Mark Giordano nominated for Masterton Trophy by Calgary PHWA chapter
By Ryan Pike
5 years ago In the midst of the best offensive season of his National Hockey League career, Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano has been voted as a nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. He was selected by the Calgary chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.
From the media release:
Continued proof of his perseverance and dedication to his craft, Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano is enjoying a career-best campaign at age 35, In fact, Giordano joined elite company this season, becoming just the fourth defenceman in NHL history to record 70-plus points at 35 or older. (Nicklas Lidstrom, twice, Ray Bourque and Sergei Zubov are the only others to achieve that feat.) An inspiration for the undrafted yet undeterred, Giordano has now played more regular-season games than any other defencemen in Flames’ franchise history. He is praised by teammates as a leader both on the ice and behind the scenes and a bar-setter in the fitness room. This is the second time Giordano has been selected by the Calgary chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association as the Flames’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.
Giordano, 35, wasn’t drafted into the Ontario Hockey League or the NHL. But he’s continued to work at his craft, progressing from a three-way (NHL/AHL/ECHL) first pro contract all the way to being considered one of the favourites for this season’s Norris Trophy. While he’s risen through the ranks, he’s retained the same work ethic and lunch-pail mentality that’s made him so easy for fans to root for.
Now in his 13th season with the Flames, Giordano has been honoured in the past for his commitment to his community with the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2014-15, and the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award in 2017. He was a finalist for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 2016-17.
The Masterton is voted on by the PHWA every season – every chapter nominates a player, and then the membership votes from those 31 nominees – and is awarded to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. It’s been won twice by Flames players: in 1983 by Lanny McDonald and in 1996 by Gary Roberts.
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