Eight Maine hockey playing seniors have been selected semifinalists for the prestigious Travis Roy Award, including Edward Little forward Mat Gordon.

Gordon, who battled back this year from a rare disorder that numbed his body and left him temporarily paralyzed less than one year ago, finished the season with 48 points, including 24 goals, in just 16 games played, an average of exactly three points per game.

He joins seven other players — three others from Eastern Class A and four from the West — in the pool to become the next award winner.

The award is named for Travis Roy, a former North Yarmouth Academy hockey player who, in his first shift playing for Boston University in the NCAA, went hard into the boards and was paralyzed from the neck down.

Since the accident, Roy has become an advocate for spinal injury research, and has started the Travis Roy Foundation to help in that endeavor.

The award is presented annually to a senior hockey player in Maine who exhibits quality on and off the ice, including academically and within the community.

Joining Gordon as semifinalists are Nick George of Bangor, Conor Kelly of Brunswick, Nick Deblois of Waterville, Rick Hebb of Thornton, Dan Hanley of Falmouth, Dixon Pike of Falmouth and Trevor Fleurent of Biddeford.

The Travis Roy Award is presented every year at the annual Class A awards banquet, this year slated for Sunday, March 14 at Noon at the Ramada Inn and Conference Center in Lewiston.