If there’s one bit of info that’s been gleaned this season over and over again when it comes to David Backes, it’s that nothing will keep him off the ice for very long.
MORE - Johansson speaks out on Marchand hit
The 33-year-old Bruins power forward has missed his share of time with injuries and illness during the 2017-18 regular season, and certainly had a solid, excused, early season absence after a November surgery for a condition called diverticulitis that ended up with ten inches of infected colon being removed from his body.
It isn’t a very common condition for an NHL player, and it was expected that Backes would miss two months recovering from the surgery to his abdomen area. But the determined, rugged Backes began working to a return to the lineup within a couple of days after his surgery, and ended up back in the Bruins lineup a full month ahead of time to the surprise of just about everybody.
That would certainly qualify as “perseverance”, and Backes has similarly always been known for his sportsmanship and dedication to hockey throughout his 12-year NHL career in St. Louis and Boston.
"David Backes has long had a reputation as one of the toughest competitors across the NHL, but returning to game action less than a month after having 10 inches of his colon surgically removed really takes toughness and dedication to another level," said PHWA Boston Chapter Chairman Joe Haggerty. "Perseverance, dedication and good sportsmanship are words that have long been associated with Backes during his standout 12-year NHL career, and make us very proud to announce him as the Boston chapter's nominee for the 2018 Masterton Trophy."
MORE - An early look at the B's playoff lineup
Boston Bruins
Find the latest Boston Bruins news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.
Clearly the quick return showed just tough the former Blues captain is both mentally and physically, but it also clearly showed the dedication Backes felt to his teammates in getting back quickly to a Bruins lineup marred at the time by a number of injuries. It understandably took Backes a couple of games to get back up to speed, but he quickly reverted to the hard-hitting, net-crowding model of consistency on a Bruins third line that won their share of games for Boston upon his return.
Unfortunately for Backes his bad luck this season wasn’t over as he again missed time with a deep laceration caused by an errant skate blade in mid-March that needed approximately 18 stitches to close. But once again the Bruins forward’s absence to recover was going to be as minimal as possible just weeks ahead of the postseason.
Above and beyond Backes’ toughness and on-ice performance, he’s a tireless advocate for his charity for rescued and adopted pets, Athletes for Animals, he put together with his wife Kelly in 2013, and is a vocal, engaged member of the NHL’s Competition Committee that combs over possible rule changes during the offseason.
The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is annually awarded to the player that best demonstrate "qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey” with nominees collected from each team as voted by the members of the PHWA (Professional Hockey Writers Association). Patrice Bergeron, Jonas Gustavsson and Zdeno Chara have been the nominees in each of the last three seasons from the Bruins, and Phil Kessel back in 2007 was the last Bruins player to win the Masterton Trophy.