Mark Fitzpatrick popped up in the comments thread of the LaFontaine to Okposo post.
To recap it briefly: Fitzpatrick was the young, promising goalie prospect the Islanders got back from Los Angeles for Kelly Hrudey. He posted three shutouts as a 21-year old in 1989-90; his .898 sv% that year might look horrible to us Dead-Puck refugees, but it was good for fifth in the whole NHL among qualifying goalkeepers. The future looked bright.
Unfortunately, Fitzpatrick contracted a new, dangerous neurological disease called Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome, and missed most of the 1990-1991 season. He returned to play two games that season, losing to the St Louis Blues, 3-2, on March 23rd of 1991, and then beating the Boston Bruins 5-3 a week later.
But EMS, though treatable, has no known cure, and causes symptoms that are often mistaken for things like Lupus: muscle pain and weakness, swollen joints, shortness of breath, and excessive fatigue plagued Fitzpatrick whenever the illness flared up. He fought through and appeared in 30 games in 1991-92, going 11-13-5 with a .902 sv% and 3.20 GAA. And again, his sv% was fifth among qualifying goalies. The NHL recognized Fitzpatrick with the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 1992, honoring him for his perserverance and decication to hockey.
This led me to wonder, aloud, about the other winners, and I said that six other players who had Islanders ties were also honored with the Masterton - but only one of them was an Islander at the time.
Turns out that this was a Trivia Fail on my part. The actual number of those players is EIGHT, not six. I had left one off on purpose, because he hadn't played for the Islanders yet (so you get a hint on him); but entirely overlooked another guy. Shame on me.
Anyway - this is the Official Corrected Islanders Masterton Trophy Trivia List and Contest, Ltd. Enter your guesses in the comments below (and scout's honor, no looking it up!), and I'll update with the correct answers later. No money, but you will receive kudos and admiration from your peers here at Lighthouse Hockey, and I'll try to get a retweet of your accomplishments from Grabs or Matty Mo. Have fun!
UPDATE - High Praise to the following for hitting some of our answers:
The Blogfather, Dominik, got Jason Blake, who won in 2008 with Toronto.
Pretty Good Idiot got Bryan Berard, who won in 2004 with (surprise!) Chicago.
The Magus and JW1970 both got Ed Westfall, who won it with the Isles in 1977.
So... there are still five names left for all y'all. For added fun, try to also get the teams these players were playing for at the time.


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