Between 2014 and 2023, Patrice Bergeron won the Selke Trophy six times, awarded to the best defensive forward on the circuit. During this period, the only player who can boast of having deprived him twice is the star of the Los Angeles Kings, Anze Kopitar.
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The 37-year-old Slovenian knows both ends of the ice rink very well too. But in his eyes, the pride of L’Ancienne-Lorette is one of the best players in history to have occupied this role.
Screenshot TVA SPORTS, QMI AGENCY
“He was an incredible player. He deserves this celebration,” praised Kopitar on Thursday, a few hours before the tribute that would be paid in the evening to the former Bruins captain.
• Also read: “It’s me who should say thank you to the people of Quebec”: Patrice Bergeron humbly welcomes the tribute that will be paid to him Thursday at the Videotron Center
“I think the Bruins are bored of it. In fact, the entire NHL misses him. Not that we miss facing him, I’m talking more about his presence. He’s a good person and it’s fun to be part of this celebration.”
In his name one day
As Phillip Danault mentioned last year to our TVA colleague Stéphane Turcot, Kopitar “would not be surprised” if, one day, the Selke trophy was renamed the Patrice-Bergeron trophy. “He won it quite often,” he pointed out.
Bergeron has indeed been crowned the best defensive forward more often than anyone else. Bob Gainey is his closest pursuer, having got his hands on it on four occasions. Kopitar won it at the end of the 2015-2016 season, then in 2017-2018.
Marchand and him, the most formidable
Kings head coach Jim Hiller’s face lit up when he was asked about Bergeron and his impact on the ice.
Hiller never managed the Quebecois. He’s never even met him, but he still knows him very well: over the course of his years as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the New York Islanders and then the Kings, he was responsible for the numerical advantage.
Photo STEVENS LEBLANC
And let’s just say that facing Bergeron on certain nights seemed to make his job more complicated. We understand that Hiller would undoubtedly have preferred to see him in his own team’s jersey rather than that of the Bruins.
“He and Brad Marchand were the two best players to kill a penalty out of everyone I faced,” he said. [Bergeron] won faceoffs. He was always in the right place. […] When we had a numerical superiority and they were on the ice, these two worried us!”
In Hiller’s eyes, Bergeron was “an incredible player” who “could still play in the NHL.” “He had a great career. He was an incredible leader and is an incredible person. It shows in the way he behaves,” underlined the head coach.
▶ There were only 1,500 tickets left to sell for the preparatory game between the Kings and the Bruins, Thursday evening, at the Videotron Center. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m.
