The Washington, D.C. chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association nominated Matt Hendricks for this year’s Masterton Trophy – awarded to the NHL player “who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.”
A journeyman forward, Hendricks, 29, signed a professional tryout contract with Washington just before training camp began in September with no guarantee of an NHL roster spot. By the end of the season not only had he made the team, but Hendricks had become a fixture on the third and fourth lines as a versatile presence coach Bruce Boudreau could use at either wing position or center. It is the second year in a row for Hendricks after he was nominated by the Colorado chapter last year.
In February, the Caps signed the 29-year-old to his first one-way contract – a two-year, $1.6 million extension that gives some stability to a player who appeared in 301 minor-league games before making it to the NHL for the first time.
“Obviously, for the role I play on this team it’s a little bit different for the goals you set for yourself, statistical goals,” Hendricks said. “I got an opportunity here, which I’m grateful for. I got an opportunity to play, an opportunity to build on my ice time. I wish I would have had a few more goals. But with me if the team does well, I do well. That’s the kind of player that I am. It’s been a great start but we still have a long road to fulfill it.”
Hendricks – a fifth-round draft pick by Nashville in 2000 – spent a year in the ECHL after graduating from St. Cloud State in 2004 and played for six different AHL teams before finally reaching the NHL on March 10, 2009 with the Colorado Avalanche.
After playing 56 games with Colorado in 2009-10, Hendricks quickly earned the respect of his new teammates in Washington by putting his body on the line every night and becoming a prominent voice in the room.
He lead the Caps with 14 fighting majors despite being listed at a generous 6-foot, 215 pounds. But Hendricks has also contributed offensively with nine goals and 25 points, a career high. That’s a long way from the player who toiled in the AHL until the Avalanche gave him a shot. And it was Boudreau – when both were at AHL Hershey in 2006-07 – who planted that idea.
“[Boudreau] seemed to think when I played with him at Hershey that I could play at this level,” Hendricks said. “That was the first time a coach at the pro ranks had told me that. I really was happy that he thought that of me. When a coach says that to you as a player you take a sense of pride in it, you feel good. But you know that you still need to get there.”
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