Philadelphia Flyers: Why D Shayne Gostisbehere Should Sweep Team Awards
By Dan Heaning
Tonight the Philadelphia Flyers will give our their team awards and it’s Shayne Gostisbehere who should get the lion’s share of the hardware
The Philadelphia Flyers will give out their annual awards before tonight’s must-win contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs. These honors allow both players and writers to celebrate the seasons of a select few.
That number should be at an all-time low this year. Not due to a lack of deserving Flyers, but because rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere should win nearly every prize.
Such a claim can be righteously considered unrealistic. It is. Very much so. It won’t happen, but Gostisbehere has a strong case for every piece of hardware.
The Barry Ashbee Award isn’t even up for debate. The only real competition Gostisbehere had was Michael Del Zotto. However, the Flyers have made their push for the playoffs and have played their best hockey without Del Zotto. That may be more of correlation and not causation. Yet in his place, Gostisbehere has emerged as the team’s go-to defenseman.
Claude Giroux ran away with the Toyota Cup, an award as meaningful as the name would indicate, but Gostisbehere gave had a pretty good run considering he didn’t earn his first star until mid-November. He’s third on the team with 40 points behind only Giroux and Steve Mason in the standings.
The Yanick Dupre Class Guy Award probably won’t go to Gostisbehere either. The kid is as tight-lipped as his head coach Dave Hakstol. The media training in the college ranks is superb and both brought that to the professional level.
The Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy goes to the most improved player and I personally don’t see how anyone but Gostisbehere wins this one. Yes, Brayden Schenn is turning a corner while guys like Ryan White and Radko Gudas are certainly better hockey players now than they were this time last year. However, Gostisbehere’s game clearly has seen the most improvement. He played briefly (two games) with the team before going back down to Lehigh Valley and tearing his ACL. His time in both the minors and NHL didn’t exactly challenge general manager Ron Hextall’s strategy of patience, but he did exactly that this season. Gostisbehere forced himself onto the Flyers roster after Mark Streit’s injury and the rest is history.
It’s equally as hard to not give the man known as “Ghost” the Gene Hart Memorial Award either. Given to the player who shows the most heart, the award is meant to honor the Flyer whose gear is always ratcheted up. Considering that Gostisbehere is the team’s Masterton Trophy representative, the evidence as to why he deserves this award is already self-evident. Tearing your ACL and then coming back from the once debilitating knee injury is a long road to travel. The fact that Gostisbehere came back and looks just as fast as he did in college and is diving like a shortstop all over the ice to make crucial plays embodies his “heart” and dedication to the team.
Finally, there’s the Bobby Clarke Award. The most valuable player to the Philadelphia Flyers. The easy pick for this one is Giroux. Of course, it’s Giroux. Without the captain does Gostisbehere score 16 goals and turn the Calder Trophy decision on its head? Maybe, but maybe it’s the other way around. Before “Ghost” began haunting the opposing team’s nets, the Flyers were wallowing in the NHL graveyard. Fans were already predisposed to the idea of waiting for next season. It looked like another lost year.
Gostisbehere changed all that. He brought new life to a team struggling to find itself and excitement to a fan base longing for something, anything, to cling to.
Yeah, hockey like so many others is a team game. But when you see someone emerge like Philadelphia has witnessed Gostisbehere, you can’t give the kid enough credit especially since he is so quick to reject it.
So let’s hope the Flyers give the young rookie his due and the majority of the awards this year. You can’t rely on what the general NHL consensus will be for the Calder or Masterton. There’s no need to feel bad for the other players. They had their moment.
This is Ghost’s time.