Matt Dumba's efforts to change hockey have been recognized again.
The Wild defenseman is a finalist for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy that honors perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
Philadelphia's Oskar Lindblom and San Jose's Patrick Marleau are the other finalists. The award is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and a winner will be announced later this month or in July.
Lindblom, who was also a finalist last year, returned to action in the playoffs last September after getting diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer and has since been declared cancer-free.
As for Marleau, he passed Gordie Howe's record for most regular-season games played in NHL history.
Dumba was nominated for the Masterton Trophy by the Twin Cities chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association after he emerged as the face of hockey's fight against racial injustice.
Not only did Dumba speak out against inequality, delivering an anti-racism speech on national television ahead of the 2020 playoffs before becoming the first NHLer to kneel for the U.S. anthem, but he also organized resources to try to transform the sport. The 26-year-old is a co-founder of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, which was created to eradicate racism and intolerance in the game, and he launched a camp in Roseville earlier this year to make the sport more accessible to young players.
His contributions to the community also earned Dumba, who's Filipino-Canadian, last season's King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which acknowledges leadership qualities on and off the ice.
This is the third time a Wild player has been a finalist for the Masterton Trophy. Devan Dubnyk won in 2015 and Josh Harding was the recipient in 2013.
