Reacting To Boston Bruins Forward Patrice Bergeron’s Fifth Selke Win
By Jim Lynch
Patrice Bergeron has always been a star with the Boston Bruins. Now he also holds a pretty remarkable record in the NHL, one that won’t be beaten anytime soon. Bergeron has won five Selke Trophies.
Patrice Bergeron won the Selke Trophy for a record fifth time as announced yesterday by the league. Bergeron was named a finalist with Elias Lindholm of the Calgary Flames and Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers.
Lindholm received 21 first-place votes, Barkov received 10 and Bergeron got 160 first-place votes. Things were not that close this time around in the voting.
The Boston Bruins captain previously took home the award in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017. Now he adds 2022 to his collection and who knows maybe it doesn’t stop here. Bergeron led the league in faceoff wins and put up 65 points in 73 games this season. He is still a remarkably talented forward who can help a team win, he just doesn’t have a contract for next season as of yet.
Bergeron doesn’t have a contract for next season – something I am sure the Bruins wish wasn’t the case. Besides Bergeron, the Bruins do not have a top-level center that can step into the lineup if he chooses to retire or leave the team. They probably would like to know sooner rather than later what he is planning.
Although that might not be in the cards for this team considering Bergeron has said he wants to take some time to think about what is next for him. This was Bergeron’s 11th year in a row being nominated for the Selke Trophy, a remarkable feat in itself.
Bergeron is still one of the best players in the league as shown this year by how convincingly he won the Selke Trophy. Could he maybe choose to go out on top and walk away from the game this offseason? Maybe. But hopefully, we will see him back next season with the Bruins chasing another chance at the Stanley Cup.