Goaltender Alex Lyon is the Detroit Red Wings‘ nominee for the Bill Masterton trophy. According to NHL.com, The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is an annual award under the trusteeship of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is given “to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.” Lyon has found a home in Detroit after not being able to get the net for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Lyon is trying to remain calm in the face of adversity. “So, for me, I’m just doing the same thing, trying to stick to the same habits and details and positivity and all those things. That’s pretty much all you can do, is just take it at face value and not try to go too far into the mental weeds on it or anything like that. Just play hard and have fun and enjoy the moment.” It would be easy for a goalie to get into the weeds on a team that has been up and down during the 2023-24 season.
This mindset has impressed the Head coach of the Red Wings, Derek Lalonde. “He’s such a cerebral guy, goaltender, the way he looks at the position.” Lalonde was a goalie for SUNY Cortland Red Dragons. “Basically, he’s relating all these experiences to the success he had in the American Hockey League. This workload would be nothing for him in the American Hockey League, and it’s a lot different there. You get some tough travel, some tough back-to-backs. It’s different at the NHL level. Just for him to talk like that, I think, says a lot about him and how he approaches things.”
Prior to signing with the Red Wings, Lyon had begun to think about what would come next for the 31-year-old. “I think everybody has those thoughts when you go through a bad stretch of the season, or you get injured or something,” Lyon said. “You’re like, ‘What am I gonna do? Do I have any other useful life skills?’ Not really. I’m pretty good at stopping the puck; that’s about it.”
Lyon played in only 39 games for the Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes, and Florida Panthers across seven seasons. This is the same number of games that Lyon has played for the Red Wings. Lyon is arguably the Most Valuable Player for the Red Wings as they push to make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in seven seasons. Lyon’s record for the Red Wings is 19-16-4 and he has two shutouts.
The Red Wings have found their starting goalie for the time in Lyon. Sebastian Cossa is the goalie of the future for the Red Wings and is currently playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League. Named AHL Player of the Week one month ago, the Red Wings’ first-round draft pick has played in 34 games for the Griffins in 2023-24 and has a 2.55 GAA and a 0.910 SV%. In the meantime, Lyon, the Baudette, Minnesota native, deserves recognition from the hockey world for showing this perseverance. Lyon is the definition of the Masterton Trophy embodies.
ITR 36: Coaching Carousel – Inside The Rink
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Great recap of how Alex has picked up the Wings this season!