Bruins name winners of 2019-20 team awards
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
Still over a month away from a potential restart, the Boston Bruins handed out their team awards for the 2019-20 season on Thursday, with the usual suspects headlining the list of recipients for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins.
Beginning at the top of the roster, David Pastrnak was selected as the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy winner. Pastrnak captured the award, which is for his outstanding performance during Bruins home games this season, with a team-leading 28 goals and 49 points in 35 games at TD Garden prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that paused (and canceled) the rest of the regular season. Pastrnak’s win snapped what was a three-year streak for linemate Brad Marchand (14 goals and 41 points in 35 home games this season).
Pastrnak’s other linemate, Patrice Bergeron, was selected for the John P. Bucyk Award for his contributions to the Boston community this season. In addition to leading the Bruins’ Pucks and Paddles event to benefit Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center, Bergeron also visited local children’s hospitals for Halloween and Christmas. Most recently, Bergeron pledged $25,000 each to the NAACP-Boston and the Centre Multiethnique de Quebec to promote their efforts and advocacy for racial justice and equality. As this year’s winner, Bergeron receives $1,000 to donate to the charity of his choice from the Boston Bruins Alumni Foundation.
On the backend, Brandon Carlo took home the 2019-20 Eddie Shore Award, an award voted on by the “Gallery Gods” of TD Garden for the player demonstrating exceptional hustle and determination throughout the year. Carlo was tied for third on the team in ice-time (20:29 per game), and set career-highs in assists (15) and points (19).
Carlo was also one of just 12 NHL defensemen to log at least 200 minutes on the penalty kill, and was one of the league’s best shot-suppresssors while down a man, on the ice for just 50.01 shots per 60 minutes of shorthanded time on ice (third-best among that group).
And then came the 98.5 The Sports Hub Three Stars, which go to the top three home-ice performers, as chosen by 98.5’s Judd Sirott and Bob Beers.
Pastrnak took home First Star honors with led the team with that aforementioned 28 goals and 21 assists for 49 points. Tuukka Rask was the Second Star thanks to a 14 wins (three shutouts), 2.15 goals against average, and .926 save percentage in 22 starts at home, while Brad Marchand was the Third Star with his 41 points in 35 games at TD Garden this year.