Dallas Stars Have A Masterton Trophy Dark Horse In Radek Faksa

Awards season in the NHL won’t be nearly as fun for Dallas Stars fans this year, but one young forward has earned consideration for a massive trophy.

The Dallas Stars just might have the perfect nominee this year for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

Each and every NHL season since 1967-68, the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy has been awarded to the player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.”

Named after the late Bill Masterton, the only player in the NHL’s 100-year history to pass away due directly to injuries suffered on the ice, the trophy has been gone to players that overcome injuries or off-ice adversity as of late.

In March of every season, the 30 teams in the NHL are required to select one player that best represents the aforementioned traits above as their individual award nominee. Last season, the Stars chose Jamie Benn, who overcame hip surgery to finish third in goals (41) and second in points (87) in the NHL.

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Oddly enough, while Masterton’s number #19 hangs from the rafters at the American Airlines Center, a Dallas Star has never held the Masterton Trophy. In a dreadful season like this, the chances of that changing this year are low, but one man should get consideration later on in his career. The Dallas Stars should nominate center Radek Faksa.

First and foremost, it’s his story, upbringing, and his guts of steel that should gain him stock in the Masterton race.

Faksa is from Opava, Czech Republic, a small, cold town of just 6,000 people near the border of Poland. The two-way center grew up in the midst of his parents’ divorce, living with his mother along with his two sisters, while gaining opportunities in Czech hockey leagues at a young age.

And when I say young, I mean young; Radek Faksa was 11 years old when he left home to play for a midget team in Trinec, a town an hour and change away from Opava. Faksa resided in an apartment run and owned by the team, all alone, by himself for several years. His commitment and drive in getting better at the game he loved – and he was already a hell of a player – was unparelled.

Dallas Stars

At 17 years old, Faksa moved to Canada when the Ontario Hockey League’s Kitchener Rangers scouted him and brought him to Canada’s major junior leagues. He took the Rangers by storm, finishing second in goals (29) and third in points (67) at an age as young as his.

This prompted the Stars to use their first-round NHL Draft selection to scoop the dynamic two-way forward who had been through hell at back at 13th overall in 2012. This isn’t where his story, and his Masterton credentials, end.

The 23-year-old had a shoulder surgery midway through the 2014-15 season, in which he was playing for the AHL’s Texas Stars. Faksa was shut down for the remainder of the year, and fended off claims of the Czech being a “bust.”

Oh, yeah, he came back, no one forgot about him for long.

Faksa began the 2015-16 season in Cedar Park, Texas, the home of the primary farm of the Dallas Stars. His 15 goals and 11 assists were amongst the team leaders until his recall after 26 games gave him a promotion to the NHL. He didn’t look back.

In 45 games last year for the Central Division champions, Faksa chipped in five goals (all of which were scored at even strength) and seven assists while inheriting massive roles of defensive trust and faceoff dominance. Radek was especially great in the postseason, totalling two goals and three assists with Ales Hemsky and Antoine Roussel by his sides.

This year, his second in the top level of pro hockey, is his best to date, as his 10 goals and 20 assists in a more defensive role put him amongst the top two-way centers in the game.

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Faksa has excelled in any role or extreme hardship thrown his way, and if that doesn’t speak “perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey,” nothing does.