost in 1968 (the inaugural winner), Henri Richard in 1974, Serge Savard in 1979, Saku Koivu in 2002, and Max Pacioretty in 2012.