Jonathan Toews Named Selke Trophy Finalist
Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews has been named the finalists for the 2013 Frank J. Selke Trophy.
Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins and Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings are the other two finalists for the Selke, which is given annually “to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.”
Toews was a runner-up to Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks in 2011, and he is the only one of this year’s three finalists to score at least 20 goals and maintain at least a plus-20 rating (23 goals, plus-28).
If Toews wins, he would become only the third Blackhawks forward to win the Selke, joining Dirk Graham (1991) and current radio color analyst Troy Murray (1986).
We made the case for Toews to win the Selke Trophy in April.
Definitely committing a penalty in that picture.
Much deserved. About as good as it gets defensively… Maybe one day he’ll be as good as Hossa.
Can not see anyone in this group but Toews winning. This is first and foremost a “forword” award. As Tab points out, Toews has the offensive stats to go with his excellent defensive play. Plus 28 in a 48 game season…..unreal.
While I agree that Toews should win, this award is for the best defensive forward and those other two guys are pretty damn good.
Not even close…Dats and Bergeron are both great defensive players, but Toews was dominating again this year…he is long overdue for this award…and neither player was on a record breaking #1 overall team like Toews was, that led the league with 5 on 5 goals for/against.
Couple things…
First, can we please stop using an H when referring to Viktor STALBERG? Thank you.
Secondly, the latest on Stalberg is what’s known in the industry as a reality check. He’s 6 weeks from UFA and wants a more prominent role… problem is, you don’t get said role by shooting your mouth off with a team coached by Quenneville, a roster put together by a Bowman, or an organization run by McDonough/Blunk. I’ve been saying for some time now that Stalberg & Bickell weren’t necessarily coming back next year, pointing to Bowman getting a 1st round pick for the negotiating rights to Brouwer as an example of guys thought to be important to the team being replaced internally within 2 seasons. If someone wants to hand Stalberg $3M per this summer and is willing to deal a pick for him before the draft, adios Viktor.
With that background being stated, this hopefully works as a strong motivator for him to play both smarter and harder if/when he gets back into the lineup.