Predators Center Cody Glass Nominated for Masterton Trophy

cody glass (photo from Nashville Predators)
cody glass (photo from Nashville Predators)

The Nashville Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association announced today that it has nominated Predators center Cody Glass for the 2022-23 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

The Masterton Trophy is an annual award under the trusteeship of the PHWA and is given “to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.”

The trophy was presented by the NHL Writers’ Association in 1968 to commemorate the late Bill Masterton, a player for the Minnesota North Stars who died that same year after an injury sustained during a game. Steve Sullivan is the only player in Predators franchise history to win the award, doing so in 2009.

Glass made history as the first-ever draft pick in Vegas Golden Knights franchise history when he was selected No. 6 overall in the 2017 NHL Draft. He made his NHL debut with Vegas in 2019 and, after an injury-riddled rookie season, he suffered a season-ending knee injury requiring surgery in March 2020.

The Covid-19 pandemic hindered Glass’ ability to rehab and train like he otherwise would, and he arrived in Nashville in July 2021 as part of a three-way trade but was assigned to the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals for the 2021-22 season.

“After the surgery was the toughest time,” said Cody’s father, Jeff. “Going to the AHL last year was really hard. At first he thought it would just be for a couple of weeks, and then it was going longer and longer. It took a lot to keep him motivated. Once he started getting back into it and just focusing on hockey again, you could see the change in him. That’s why going to the summer, he just was just hard on himself. He just wanted to push himself because he didn’t want to go back to the AHL.”

And push he did – but not without experiencing his fair share of self-doubt and setbacks along the way.

“I doubted myself quite a bit, especially through my whole knee surgery,” Glass said. “I thought my knee might not be 100 percent and I might not be able to get back to the player that I was. I felt like playing a full year last year in the AHL helped that a lot… [I got] the touches, the ice time, all the opportunity that I was given to kind of flourish again. Coming into this summer, I felt healthy, I felt good and I just went in with the right mindset. I’m here where I am now and I’m very thankful.”

FULL STORY SOURCE: NHL