Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) – The Buffalo chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association has selected winger Jason Zucker to be the Buffalo Sabres nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy.
This award is given out each season and exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
Zucker has been a key player helping this team finally build a culture where players are there for each other on and off the ice. Zucker was very appreciative of his nomination and spoke on how culture is something all strive to achieve,
“Every team tries to build a culture and try to find the right way to operate on a daily basis, they try to find the right way to win and ultimately we didn’t do a good enough job of that this year, but looking at over the summer and looking at it throughout the season, I think we have made strides and I think for me it was just a fun opportunity to be a part of something and a group of guys that truly want to win, and have long careers ahead of them.”
All the good play recently is way too late to matter for this season, but Zucker believes that doesn’t mean that it’s not meaningful for the future,
“It’s unfortunate we didn’t figure it out a little earlier, but ultimately the fact that we are trying to do the right things now to set us up for a good summer and have success next season and that’s where we’re focused now because it lets guys feel what that success feels like and being able to sustain it. That’s been a huge issue for us this year is we win a couple of games and then we lose three or four in a row and win a few and then lose three or four or five or six, so for us it’s learning how to have success and be comfortable with that and continue it moving forward.”
Zucker just didn't jump into the NHL as a huge leader. He had players he needed to learn form too,
“I was lucky enough to play with a ton of great leaders that taught me a lot about the game and how to be a good person and how to handle yourself on a daily basis and I’m just trying to put as much of that onto the young guys here and help any way I can.”
Zucker broke into the NHL with the Minnesota Wild and then went to the Pittsburgh Penguins and guys he looked up to and was helped by were Dany Heatley, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Clayton Stoner, Matt Cullen, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jeff Carter and Kris Letang.
Zucker has signed a contract extension to be part of the veteran leadership in this group. He said players now know he’s in it with them,
“It means a lot and great to know that I’m here for another couple of years and that they know that I’m here with them through the learning process with them and I clearly don’t know all of it. I’m still learning from all these guys and learning from the coaching staff, so for me it’s about being part of the journey with them.”
There’s a big reason Zucker wanted two more years here and it’s not all about the ice,
“It’s exceeded all my expectations from organizationally to on ice to off ice to the city, the fans, honestly it’s exceeded my expectations, so I was looking forward to the opportunity to re-sign.”
Two other Buffalo Sabres have actually won the Masterton award. Pat LaFontaine won in 1995 and Don Luce won in 1975. Former Sabre Dominic Moore won in 2014 with the New York Rangers. Other former Sabres that won are Craig Anderson who won in 2017 with the Ottawa Senators. He is now a scout for Buffalo and in 2019 Robin Lehner won with the New York Islanders.
The Sabres have Wednesday off and will travel to Columbus for Thursday’s game against the Blue Jackets.