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Bergeron wins record-breaking 5th Selke Trophy

Rich Gagnon / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron has won a record-setting fifth career Frank J. Selke Trophy as the league's top defensive forward.

Bergeron passes Montreal Canadiens legend Bob Gainey for the most Selke Trophies in NHL history.

Player Selke Trophies
Patrice Bergeron 5
Bob Gainey 4
Guy Carbonneau 3
Pavel Datsyuk 3
Jere Lehtinen 3

Bergeron won the Selke four times over a six-year span from 2011-12 to 2016-17, and he's been at least a finalist 11 seasons in a row.

Calgary Flames center Elias Lindholm and Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov were the other two finalists for the award, which is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.

"It's definitely an honor. I'm humbled, that's the first word that comes to mind," Bergeron said, according to Boston Sports Journal's Conor Ryan.

The veteran also revealed that he underwent surgery to repair a tendon in his left elbow on Tuesday, an issue which he said had been bothering him for the last two years.

Bergeron's recovery from the procedure is expected to take 10-to-12 weeks, according to NHL.com's Amalie Benjamin.

The forward said he still hasn't decided on his playing future.

"I needed time and I still think I have a lot of time ahead of me to make that decision," he said, according to Ryan. "I'm going to make sure that I take all the time I need to make the right one."

Bergeron received 160 out of a possible 195 first-place votes and appeared on all but one ballot. Here are the full results:

Bergeron ranked first among NHL forwards with 8.9 defensive goals above replacement and first with 9.3 expected defensive goals above replacement, according to Evolving-Hockey. Boston's 1.51 expected goals against per 60 minutes with Bergeron on the ice at five-on-five also led the league by a wide margin.

The 36-year-old also led the NHL in faceoff win percentage (61.9%) and had 37 takeaways compared to just 21 giveaways.

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