Devils defenseman Colin White called it "a privilege" to be the New Jersey chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association's nominee for the Masterton Trophy for perseverance and dedication to hockey.
"It's something that I wasn't expecting, but I know the likes of Ken Daneyko, Mario Lemieux and Teemu Selanne have won it in the past and just to be be mentioned is an honor," he said. "It's nice to get acknowledged for such an award. I won't spend too much time focusing on it, but at the same time it is nice to be mentioned."
White overcame a career-threatening injury to his right eye return to playing after missing the first 20 games of this season.
"It was a tough start to the year," he said. "It was up in the air. We didn't know what the outcome of my injury was going to be, but, with the support of all of my teammates, the organization, family and friends, I was really determined to get back playing. I was missing being around the game, missing being part of the team. Hockey will come to an end some day, but everybody wants it to be on their own terms, not because of an injury or something that forces you out before you're ready. That was the biggest thing was me. I never felt that I was ready to be done playing and I owe a lot to the organization, everybody that's been around, medical, everybody that helped me through it."
Tom, thanks for getting these comments! White has such a great attitude. He persevered and definitely is deserving of the nomination.
Posted by: jules | March 07, 2008 at 05:46 PM
Yes, and a fellow Nova Scotian. New Glasgow is about an hour and a half from me.
:-)
Posted by: Craigwell | March 07, 2008 at 06:06 PM
Was it easy to decide on White?
Posted by: Steve Lepore | March 07, 2008 at 06:12 PM
This is a great case of Tom seeing a comment from a fan and then tracking down the info (at least it seems that way). This is exactly what more journalists (both sports and news). It's really very impressive.
Posted by: Matt | March 07, 2008 at 06:15 PM
"This is exactly what more journalists (both sports and news)..." should be doing. Forgot to write that part : )
Posted by: Matt | March 07, 2008 at 06:16 PM
always loved white's game even if some people rip on him,.......devil thru and thru
Posted by: DanT | March 07, 2008 at 09:49 PM
Anyone know why White didn't play the entire 3rd period? He wasn't even on the bench
Posted by: Drew | March 07, 2008 at 10:56 PM
I think I remember the official word as relayed by Chico on the broadcast to be "upper body soreness". If there was a more in-depth explanation given later, I missed it.
Posted by: PhantomNJ | March 07, 2008 at 11:04 PM
Good For White, he deserves it
Posted by: Devs4Life | March 07, 2008 at 11:39 PM