The
National Hockey League announced their year-end awards today and Former MSU-M Mavericks and current
St. Louis Blues forward
David Backes was named a finalist for the
Frank J. Selke trophy. I would think this is another great argument for the
NCAA hockey being a great place to develop future talent for the NHL.
TSN.CA --- The National Hockey League has announced more nominees for its year end awards, unveiling the finalists for the Lady Byng and Frank J. Selke trophies.
David Backes of the St. Louis Blues, Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins and Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings are the three finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward, the league announced Monday.
Backes had the highest average ice time per game among forwards (19 minutes 59 seconds) on a Blues club that allowed the fewest goals in the NHL by a wide margin. The six-foot-three, 225-pound centre was a punishing physical presence, doling out a team-leading 226 hits to join Los Angeles forward Dustin Brown as the only players to record 200 hits or more in each of the past five seasons.
Backes led the Blues in faceoffs, blocked shots and posted a plus-15 rating. The Blues captain is an NHL trophy finalist for first time in his seven-year career and is the first Blues player up for the Selke since Michal Handzus finished second in 2000.
Bergeron led the NHL in plus-minus (plus-36) and posted a plus-18 rating both at home and on the road in helping the Bruins rank second in the Eastern Conference in team defence (2.39 goals-against average).
