Brock Boeser, Zach Parise are nominees for the NHL's Bill Masterton Trophy
Apr. 10—GRAND FORKS — A pair of former UND stars are nominees for the NHL's Bill Masterton Trophy.
Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks and Zach Parise of the New York Islanders were chosen by their team's local chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.
The trophy is given annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
One nominee is named for each team. It will get narrowed down to three finalists before the winner is announced.
The honor has been awarded since 1968.
UND has had one previous winner of it. Jason Blake won it after playing in all 82 games after his Leukemia diagnosis in 2007-08.
It hasn't been an easy season for Boeser, who lost his father, Duke, to cancer in May 2022.
Boeser suffered a pair of injuries this season, was surprisingly scratched on Hockey Fights Cancer Night and rumored to be on the trading block. But Boeser is entering the final week of the regular season with 17 goals and 54 points. He's just two points shy of matching his career high.
Boeser also won Vancouver's Daniel and Henrik Sedin Award for community leadership.
According to the Canucks, Boeser's contributions to the community include donations and the purchasing of tickets for children fighting illness or injury. He also contributes to Parkinson Society BC and Parkinson's Foundation Minnesota through his Pucks for Parkinson's program, where he donates $1,000 for every goal he scores in honor of his father.
Parise, whose contract was bought out by the Minnesota Wild in 2021, is having a revival in New York.
At age 38 and on a one-year contract with a league minimum base salary, Parise has scored 21 goals this season.
It's the 11th time Parise has hit the 20-goal mark in his career. He did it five times with the New Jersey Devils and five times with the Wild.
Boeser played two seasons at UND from 2015-17, helping the Fighting Hawks win the 2016 NCAA national championship. Boeser had four points in the NCAA title game, a 5-1 win over Quinnipiac in Tampa.
Parise played two seasons at UND from 2002-04. He was a Hobey Baker Award finalist in both seasons. As a sophomore, he was a top-three finalist.
