Hurricanes goalie Antti Raanta nominated for the NHL’s Bill Masterton Trophy
The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is awarded each year to the NHL player judged to best exemplify the qualities of “perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.”
Often, the recipient has been a player who has overcome a serious injury, personal tragedy or sickness. Oskar Lindblom of the Philadelphia Flyers, who battled back from a bout with a form of bone cancer, was the 2021 winner in voting by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association (PHWA).
But there also are players who fit each of the Masterton qualities well. One who does is goalie Antti Raanta of the Carolina Hurricanes, who has been nominated by the Carolina PHWA chapter for the 2022 award, it was announced Monday.
Raanta, 32, is in his ninth NHL season and first with the Canes. He has had his share of injuries through the years and suffered another on Sunday, when he left the game against the New York Islanders with a lower-body injury.
He was a member of a Stanley Cup championship team with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015, getting a ring but not getting his name on the Cup — another story in itself.
Raanta was the backup to Corey Crawford in Chicago, then played behind Henrik Lundqvist with the New York Rangers. He was the No. 1 goalie at times with the Arizona Coyotes, only to have injuries sidetrack him — he was 5-5-2 last season with a career-worst 3.36 goals-against average.
“The way last season ended it was a little bit in my head,” Raanta said this past week. “It’s been so many nagging injuries, so many small injuries the last three, four years. You start to think a little bit like, ‘Is there any point in going back and playing?’ ... It just felt like when you’d get back there was another (injury) or the same injury came back and you just couldn’t get out of the cycle.
“But you take a little time off from the hockey and you try to forget all the bad things that have happened and then start to build toward the new season. Getting that offer from Carolina, your eyes get shiny and you get that shining feeling and you get that exciting feeling back.”
Signing a two-year contract with the Hurricanes in free agency, Raanta had had a few bumps along the way this season — a concussion, COVID-19, a few minor injuries. His father, Pekka, passed away in August, not long before training camp began.
But through it all, Raanta stayed at it, working on his game, his technique. While playing behind Frederik Andersen, he has made the most of his 23 starts and join Andersen in giving the Canes the “best tandem in the league” when healthy, Canes defenseman Brendan Smith said Thursday,
“He’s just that happy-go-lucky Finn,” Smith said Thursday. “He’s just upbeat. He’s a great guy in the room. Watching Antti out there (on the ice), he practices hard. I love that about him.
“Always when you see a guy like him and he’s smiling, it’s infectious. He can bring light to the room and he’s that kind of guy.”
No Canes player has been awarded the Masterton, named for a player who died in 1968 after injuries sustained in a game. Jordan Staal was one of three finalists in 2018, when Brian Boyle, then with New Jersey, took the award.
Saying he was honored to be nominated this season, Raanta said he is excited about the coming playoffs. He was the third goalie for the Blackhawks in the 2015 playoffs — behind Crawford and Scott Darling — which kept him from getting his name on the Cup after Chicago won.
“At the time it would have been nice to get your name there, but it also been like motivation,” Raanta said. “The biggest thing for me was to make sure that some day it will be there. This year is a good chance to do that.”
This story was originally published April 25, 2022 at 9:00 AM.
