NHL Awards growing on Gainey

LAS VEGAS --The photograph was taken in 1981, at the NHL's annual awards luncheon in Montreal. Former Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Frank Selke is presenting Canadiens forward Bob Gainey with the Selke Trophy, which since 1978 had been awarded annually to the NHL's top defensive forward.
There are four names engraved on the trophy between the two men, and all of them are Bob Gainey.

The
Selke Trophy
was introduced by the NHL's Board of Governors in November 1977 to celebrate one of the game's great builders. Still today, 37 years after that historic photo was taken, no one has won the Selke more often than Gainey, who finished as runner-up to Steve Kasper of the Boston Bruins in 1982.
Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron also has won it four times, though not consecutively. Bergeron had a chance to win a fifth at the 2018 NHL Awards presented by Hulu at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas on Wednesday, but the award went to Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings, who won for the second time.
The presentation to Kopitar bore no resemblance to Gainey's modest, almost invisible trophy ceremonies, which the Canadiens Hall of Famer recalled Wednesday from his home in Peterborough, Ontario.

"There was usually a year-end conference or banquet," Gainey said. "It may have been around the NHL Draft, a luncheon and a very simple awards ceremony. I don't think there were nominations or finalists. The luncheon was held at a downtown Montreal hotel, the Windsor or the Queen Elizabeth, and different awards would be given out."
Gainey was in Las Vegas last year, with actor Jay Baruchel, a huge Canadiens fan and Montreal native, on stage at T-Mobile Arena to present the Selke to Bergeron.
"Ours was a nice event," Gainey said with a laugh of his luncheons. "But just as the ceremony has evolved to where I was a year ago in Las Vegas, the recognition of the awards has changed, too."
The Selke was almost tailor-made for Gainey, a battering ram on skates whose defensive brilliance overshadowed his strong offensive abilities. At the 1976 Canada Cup tournament, Soviet hockey godfather and coach Anatoli Tarasov, who pioneered the two-way game globally, hailed Gainey as "technically the best player in the world."

"The Selke was an award that began after I'd started my NHL career (in 1973-74)," Gainey said. "Mr. Selke (who died in 1985) always presented it to me.
"There have always been players in previous generations who represented that defensive or defensive-balance two-way player, who in the team structure were given that role. Claude Provost comes to mind," he said of the Canadiens late forward who excelled as a checker and Chicago Blackhawks forward Bobby Hull's permanent shadow when Montreal won the Stanley Cup nine times from 1956-69.
"Over time, like everything, there's been an evolution. That player has become maybe a more complete player, a balanced player of offense and defense, if need be, to really be able to fulfil the role of strong defense in the parts of the game that require it completely. I think Patrice Bergeron is an excellent example of that."
After a couple years away from hockey, most recently having been a consultant with the St. Louis Blues, Gainey is back in the game, this week having joined Peterborough of the Ontario Hockey League as a broad-scope senior adviser to the board of directors.

Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in a seven-man 1992 class that included center Marcel Dionne and forward Lanny McDonald, Gainey will bring massive experience to the volunteer job, having played two seasons as a junior with Peterborough from 1971-73 before turning pro with the Canadiens. Gainey won five Stanley Cup titles with Montreal between 1976-89 and one more as general manager of the 1998-99 Dallas Stars.
It was with much interest that he recently watched the Washington Capitals defeat the Vegas Golden Knights in a five-game Final to win their first Stanley Cup.
"I thought the Capitals were the deserving winner," Gainey said. "They had a great team and they persevered through the demands of the playoffs against good opponents to eventually defeat a team that was a good team all season long, too.
"I was around at the Capitals' inception in the mid-1970s, and they went through many, many years of discomfort and difficulty before they've finally succeeded. Ted Leonsis has been a great addition to the ownership group of the NHL, and they've had many, many classy, skilled players go through their organization who have kept the franchise alive. Now it's vibrant and to see them win, I was happy for the whole package."
Of the Golden Knights, Gainey said: "Put me in the column of people who were very, very surprised as the year went along that they were able to sustain the play that they started early in the year.
"One thing that separates Vegas from other Cinderella teams that have ended up in the Stanley Cup Final is that they have performed all year long. If I were in the shoes of George McPhee (on Wednesday named general manager of the year), I might just sit back and savor it for a while."