Bruins NHL Awards Tracker: Bergeron, Ullmark, Montgomery take home major awards after historic season

BOSTON — The NHL’s annual awards ceremony is taking place on Monday night in Nashville. The Bruins are heavily involved.

Such is to be expected after a historic regular season which saw the Bruins set records with 65 wins and 135 points in the standings. While the first-round postseason exit still stings in Boston, there are still some major honors expected to be bestowed upon some key players from the Bruins’ season.

General Manager of the Year Award

This self-explanatory award goes to the best GM in the league, and Don Sweeney was a finalist this year, and he won the award in 2019.

Dallas’ Jim Nill and Florida’s Bill Zito are the other two finalists.

The winner for this award will be named Wednesday, at the start of the draft.

Frank J. Selke Trophy: Best Defensive Forward

With all due respect to Mr. Selke, the award ought to be renamed for Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins’ captain has won the award five times already and is looking for his sixth. He won the award last year, and this year marked his 12th straight season as a finalist for the award.

Toronto’s Mitchell Marner and New Jersey’s Nico Hischier are the other two finalists.

And the winner is … Patrice Bergeron. In what may have been his final NHL season, Bergeron added to his record total by taking home Selke Trophy No. 6. Bergeron won this one by a landslide, getting 187 of a possible 196 first-place votes. Bergeron finished with 1,914 voting points, followed by Hischier (804) and Marner (480).

Bergeron was not on hand to accept the award, as he and his wife are expecting a baby. He delivered the following message via video:

“Sorry I couldn’t be with you all tonight. My wife and I are about to welcome a new addition to our family. This is an incredible honor. I want to congratulate Mitch and Nico on an incredible season. You guys have an amazing future in front of you. I want to thank the Boston Bruins organization, starting with the Jacobs family, Cam Neely, Don Sweeney, our coaching staff and everyone’s that part of our day-to-day. Thank you for making this organization so special. Of course, my incredible teammates, it’s an honor to compete alongside all of you. Thank you for making me a better player and person. Thanks to my agent Phil Levalier at Quartexx Management for your guidance, my family, my parents, my brother, and of course my wife and kids. Thank you for your incredible love and support. I’m so thankful for all of you.”

Jack Adams Award: Best Coach

The Bruins surprised many folks when they fired Bruce Cassidy a year ago. And while Cassidy went ahead and won the Stanley Cup in his first year away from Boston, the Bruins did pretty well in finding a replacement in the form of Jim Montgomery.

The 53-year-old made the most of his second head-coaching opportunity, leading the Bruins to a 65-12-5 record and a Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s best team.

Seattle’s Dave Hakstol and New Jersey’s Lindy Ruff are the other finalists.

And the winner is … Jim Montgomery.

In what might have been the longest acceptance speech of the night, Montgomery dished out the standard thanks and appreciation but also opened up about how his personal struggles with alcohol led to the end of his first head-coaching stint in Dallas.

“My late father, Jim, passed away a little while ago, impressed upon me the importance of always being team-first, and how you achieve great things working together. And 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 — has really, is what leads to the success that I live daily right now,” Montgomery said. “And for those who struggle out there, you can change, you can effect change within yourself. And it doesn’t happen alone. You need a team, you need a community. And I’m lucky for friends like Baz, Murph, Super Dave, Sully, The East and West Coast Weapons, Strange Brew, I’m forgetting a few — Rammers, Zingers. People who’ve helped me daily overcome this. And I cannot do it without my family. I’ve got my 91-year-old mom sitting at home watching in the living room in Montreal right now. Love you, Dorothy. My three sisters and brother and their extended families, my St. Louis family, my four wonderful kids — J.P., Colin, Ava and Olivia. And I’m eternally grateful for my beautiful wife, who has stuck around around this guy through the ups and downs, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate and love you. I’m very appreciative for both teams that I’m lucky to be a part of that help me on a daily basis. Thank you.”

Ted Lindsay Award: Most Outstanding Player
Hart Trophy: Most Valuable Player  

While the Lindsay Award and Hart Trophy are certainly going to Connor McDavid, it’s nevertheless a positive thing for the Boston Bruins to have David Pastrnak named a finalist for both awards.

The 27-year-old Pastrnak led the Bruins with 61 goals, while adding 52 assists for 113 points — the best season of his career. If not for McDavid’s otherworldly 64-89-153 output in Edmonton, Pastrnak could very well be in line to take home either award, or both.

Still, with Pastrnak signed through 2031, the Bruins can feel reassured that they have one of the game’s brightest stars locked in for the long term.

And the awards go to … Connor McDavid. Zero surprise there.

Vezina Trophy: Best Goaltender

Linus Ullmark’s was the best statistical goaltender in the NHL from wire to wire last season, and he’s likely to earn his first career Vezina Trophy as a result.

Ullmark went 40-6-1 with a 1.89 goals-against average and .938 save percentage — all best in the league. Ullmark allowed two or fewer goals in 36 of his 49 games played, and he allowed more than three goals in a game just twice all season.

Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck and the Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin are the other two finalists.

And the winner is … Linus Ullmark. 

There wasn’t too much drama in this one, but you never know how voting will turn out. 

In this case, Ullmark won by a wide margin, getting 127 voting points to Sorokin’s 70. Hellebuyck finished a distant third with 32 voting points. Ullmark got 22 of 30 first-place votes.

Ullmark was in Nashville to accept the award, and delivered an acceptance speech in which he noted that he didn’t always agree with some of the decision-making by head coach Jim Montgomery and goalie coach Bob Essensa.

“Wow. Huge honor, first of all. I want to congratulate Ilya and Connor. YOu two had a terrific season. It’s always fun to play against you guys during those nights. I want to thank, obviously, my teammates. Without you I wouldn’t be able to stand up here today.

“I want to thank the Jacobs family, Don Sweeney, Cam Neely and the whole Boston Bruins organization for welcoming me and my family with open arms since day one. I also want to [say] thank you to the coaching staff — Monty, Goalie Bob, for butting heads every now and then, not always agreeing upon what we want to achieve. But we always make up at friends at the end.

“And also my agent, Joakim Persson, who is always a phone call away. And to finish it off, I’d like to thank my beautiful wife, Moa, who’s been there since day one. Without you, this wouldn’t be possible. You’re the glue that keeps the family intact, and you’re doing a terrific job every single day. And to finish it off, my beautiful kids. Harry, Lily — Daddy loves you.”