This was the scene of Pacioretty's horrific injury a year ago. (Getty Images)

The finalists for the NHL awards continue to roll in with the trio of Masterton Trophy nominations being announced on Tuesday. They are: Daniel Alfredsson of the Senators, Joffrey Lupul of the Maple Leafs and Max Pacioretty of the Canadiens.

Bold prediction: Somebody from a Canadian-based Northeast team will win the award.

The Masterton, sometimes seen as an award for the comeback player of the year, is given to the player "who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey." Last year's winner was Ian Laperriere of the Flyers for his work with the organization after injury kept him out of the lineup.

The way the Masteron works is that the media members who cover each franchise nominate one player for the award. Those 30 finalists are then voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association with the winner to be released in June at the NHL awards show in Las Vegas.

Here is the full list of nominees from the Globe & Mail that these three beat out.

One of the players who didn't make the cut, San Jose Sharks nominee Tommy Wingels, received a big push from the You Can Play team, an organization headed by Patrick Burke to end homophobia in hockey. Wingels was there from the beginning, having known and supported Brendan Burke in his coming out while they were part of the Miami University hockey team together.

You Can Play wrote a letter to all of the voters asking for their consideration of Wingels. Here's a taste of it.

Simply put, Tommy is an active and vocal supporter of the most marginalized group in the sports world. He has supported the LGBT community both privately and publicly. He has done so with his time, effort, creativity, finances, and reputation. He did when his career was far from a certainty. He did it before it was endorsed by the NHL and his fellow NHL players. And he continues to do it, not out of a desire for recognition but out of a genuine belief that he will better the lives of people around the world because of his efforts. In short, Tommy put his own NHL dreams on the line in order to help ensure that others are given a fair chance to follow theirs.

That shows you there must be some pretty good candidates.

In Daniel Alfredsson you have a revered captain who returned from offseason back surgery to help lead the Senators to an improbable run to the playoffs where they have pushed the New York Rangers to a Game 7. During the season he joined the 400-goal club in his career.

It's a good thing for Alfredsson that voting was completed before this scene on Monday night in Game 6.

Then there is Pacioretty, who as we all know suffered a broken neck in a devastating collision with the stanchion in Montreal on a Zdeno Chara check. He had to miss the final few weeks of last season but was, somewhat miraculously, able to return this season for Montreal. Return he did. He set a career high with 33 goals, becoming the first American to score 30 for the Canadiens in their long history.

Last but certainly not least is Lupul. The Leafs winger suffers through back injuries which at one point looked career-threatening. But he found a new life in his career with the Leafs this season with 67 points in 66 games. That's when his season was ended with shoulder surgery. Before that, though, Lupul was among the league leaders in points.

If I had a vote, which I didn't, mine would have been casted likely for Lupul, but Pacioretty is a very good choice as well. I'd expect that those are the top two with Alfie bringing up the rear.

For more hockey news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnHockey and @BrianStubitsNHL on Twitter and like us on Facebook.