Flashback to the 2007-08 season when Boychuk made his NHL debut with the Colorado Avalanche: After playing six seasons with five different teams between the WHL and AHL, he took the ice against the New York Islanders on Jan. 5, 2008 as a forward.
Okay, maybe the hard hits were still there, but Boychuk wasn’t patrolling the blue line.
“You know, the first six years I think I didn’t know exactly what I was going to be, either a forward or a D man,” Boychuk said. “Even though I wanted to play defense, I had to play fourth line forward in the minors to grind it out, and then finally make it here.”
So when the Professional Hockey Writers Association nominated Boychuk as a candidate for the Masterton Trophy this season, it was a great honor.
“To get nominated for this is pretty special,” Boychuk said.
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