Blake Coleman named 2023-24 Peter Maher Good Guy Award winner

The 2023-24 regular season is winding down and we’re beginning to see the unveiling of the annual team awards. First up is the Peter Maher Good Guy Award!

This year’s recipient is Blake Coleman, repeating after being a co-winner of the award last season.

Voted on every year by the local media (disclosure: I have a vote), the Peter Maher Good Guy Award goes to the Flames player who best exemplifies Maher’s values in their dealings with others: sincerity, integrity, dedication and respect. This year’s winner was announced after morning skate prior to Sunday’s home game against the Arizona Coyotes.

The 32-year-old Coleman is in his third season with the Flames after signing as a free agent during the 2021 off-season after winning back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He’s quickly become a really indispensable part of the team’s on-ice configuration and their locker room. Coleman plays in virtually every game situation, particularly in tough-minutes deployments alongside Backlund against the opposition’s top players. He’s enjoying the best offensive season of his career, with 29 goals and 52 points.

He’s also frequently been relied upon by the media for comments on some tough times for the Flames during a fairly eventful season. If the Flames have had a bad night, Coleman can always be counted for insights into what went wrong and to provide accountability. He’s also willing to poke fun at himself, once singing loudly when approaching a media scrum after the Flames’ game ops department changed his goal song from “Working In The Coal Mine” to Katy Perry’s “Roar” after his father referred to him as “The Texas Tiger” during the fathers’ trip.

During the presentation of the award, Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson mentioned this is the first time in the history of the award that a player has appeared on all the submitted media ballots.

Coleman accepted the award while balancing his two daughters on his lap.

“It’s been a tough year obviously for our team and we’re not where we had hoped to be, starting the season our expectations were high,” said Coleman. “I think that makes the job a little more difficult sometimes. As a player, I know, for me, I respect that you’ve got to come to the rink and ask the tough questions and get tough answers sometimes. I know sometimes players can take it the wrong way. I always try to look at it as you guys doing your job. You’ve always treated me with a ton of respect. I just want to return the favour any time I could. Obviously it’s tough to be in good spirits all the time, but with these two at home it makes it a little easier.”

The previous winners of the award include Coleman (2022-23 co-winner), Erik Gudbranson (2021-22), Derek Ryan (2020-21), Mikael Backlund (2019-20 and 2022-23 co-winner), Travis Hamonic (2018-19), Matt Stajan (2017-18), Chad Johnson (2016-17) and Joe Colborne (2013-14 through 2015-16). Coleman and Backlund are tied as two-time winners of the award, and they’re now chasing Colborne’s three wins.