The native of Quebec was selected ahead of Chicago’s Jonathan Toews and Los Angeles’ Anze Kopitar.
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Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron has captured the Frank J. Bergeron first won the award in the 2011-12 season and finished a close second to Toews in 2013 before earning consecutive Selke wins.
Price accepted the Lindsay trophy to open the NHL Awards show in Las Vegas on Wednesday night. Much was made of his offense a year ago, as he scored 30 goals for just the second time in his career, in addition to his typically dominant performance as a two-way forward.
The award, which is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association, is presented annually to the forward who demonstrates the most skill in the defensive component of the game. He also led the Bruins with 55 points, tying Dougie Hamilton for the team lead with 32 assists and scoring 23 goals.
Bergeron, a native of Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec, who won the gold medal for Canada at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, led the National Hockey League in faceoff percentage. Over the last four seasons, Bergeron has been a +118.
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Toews won the award in 2013. Calgary forward Jiri Hudler won the Lady Byng Trophy as the NHL’s most sportsmanlike player after committing just 14 minutes in penalties during his 76-point season. Price also shared the already-announced Jennings Trophy with Chicago goalie Corey Crawford, but his hefty haul of hardware capped one of the greatest regular seasons for a goalie in NHL history. “You look at the names that have won it three times”, said Bergeron on receiving the Selke.
