Left winger Luc Robitaille named as the Kings nominee for the Masterson Trophy
LOS ANGELES - Veteran left winger Luc Robitaille has been named the Los Angeles Kings nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, the club announced today. The Masterton Trophy is awarded annually to "the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey."
Robitaille, 35, is enjoying another fine season, having recorded a team-high 73 points (tied with Ziggy Palffy) in 67 games, including a team-high 33 goals. As an alternate captain, Robitaille, who in February played in his 8th career NHL All-Star Game, has also developed a reputation for taking responsibility to talking with reporters, win or lose, and is a classy representative of the Kings.
Active in the community, Robitaille has co-chaired the Kings' annual charity golf tournament the past two summers -- with more than $200,000 going to the Kings Care Foundation to benefit children's charities -- and in December, Luc and his wife Stacia spearheaded the Kings' Adopt-A-Family program, in which Kings players, coaches and staff "adopt" families from a local outreach center.
Nominated by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA), each chapter nominates one player and those 30 are then narrowed to three and put up for general vote at the end of the season. A $2,500 grant from the PHWA is awarded annually to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund, based in Bloomington, MN, in the name of the Masterton Trophy winner.
The trophy was first presented by the NHL Writers' Association in 1968 to commemorate the late William Masterton, a player of the Minnesota North Stars who exhibited to a high degree the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey, and who died January 15, 1968, as a result of an on-ice incident.
Previous Kings who have won the Masterton Trophy include Butch Goring (1977-78), Bob Bourne (1987-88) and Dave Taylor (1990-91).
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