Bruins Announce Winners of the 2019-2020 Team Awards
In a series of tweets on Thursday, the Boston Bruins announced the winners of their team awards. The awards are usually announced at the conclusion of the regular season at the same time as the “Shirt Off Their Backs” event for the season ticket holders.
Eddie Shore Award
Brandon Carlo took home the Eddie Shore Award, which is presented by the Gallery Gods to the Bruin who demonstrated exceptional hustle and determination throughout the season. A big win for the young defenseman. He has shown so much development into the player he knows that he can be over the last year. It’s been nice to not wince in worry every time that he steps on the ice.
Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy
The Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy, presented by the Boston Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association to the Bruin with the most outstanding performance during home games, went to David Pastrnak. Pasta was a shoo-in to win the award after the season he had. He’s the co-winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy for most goals in the NHL season with 48 goals. Pastrnak also had 4 hat tricks on the season, three of them coming in front of the home crowd.
John P Bucyk Award
The winner of the John P. Bucyk Award is Patrice Bergeron. The award is given by Johnny Bucyk to the Bruin with the greatest off-ice charitable contributions. In my eyes, this award could have been given to either Bergeron of captain Zdeno Chara as they both spend an ample amount of time giving back to their communities. In light of recent events, Bergeron has committed to donating $25,000 to the Boston branch of the NAACP. As well as another $25,000 donation to Centre Multiethnique de Quebec.
Three Stars Awards
The Bruins Three Stars, presented by 98.5 The Sports Hub goes to the team’s top three performers in homes games. The first star award went to David Pastrnak, his second award from the team this season. The second star belongs to Tuukka Rask and Brad Marchand took home the team’s third star. Pasta was deserving of the top spot given his other accomplishments during the season. Rask had a stellar season, a .929% save percentage, five shutouts, and 26 wins in his 41 starts. Marchand also had a great year, no licking anyone — which is always a relief — and totaled 87 points (28 goals and 59 assists). Marchand also tallied 5 game-winning goals for the team this season.
7th Player Award
The Seventh Player Award, voted by the fans for the player who performed above expectations, was not announced. It is possible the Bruins organization might forgo that award this year due to the shortened season. Personally, if I got to hand out the award, I would give it to Jaroslav Halak. He was always at the ready when, and if, he was called upon to enter the crease. Halak split a good number of starts with Rask. Halak was one of the top goaltenders in the league with a .919% save percentage; catching a win in 18 of his 29 starts in the crease. He also won the Jennings trophy with Tuukka Rask for the least amount of goals allowed during the season.
Congratulations to all the winners. I’ll be looking forward to the team adding on to their exceptional season resumes when the season starts again and the Bruins go on the hunt to hoist Lord Stanley once again.
*Images from Twitter: @NHLBruins
-Jess Donahue (@jldx392)