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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporterFeb 28, 2024, 07:55 AM ET
CloseRyan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.
“What’s it like knowing the Selke Trophy competition is finally open now that Patrice Bergeron has retired?”
Asking this question of two-way players such as Aleksander Barkov, Elias Lindholm and Ryan O’Reilly, among others, made them all feel some things. At first? It was laughter because of the nature of the question given Bergeron’s chokehold on the Selke, winning six times — the most of any player in NHL history.
Eventually, the tone of those discussions became more serious with players continuing to talk about the former Boston Bruins center now that he’s out of the NHL for the first time in more than 20 years. They talked about what allowed Bergeron to be arguably the greatest two-way forward of all time. Some of them went as far as saying Bergeron was one of the players who made being a two-way presence en vogue, shining a light on the difficulty of being that consistent in the defensive zone all the time.
“Obviously I loved to watch him play, but it’s nice not having to face him is the biggest thing and going up against him because he was so tough to play against,” smiled O’Reilly, the Nashville Predators center who won the Selke in 2019. “I don’t think anyone who is in the running for that is thinking, ‘Oh, I got a chance.’ It’s more you’re dialed into your game. Then when the season ends and maybe you get nominated. Then you’re like, ‘OK. I got a better chance because he’s no longer there!’ I think once that time comes, guys will be a little relieved that they don’t have to compete with him.”
Bergeron’s six Selke victories over the trophy’s 45-year history means that he has won the award 13 percent of its existence. His first Selke Trophy win in the 2011-12 season brought an end to Pavel Datsyuk’s reign after the Detroit Red Wings center had won the award for three straight seasons.
The 2011-12 season was also the start of a sequence that saw Bergeron either…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39608081/patrice-bergeron-selke-award-defensive-forwards
Author : Ryan S. Clark
Publish date : 2024-02-28 12:58:57
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