Brossoit gets Jets’ Masterton nod Backup goaltender rides highs and lows to award nomination By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 6:00 AM CDT Friday, Apr. 5, 2024

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This article was published 05/04/2024 (550 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Laurent Brossoit knew there would be highs and lows in his hockey career. The veteran goaltender is surprised just how extreme the roller-coaster ride has been over the past year.

A pair of major surgeries. An extended stint in the minors. A triumphant return to the NHL. A devastating playoff injury. A Stanley Cup celebration viewed from the sidelines. An uncertain future. A return to familiar surroundings. A new level of performance unlocked.

Now, the Winnipeg Jets’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy — awarded annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey .

“I’m extremely grateful for the recognition,” Brossoit said Thursday of the honour, which was voted on by local chapter members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The entire PHWA will vote on the league winner later this spring, with the results announced during the NHL’s year-end awards ceremony in June.

There’s no question the 31-year-old British Columbia product checks off the boxes required to win the annual award.

It was around this time a year ago that Brossoit was summoned from the American Hockey League, where he’d spent the majority of the 2022-23 campaign toiling away, after the Vegas Golden Knights ran into injury issues in goal.

“It can be a little bleak down there, after having been up for as long as I have,” said Brossoit, who had spent the previous four seasons entirely in the NHL but underwent procedures on one of his hips and his abdomen prior to training camp.

“But looking back, hindsight is 20/20, I’m extremely grateful that I went down and I got to shake off all the rust after a surgery and not do it on the big stage, because there were still lots of things I had to get to (in order to) get my game back. It was a good, humbling experience.”

Brossoit played a major role in helping Vegas lock up the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and beat the Jets in an opening-round series — only to suffer a torn groin in the second round against the Edmonton Oilers.

His year was over, with Adin Hill taking the reigns and standing tall as the Golden Knights won the 2023 Stanley Cup last June.

“Having gone down to what felt like rock bottom and then back up to the tippy top, starting for the best team in the league. Then, I was all of a sudden on cloud nine and then it was taken away just like that,” Brossoit said of the range of emotions.

“But, to be honest, after another 20/20 hindsight moment. I was still grinding at that point from the surgery. It takes a while for a lot of the compensating patterns to smooth out and I felt like I just had to push the limits of my body just to stay in the spotlight and to take advantage of the opportunity. I got as many miles as I could, I think, with the body last year.”

Hill was re-signed for two years at US$4.9 million per season, while Brossoit was essentially told, “Thanks, and good luck,” as he hit free agency last summer.

Back to Winnipeg he came — on a US$1.75 million contract — to again serve as the understudy to Connor Hellebuyck, just as he’d done for three seasons prior to joining Vegas for a pair of campaigns.

“It gave me the opportunity to come back here and prove to everyone that I can stay healthy and play at the same level that I was last year,” said Brossoit.

“The whole thing… At the time, it’s very difficult to deal with but it made me so much stronger. I mean, I didn’t know that I could handle as much as I did last year, not even close, so it’s a blessing that I got the opportunity to experience it.”

Brossoit is arguably the top backup in the NHL this year, with a 13-5-2 record over 20 starts (and one relief appearance), a 2.10 goals-against-average and a .925 save-percentage. He points to his time in the AHL, which he had previously experienced in the Edmonton Oilers organization during his first couple pro seasons, as playing a big role.

“It’s hard to have an ego in that situation cause you’re in the minors and it humbles the crap out of you,” he said. “I’ve always known I have the ability to be one of the best goalies in the world, so I think that was my biggest motivator in not giving up and making sure I take advantage of every day to get healthy.

Brossoit said he was “shocked” to learn he’d been nominated for the Masterton, which was won by former Golden Knights teammate Robin Lehner in 2019 following his well-documented battle with bipolar disorder and substance abuse.

“I’m not even going to put myself in the same category as (Lehner) because he’s been through quite a lot more than I have. But to have seen that, and to have been able to talk to him, his resiliency was really motivating for me,” said Brossoit.

“You should have seen all he was playing through. Seeing that, any time you’re playing through injury or pain or fatigue or whatever the case may be you can look to those kinds of moments and experience and think, ‘Someone else has gone through far worse.’ He was very motivating for me.”

Brossoit will once again be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and there’s a strong chance a team other than Winnipeg will make him an offer he can’t refuse. With Hellebuyck now locked up for seven more years, the path to a No. 1 job is now blocked for Brossoit.

“It’s been a blessing to be here. Of all the places I could have come to after a year like last year, I’m pretty happy that it was here,” said Brossoit.

“It’s a lot of familiar faces, a lot of familiar teammates and staff and what not. The familiarity provided a lot of comfort which provided a lot of healing. I was coming into the season off that injury and to be able to have that home feel helped the process quite a bit.”

His passion for the game, something he admits was wavering at times last season, has been rekindled now that both his body, and his mind, are at full health.

“I’m enjoying the game again and the results are starting to take care of themselves and I’m feeling better on the ice. I’m feeling better consistently. It’s not good days and bad days. I’m feeling like the same goalie every day,” Brossoit said.

“I don’t have to do as much prep before or as much stuff after. I can stay out later on the ice and work on specific things. I’m just enjoying the game and blessed that I’ve got to this point where I feel like I can put my foot on the gas.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg