Bergeron, Ullmark and Montgomery take home individual hardware at NHL Awards

It's a busy Monday for the Boston Bruins.

After completing trades with the Chicago Blackhawks, sending Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno for a pair of defense prospects, and the New Jersey Devils, swapping center prospect Shane Bowers for defense prospect Reilly Walsh, a handful of Bruins are up for individual hardware at the NHL Awards in Nashville. 

As we await official word on Patrice Bergeron's future, the captain took home his sixth Frank J. Selke Trophy as “the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game," as voted by the PHWA. 

Linus Ullmark took home the Vezina Trophy as well, annually awarded to “to the goaltender adjudged to be the best at his position," as voted by the general managers.

Jim Montgomery won the Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year) as “the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success,” as selected by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association. 

David Pastrnak was up for the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award (losing both to Connor McDavid, to no surprise). 

It's the second time Bergeron has won the Selke consecutive times, also winning in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2022 and now 2023. Bob Gainey, who won the first four Selkes, sits second behind Bergeron. 

It's Ullmark's first Vezina. He and Jeremy Swayman shared the Jennings Trophy as the goaltenders on the team with the fewest goals-against in the regular season. 

Montgomery becomes the third consecutive Bruins coach to win the award as Bruce Cassidy won in 2019-20 and Claude Julien won in 2008-09. Don Cherry (1975-76) and Pat Burns (1997-98) also won it with Boston. 

BSJ Analysis...

On Bergeron:

• This was Bergeron's Selke to lose once again. Although I do not have a vote, he would've gotten mine. Apparently, those who voted within the PHWA agreed as Bergeron won decisively, earning 187 first-place votes of a possible 196. The other two finalists, Nico Hischier (second) and Mitchell Marner (third), were the only others to receive more than two first-place votes with three apiece. Jordan Staal (fourth with one first-place vote) and Anze Kopitar (fifth with two first-place votes) were the only other nominees to receive first-place votes. No voter fatigue to be seen.
• Bergeron was once again excellent in all three zones. He led the league in face-off wins (1,043) and win percentage (61.1 – minimum 1,000 face-offs). Boston had a plus-28 scoring differential with him on the ice at 5-on-5. They were plus-37 at even strength. High-danger goals were plus-19 for the Bruins with him on at 5-on-5 and plus-22 at even strength.
• His possession numbers were again off the charts. Boston dominated shot attempts (59.2 percent), shots (59.7), scoring chances (61.95) and high-danger chances (62.41) with Bergeron on at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick. 
• Bergeron was third among Bruins forwards with 138:30 of shorthanded ice time in the regular season as part of the far-and-away league-best 87.3 percent penalty kill unit.
• Pretty soon we'll be calling it the Patrice Bergeron Trophy.

On Ullmark:

• Ullmark should have been the favorite. The only knocks against him were his games played (49) and his shutouts (two) compared to Connor Hellebuyck and Ilya Sorokin, who each eclipsed 60 games and had four and six shutouts, respectively. But when you win 40 of 49 games, it's hard to knock it. 
• He won decisively as well, taking 22 out of 30 first-place votes. Sorokin earned three, while Hellebuyck and Juse Sarros (the biggest snub) each earned two. Andrei Vasilevskiy earned one.
• Led the league in wins (40), save percentage (.938) and goals-against average (1.98). Something we haven't seen since Tim Thomas' regular season in 2011 – .938, 2.00 and 35 wins. 
• Among qualified goaltenders (min. 25 games), Ullmark was also second in the league in goals saved above expected (42.4) and first in goals saved above expected per 60 minutes, according to MoneyPuck. He was third in high-danger save percentage at 5-on-5 (.871), per Natural Stat Trick. 
• Interesting to hear him say he "butted heads" at times with goalie coach Bob Essensa in his acceptance speech, although I wouldn't read that much into that. They're professionals and everyone has their own philosophies. Happens everywhere. 
• It never hurts when you score a goalie goal. 

On Montgomery...

• Like the other two awards for Boston, Montgomery cleaned up in the voting, receiving 79 of a possible 82 first-place votes. Finalists Lindy Ruff and Dave Hakstol each received one, while Jared Bednar also received one. 
• Wondered about how much Hakstol and Ruff turning around Seattle and New Jersey would have helped their cases over Montgomery's. Even if Boston wasn't expected to light the world afire, they were still going to be in the playoff hunt. The Kraken had a 19-win improvement and the Devils had a 25-win bump.
• But when you rewrite the record books, setting wins (65) and points records (135), it's certainly hard to argue your candidacy. 
• Boston led the Atlantic Division from start to finish this season. They're the fourth team since 1943-44 (the modern era) to go wire-to-wire. 
• Started the season with 14 straight wins at home, a record, and added five winning streaks of at least seven games during the season. 
• Boston had a plus-128 goal differential (including shootout-deciding goals), the highest of any team since Detroit's plus-144 in 1995-96.
• Quite the story for Montgomery, who overcame his alcohol addiction to return to the league. 
• "Three and a half years ago, the Dallas Stars terminated my contract because of my struggles with alcohol, and I had to change my actions and behaviors. And that's when my new team, the most important team in my life ... is what leads to the success that I live daily right now," Montgomery said. "For those who struggle out there, you can change. You can affect change within yourself. And it doesn't happen alone. You need a team. You need a community."