Matt Cullen is the Penguins' nominee for the Masterton Trophy this season, as voted on by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
The Masterton Trophy is awarded annually to the player who best represents the values of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the sport of hockey.
"It's an honor, obviously, any time you get nominated for any award in this league," Cullen said. "It's an honor. I'm honored, I don't feel like I'm very deserving of it; there's a lot of guys that are really deserving. It's an honor."
The award is typically given to a player making a comeback from injury, or overcoming some other kind of adversity. Recent award winners include Brian Boyle, who was diagnosed with leukemia, Craig Anderson, whose wife was diagnosed with cancer during the season, and Jaromir Jagr, who continued to show his high work ethic at age 44.
Cullen's longevity is obviously a factor in his nomination. The 42-year-old appeared in his 1,500th career NHL game earlier this month, becoming the No. 2 all-time leader in games played among American players.
"Perseverance, for me it applies to just playing for quite a while and being able to stick around in this league," he said. "I'm proud of the fact that I can still play and I'm still a part of something special, and that at my age I can still play in this league."
Cullen is also nominated for his character, which exemplifies the values of the award.
"I think that's something I've always tried to do, is be a good teammate and go out of my way for other guys," said Cullen. "You look at the other nominees, you look at all those guys that everybody wants on their team."
Other nominees around the league this season include Brooks Orpik, Joe Thornton, Jay Bouwmeester, and Brian Elliott, some other guys with some longevity in this league. For Cullen, it's a great feeling to just be included among those names.
"There's just so many good stories of good people that persevered and worked hard to get here," he said. "For me, I'm honored to be in that group."
The list of nominees from each team will be narrowed down to three finalists next month, and the finalists will make the trip to Vegas for the awards ceremony in June. Cullen said that he had never been to the awards, but joked that he would "show the kids a few things at the blackjack table" if named a finalist.
Cullen hasn't yet given much thought as to whether or not he'll return for a 22nd professional season. If he does, it'll be because of the feeling he gets at this point of the year.
"I really enjoy the competition," he said. "I love the battle, and this time of year. It's worth working out and training, and battling for, is to get down to this point of the season where the games really mean a lot, every play is important. To me, that's the biggest thing. That's why, I love that."
• The Penguins announced the winners of their other team awards on Thursday. Matt Murray and Bryan Rust were named the winners of the Community Service Award. Sidney Crosby won both Player's Player and MVP.
