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\nHurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi, second from right, was voted team MVP by the Carolina chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, while Taylor Hall (71) picked up two honors. The 16-year veteran was selected as the team\u2019s nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for dedication to hockey and the winner of the Josef Vasicek Award for cooperation with the local media. (Nick Wass \/ AP Photo)<\/p>\n
RALEIGH \u2014 Brandon Bussi was a mostly unknown entity when the Hurricanes claimed him off waivers four days before the start of the NHL season.<\/p>\n
Just over six months later, the undrafted goalie who had spent three-plus seasons in the Bruins system before signing last offseason with Florida entered Tuesday\u2019s regular season home finale with a 29-6-1 record and the possibility of being the starting goalie for Carolina when the Stanley Cup playoffs start in two weeks.<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes\u2019 unlikely find can add another accolade to his remarkable first NHL season: team MVP.<\/p>\n
The Carolina chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association voted Bussi the team\u2019s most valuable player for the season, joining Frederik Andersen (2022) and Arturs Irbe (2001) as the only goalies to be named the team\u2019s top player by the media.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know where we\u2019d be without (him), really, if you think about it,\u201d Hurricanes coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour said of Bussi after Tuesday\u2019s morning skate. \u201cSo it was a pleasant surprise. Obviously, it\u2019s the most important position, so you\u2019ve got to have it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bussi has broken several records during his first season, including becoming the fastest goalie in league history to 10 wins and winning 18 of his first 22 career starts.<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes claimed Bussi as insurance when they placed expected No. 3 goalie Cayden Primeau on waivers for assignment to the AHL\u2019s Chicago Wolves, and a perfect storm gave him his first NHL opportunity.<\/p>\n
Primeau was claimed by the Maple Leafs, while Pyotr Kochetkov suffered an injury that made him unavailable for the start of the season. Bussi made his first career start Oct. 14 in San Jose, making 16 saves in a 5-1 win. He continued to stack wins as No. 1 goaltender Frederik Andersen struggled to start the season, and the 27-year-old wrested the starting job from the veteran.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt put such a stress on that position,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said of Kochetkov\u2019s injury, \u201cand he stepped in there and filled that void.\u201d<\/p>\n
The PHWA Carolina chapter also announced that Taylor Hall was voted the team\u2019s nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy, which honors sportsmanship, perseverance and dedication to hockey, and the Josef Vasicek Award recognizing cooperation with the local media.<\/p>\n
Considered an afterthought by many when Carolina acquired him in the blockbuster three-team trade for Mikko Rantanen last season, Hall has become a vital cog in the Hurricanes\u2019 attack. In his 16th season, the former Hart Trophy winner has teamed with a pair of second-year players \u2014 Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake \u2014 to form what Brind\u2019Amour has frequently cited as Carolina\u2019s best line.<\/p>\n
A franchise cornerstone player earlier in his career who was selected first overall in the 2010 NHL Draft by Edmonton, Hall has embraced taking on any duties given to him since coming to Raleigh, starting the season on the fourth line before establishing himself in the top nine in his first full season with the Hurricanes.<\/p>\n
At 34, Hall\u2019s explosiveness has returned after suffering a season-ending knee injury in 2023, and he\u2019s added valuable secondary scoring to a team with Stanley Cup aspirations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love it here,\u201d Hall said Tuesday. \u201cI love the group. I love everything that they\u2019ve built. And I\u2019ve tried to come in and just be a part of that. I feel like as the year has gone on, this year, I\u2019ve gotten a bigger and bigger role, and it\u2019s been a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hall said the opportunity to play alongside two second-year players, Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake, has been the most rewarding part of his first full season in Raleigh.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone has a role, everyone has a part in it,\u201d Hall said. \u201cBut we feel like we\u2019re maybe that hidden element as we go forward in the playoffs here for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hall has also proven to be thoughtful and thorough in his conversations with the media, leading to his selection as the Vasicek winner. Vasicek, who was a fourth round pick of the Hurricanes in 1998 and played parts of six seasons with the Hurricanes, including on their 2006 Stanley Cup-winning team, died in a 2011 plane crash that claimed the lives of all but one of the 45 people on the Kontinental Hockey League flight in Russia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the media and the fans are a huge part of the game, and everyone\u2019s on their phone these days looking at what people are saying and what the articles are, and that\u2019s all you guys,\u201d Hall said when informed he had won the award. \u201cSo I have a lot of respect for that, and I\u2019ll always be able to talk about hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n
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