Rinne Named Nashville's Nominee for Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

For the second time in his illustrious career, Pekka Rinne has been named Nashville's nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.
Also nominated in 2015, the Preds goaltender received the honor from the Nashville chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association (PHWA). The trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
Those qualifications describe the veteran netminder's season rather well.

The 38-year-old Rinne was intent on bouncing back during the 2020-21 campaign after the previous pandemic-shortened stint was not up to his standards. Rinne started 35 games two seasons ago, and while he posted an 18-14-4 record, his 3.17 goals-against average and .895 save percentages were the lowest marks of his then 12 full NHL seasons.
After the regular season was paused in March of 2020 - and eventually canceled - Rinne did not start another game, as Juuse Saros got the nod in all four contests for the Predators during the Stanley Cup Qualifiers held in Edmonton, Alberta.
Once that stay north of the border was complete in early August, training camp for the current season did not begin until January of 2021. Rinne had become a father for the first time by that point, as he and his partner, Erika, welcomed Paulus Oliver Rinne into the world, and Rinne returned to the team a changed man.
For one, fatherhood seems to add a different perspective on life, and Rinne appeared to have a sense of joy back in his game to begin the season. Although Saros had clearly assumed the starter's role, there was never a scoff from Rinne who, as Preds Captain Roman Josi recently put it, is still the most respected player in the Nashville locker room.
Even with Saros's breakthrough season, as a potential Vezina Trophy nominee just three years after Rinne won it, the elder Finn was still very much relied upon starting in 20 games, including seven-straight outings in early March with Saros missing time due to injury.
His numbers have been better too - nine massively important wins to go along with a 2.97 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage with one shutout.

In particular, many have recently pointed to a remarkable stick save in a shootout in Dallas on March 7 - a vintage Rinne effort - as a turning point as the Predators began an eight-game, 16-day road trip the team believes ultimately turned their season around.
"I can't say enough about Pekka, just what he is as a leader," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said Monday about his goaltender. "The way that he handles his business and his professionalism; I mean…[Saros] has played unbelievable as we all know, but you could go back to when Juice was hurt, we were on the road trip, Peks was playing all the games, all the minutes, [and to start that trip] in the shootout, he makes that secondary effort, a save on [Joe] Pavelski in the shootout to allow us to be able to get to points.
"Then, he comes in and the support that he has for Juice, this guy just wants to win. His role has changed a little bit, but work ethic in practice, relationship with the coaches, his presence in the locker room - we all know what type of player he is, but what he means to the organization, the team and the character that he has, it's been unbelievable."
A moment like that on the ice - and so many more off of it behind closed doors - exemplify why Rinne is the perfect choice to receive a nomination for the 2021 Masterton Trophy, and there's nobody in Nashville who deserves it more.