Although its scope should be bigger, the Masterton Trophy tends to function as a comeback award, with the recipient overcoming disease or some sort of serious injury.
Think Brian Boyle from myeloid leukemia last year. Or Phil Kessel beating testicular cancer in 2006-07. And who could forget 1992-93, when Mario Lemieux missed 24 games because of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, then returned to win the Art Ross Trophy?
Matt Cullen keeps coming back, although for the NHL’s oldest player, it’s a little different. There haven’t been many serious injuries here, knock on wood. Cullen simply loves the game, the camaraderie and competition it offers, and has done everything possible to keep his NHL career — 1,511 games, No. 20 all-time — going.
For Cullen’s longevity and the tremendous amount of leadership he’s brought to every team he’s played on — three that won the Stanley Cup — Cullen has been named the Pittsburgh chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association’s nominee for the Masterton Trophy.
The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the NHL player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.” All 31 chapters nominate one player, and the winner will be announced — chosen among three finalists — in June.
“You get nominated for any award, in this league, it’s an honor,” Cullen said. “I don’t feel like I’m very deserving. There are a lot of guys who are really deserving. But it’s an honor.”
Don’t let Cullen fool you: He’s absolutely deserving of such an award.
Ask any player on the Penguins’ back-to-back Stanley Cup-winning teams in 2016 and 2017, or the current group, and they’ll happily riff on Cullen’s importance to them. Ditto for the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes, Cullen’s first Cup-winning team.
“You can’t help but respect what he’s done,” Olli Maatta said. “You have to live like an athlete 24/7. You need to be smart and have skill, too, but I know even since I got in the league how much the game has changed. He’s seen it all and been able to adapt.”
“It just goes to show how dedicated he is,” Matt Murray added, speaking on Cullen’s remarkable longevity. “You see it in the gym, you see it in the dressing room. It says a lot about the professional that he is.”
Cullen has always taken pride in making those adaptations, whether it involves his diet or how he trains.
For several years now, Cullen has done what’s called EVO Training. Picture a lunch box with wires coming out of it. On the ends are pads that stick to Cullen’s body. Electricity courses through them, making the lunges and lifts Cullen does incredibly hard. It’s a way, Cullen believes, to minimize wear and tear on his body.
Back in 2015, before joining the Penguins for the first time, Cullen cut gluten and dairy from his diet, the latter, he joked, hitting the hardest when it comes to coffee and pizza.
“It’s really made a big difference as far as recovery and inflammation in my body,” Cullen said. “I don’t know if I’ll fully do that when I’m done playing. I like cream in my coffee and cheese on pizza, but I’ll do that when I’m done playing. For now, I can make those sacrifices.”
Cullen has played 21 seasons for eight NHL teams. The building where he made his NHL debut — Maple Leaf Gardens — hasn’t hosted a hockey game in more than 20 years. He’s one of only four active players who has played against Wayne Gretzky, and eight of his current teammates were 3 or younger when Cullen made his NHL debut.
In centering the fourth line, Cullen has taken pride in making younger players feel comfortable, something that helped the Penguins to those two Cups. He’s also thrived doing other thankless jobs such as handling a lot of defensive-zone starts, winning key faceoffs, killing penalties and protecting leads late in games.
“I think the biggest thing is I love to play the game,” Cullen said, explaining his longevity. “Everybody takes care of the nutrition and trains. I’ve done that throughout my career.
“I really enjoy the competition. I love the battle. This time of the year is worth working out and training and battling for, to get down to this point in the season where games really mean a lot. Every play is important. To me, that’s the biggest thing. I love that.”
Cullen has been non-committal on his future beyond this season. Not because he’s being evasive or anything like that; he’s adamant about only taking things one day at a time. He could play. He could retire. He won’t know until the summer.
As of now, Cullen is 20th all-time in games played, could get to 19th by season’s end and would crack the top 13 if he decided to play another season. He’s currently one of only two Americans to play 1,500 or more, trailing Chris Chelios (1,651).
Cullen has never been the type to prioritize individual awards. His highest placement was 12th for the Lady Byng in 2015-16. But very few players have been as durable and dedicated as Cullen throughout his lengthy career, and he represents an important part of what this award should be about.
“I’m proud of the fact that, at my age, I can still play and I’m part of something special,” Cullen said. “It’s an honor. It’s always super nice to be nominated for something like this.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: March 28, 2019, 12:00 p.m.
