Bergeron Extends Selke Record, Ullmark & Montgomery Capture Awards

NASHVILLE - The Bruins captured three of the NHL's top honors on Monday night at Bridgestone Arena as Patrice Bergeron, Linus Ullmark, and coach Jim Montgomery all took home some hardware during the league's annual awards ceremony.

Bergeron won his record-extending sixth career - and second consecutive - Selke Trophy, garnering a decisive 1,914 points, including 187 of 196 first-place votes from the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Fellow finalists Nico Hischier (New Jersey) and Mitch Marner (Toronto) both had three first-place votes each. Boston's captain did not attend the ceremony, saying during a taped acceptance speech from Warrior Ice Arena that his wife, Stephanie, is expecting the couple's fourth chiild.

During the 2022-23 season, Bergeron led the NHL in faceoff wins (1,043) and faceoff win percentage (61.1%) among centers with at least 1,000 draws taken.

"I didn't know that he was that good," Montgomery said of what he learned about his captain during his first season at the helm of the Black & Gold. "Yeah, he's incredible. He's the best defensive player I've ever had the fortune to watch or see. And he does it daily.

"And then his ability to impact others and make them better people is the other thing. I heard he was a great leader. Everybody talks so highly of him. But when you're around and dealing with the special [person], you learn from it. And I think I'm a better person because of it."

Per NHL Stats, Bergeron is just the eighth player in league history to win a voted upon award at least six times, joining Wayne Gretzky (9x Hart), Bobby Orr (8x Norris), Doug Harvey (7x Norris), Nicklas Lidstrom (7x Norris), Frank Boucher (7x Lady Byng), Gordie Howe (6x Hart), and Dominik Hasek (6x Vezina). He also extended his league record for most consecutive finalist nods for a single award with 12.

"You can say that he's definitely the best defensive forward of all time," said Ullmark. "I'm very happy for him. So excited."

Bergeron has now won NHL Awards in three straight seasons and nine individual league honors overall, having also been awarded the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award (2020-21), the NHL Foundation Player Award(2013-14), and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy (2012-13).

Boston's seven Selke victories all-time (Steve Kasper won the award in 1981-82) are tied for most in the league with Detroit and Montreal.

Top-Notch Netminding

Ullmark, meanwhile, became the sixth goalie in Bruins history to capture the Vezina Trophy and first since Tuukka Rask in 2013-14. Overall, Boston now has 11 Vezina Trophy wins (Tiny Thompson, 4; Frank Brimsek and Tim Thomas, 2; Pete Peeters and Rask, 1).

"I think that's a goal for everyone that plays hockey and plays at the professional level that we do, that you want to be the best at your position…or even the best player," said Ullmark," who also captured the Jennings Trophy along with goalie partner Jeremy Swayman for allowing the least goals in the NHL.

"But still, you have that goal and I set that out and we had a couple of plans that I had a couple of years ago [when I got to Boston]…this is what I want to do and this is what I want to be. Did I know at that point that this is going to come true? You know, probably not."

The netminder received 22 of 30 first-place votes and 127 points to beat out the Islanders' Ilya Sorokin (70 points) and Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck (32 points). Ullmark also finished 10th in the Hart Trophy voting.

"Oh, it's terrific. It was very honorable," said Ullmark. "Ilya and Connor had terrific seasons as well…I think it was very close, so I'm very fortunate and very happy that turned out to be me…very proud, as proud as I can ever be."

Ullmark, in his second year with Boston, led the NHL in wins (40), goals against average (1.89), and save percentage (.938) to become the eighth goalie in league history to win the triple crown and first since Montreal's Carey Price in 2014-15. He also tied the Bruins' record for single-season goalie victories (Pete Peeters also had 40 in 1982-83) and became the fastest netminder in league history to 40 wins.

"I'm not going to lie to myself and say it's not a breakthrough year," said Ullmark. "I always knew that I could stop puck. It's always something different that always has to fall into place. And playing with a team in front of me that that I had this year was such a special thing to do.

"And just as I talk about relationships and talk about trust, that's what we had. The bond that we had together was like we always knew, basically, what the other guys was going to do.

"I'm very proud of is that it wasn't like a fluke month or two. It was the whole season of good playing and good showing every night."

Ullmark became just the third Swedish backstop to win the Vezina, joining Henrik Lundqvist - who last week was named a first-ballot Hall of Famer - and Pelle Lindbergh.

"Henrik Lundqvist a big inspiration throughout Sweden when it comes to the goalie community," said Ulllmark. "Being named in the same kind of conversation as them is very honorable and very fun for me."

A Jack Adams for Jim

Montgomery became the fifth Bruins coach to capture the Jack Adams Award - joining Don Cherry (1975-76), Pat Burns (1997-98), Claude Julien (2008-09), and Bruce Cassidy (2019-20) - marking the most of any team in the NHL. Boston's bench boss, who is the 20th coach to win the award in his first season with a new team, received 79 of a possible 82 first-place votes.

"The actual award is, to me, a reflection of the historical and great season that we had," said Montgomery. "It's rarely been seen, the kind of success that we had in the NHL historically. I think it's also because the players win games and coaches give them an opportunity to go out and play game. I mean, it's such a dedicated group and it was so much fun. It was like going to Disney World every day because there was a different ride. It was a different person that was pushing the gas to success."

The Montreal native delivered a poignant speech about his journey to overcome alcoholism, thanking the many people that make up his support system, including his wife and four children.

"An attitude of gratitude," Montgomery said of his mindset. "I wake up every day and write down what I'm grateful for, and that just sets my head straight and it creates happiness from within. And that's valuable to be able to share the happiness that you went through in the team.

"I have found being vulnerable creates trust more than anything. And being vulnerable is actually a strength. Everybody has their things that they battle in life, whether it's someone in their family or someone else in mental health.

"People need support and it's important to know that people aren't alone."

Pastrnak Places Second

Pastrnak was the runner up for the Hart Trophy to Edmonton's Connor McDavid, giving him the highest finish for a Bruin in the MVP voting since Ray Bourque also came in second to Edmonton's Mark Messier inn 1989-90. The winger received the only first-place vote (out of 196) that did not go to McDavid and finished with 1,053 points.

"I'm here playing a team sport, right?" Pastrnak said before the event. "It's really hard to talk about individual awards because you are playing a team sport. And we all have the same prize in the head, so I'm just here to have a good time and enjoy it. It's going to be a great experience."

Ullmark and Pastrnak were both named First-Team NHL All-Stars.

Hall, Foligno Traded

The Bruins' front office had been hinting at change since the end of the season and on Monday afternoon the first domino fell as Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno were traded to Chicago in exchange for young defensemen Alec Regula and Ian Mitchell.

"It's my reaction that it's time to start focusing on next year," said Montgomery. "We lost two really good players, but we knew that if it wasn't them that it was going to be some other players because that's just the way the business world works, right?

"So, now we're looking forward. We got a couple of good young defensemen to come in. That's a real quality. So, we're excited about next year."

"It's hard. They've been close friends," added Pastrnak. "But we all know what kind of business this is, stuff happens in hockey. It's unfortunate for the friendship relationship but, I mean, we all understand…it's tough, but we're going to stay friends."

Mitchell, a 5-foot-11, 173-pound right shot, has a connection to Montgomery, having played one season under his guidance at the University of Denver in 2017-18. The 24-year-old Alberta native played 35 games with Chicago last season, notching a goal and seven assists.

"Well, what caught my eye is his character, high, high character…is going to fit in with the Bruins culture immediately," said Montgomery. "Then just his competitiveness and his hockey…those are his greatest attributes."

Wait, There's More

• Hampus Lindholm finished fourth in the Norris Trophy voting (483 points and 12 first-place votes) and was named a Second-Team NHL All-Star. Charlie McAvoy received one fifth-place Norris vote.
• Pastrnak and his partner, Rebecca, welcomed a baby daughter Freya earlier this month. "It's been amazing, a blast in our life," he said. "So exciting. She's healthy and beautiful and that's all I can ask for."
• Bergeron finished 14th (one first-place vote) in the Lady Byng voting for the league's most gentlemanly player, while Pastrnak (16th, one first-place vote), Ullmark (29th), Jeremy Swayman (33rd), and David Krejci (48th) also received votes.