Eurolanche

Soderberg nominated for Bill Masterton

This award, presented annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.
 
Carl Soderberg, 30, entered Monday tied as Colorado's fourth-leading scorer with 47 points, one behind his career high. He has been the team's most consistent center and plays in every situation.
 
He is also legally blind in one eye, from taking a stick to the eye during a game in Sweden at age 22. Soderberg was forced to re-learn how to play hockey with one eye and didn't make his NHL debut until age 27 with Boston. He was acquired from the Bruins in a trade last summer, essentially replacing Ryan O'Reilly, who was traded to Buffalo a day after Soderberg became an Av.
 
"Very deserving," Avs captain and fellow Swede Gabe Landeskog said of Soderberg's Masterton Trophy honor. "We talked about it the other day — it came up somehow that he is blind in his left eye — and you start thinking about that. It's hard enough to play the game with two eyes."

-- by Mike Chambers for Denver Post --