This Blackhawks season won’t win any awards.
But Hawks goalie Alex Stalock might — and arguably should.
Stalock’s nomination for the 2023 Masterton Trophy was announced Monday by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and he should be a very strong candidate for the award given annually to the NHL player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication.”
The 35-year-old veteran not only overcame tremendous health-related adversity to even play this season, but he also quickly emerged as an exemplary player and teammate on a team where it would have been easy to give only half effort.
“The last couple years have been tough with what I’ve gone through,” Stalock said. “But the ultimate goal was to get back and to prove to myself I could do it. This year was a way to do that.
“It’s never an easy league. The older you get, the harder it is to stay and compete at this level. Honestly, going through it, were there points where I had doubts in my mind that I would ever play again? Yeah. But at the same time, it’s the way I’m wired that I wouldn’t let that be the end of it. To make it back, every day I come to the rink I’m grateful for it.”
Stalock entered the fall having played just one NHL game — and 17 AHL games — over the past two seasons combined due to myocarditis, a heart condition he developed in 2020 after recovering from COVID-19.
For a long time, he couldn’t even exercise without risking cardiac arrest due to his inflamed heart muscle, even though he felt no tangible effects. He met with five cardiologists, each of whom gave him slightly different advice. Eventually, he decided to attempt a comeback.
His determination to return to this level was fueled by the fact he had done it once before. A freak injury in the AHL in 2011 severed his left peroneal nerve, leaving him unable to control his lower leg or foot for months and stalling his career for almost a year.
Just like he eventually returned better than ever in 2012, Stalock did the same in 2022. It was evident immediately in his first start — as he saved 36 of 37 shots in a 1-0 loss to the Golden Knights — that he was going to vastly exceed expectations.
Despite battling a concussion and resulting eyesight issues even within the year, Stalock’s 9-14-1 record with a .912 save percentage and plus-8.7 GSAA stands as a remarkable achievement in this loss-laden Hawks season.
“Going through what I did — the unknowns of it, the newness of what people were finding — there were no answers, and that’s the frustrating part,” he said. “To stick with it [when] you’re in the American League in different cities and just trying to play to see how you feel and your family’s elsewhere, it was tough.
“It has been a rewarding year to be in a great spot like Chicago and be around a great group of guys that have been supportive.”
That group of guys has found Stalock equally supportive of them. His boisterous, fun-loving personality has helped create and maintain admirably high morale ever since training camp.
“It’s been a frustrating, hard year — mentally and emotionally — and when you have a guy like that that can be really upbeat and positive and have the work ethic he brings, it’s contagious to the team,” Connor Murphy said. “It doesn’t seem like anything will really keep him down.”
Indeed it doesn’t. Stalock epitomizes the type of person the Masterton was created to recognize.
“It hasn’t been an easy career, but it’s been rewarding when you get to see the other side of it,” Stalock said. “It’s been a joy to be back in an NHL locker room.”
