Patrice Bergeron wins Selke

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Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron was named the winner of the 2011-12 Frank J. Selke Trophy on Wednesday night at the NHL awards show in Las Vegas. The Selke Trophy is awarded annually "to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game."

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This is Bergeron's first Selke Trophy, after being nominated for the first time in his eight-year NHL career. He becomes the first Bruin to win the award since Steve Kasper in 1982.

The other finalists for the award were St. Louis' David Backes and Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk, who won three straight Selkes from 2008-2010.

"Playing both sides of the rink is something that I take a lot of pride in," Bergeron said after receiving the award. "That's the way I learned to play hockey, and to actually win an award that's given to the best defensive forward, or two-way forward, is something very special.

"Hockey's such a team sport that I have to thank all my teammates for this right now," Bergeron said. "They're the reason why I'm here, and thanks for making my job easy."

Bergeron led the NHL in plus-minus this season with plus-36 and won the most faceoffs in the league with 973. Bergeron's faceoff win percentage of 59.3 percent was second best in the league among players who took at least 500 puck drops, trailing only Chicago's Jonathan Toews (59.4 percent).

Bergeron, the Bruins' alternate captain, led the team with 42 assists this season and finished second on the team in points with 64. He also played a career-high 81 games.

Zdeno Chara, who was nominated for the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenseman, lost out to the Senators' Erik Karlsson.

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