The Boston Bruins got off to a less than perfect start this season. Going 0-3-0 after trading their supposed heir to the Zdeno Chara throne in Dougie Hamilton. They allowed 16 goals including three shorthanded and over 30 shots a game. After starting at 8-8-1, they flipped the switch and went on a 13-7-4 run. A lot of the improvement goes to the defensive play of a shaky team who needed confidence.

Patrice Bergeron is a generational talent. Not in the same way as a Sidney Crosby or an Alex Ovechkin. He’s not going to bury 110 points and 50 goals a season. What he will do is win faceoffs. Key faceoffs. He’ll consistently give you 200 foot shifts. He has won the Frank J. Selke Trophy the past two seasons, and three times in the past four. At the midway point of this season, he is the favorite again with no surprise.

His faceoff percentage is 56.7, winning the second most faceoffs in the league with 575. His defensive zone faceoff wins are even more impressive. He’s won 205 of 341, good for 60.1 percent. He can be depended on anywhere on the ice and is responsible the whole 200 feet of the rink.

The Selke is one of the more overlooked and under appreciated trophies in the NHL by some fans. It goes to the player who best excels at the defensive aspects of the game, and is voted by a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.

He’s a rare talent in the NHL. A player who is just as gifted offensively as he is defensively. In 41 games this year, he has 38 points with 15 goals and a +5 rating. Selected to his second All-Star appearance at the 2016 Honda All-Star Game hosted by the Nashville Predators, he is very deserving. “Its always the same with him –he’s deserving,” coach Claude Julien told the Bruins website. “I think he’s been a great player for us for many years now, and he’s being recognized not just here, but on the international scene as well as a good player. To me, It’s a no-brainer.”

Bergeron plays on both special team units. He averages 2:23 minutes per game on the penalty kill, that’s first among all Bruins forwards and also ranks second for ice-time (20:02) among forwards. Patrice is 14th in the NHL for shorthanded ice-time with 98:11 total. After allowing a power-play goal in 14 of their first 17 games the Bruins have tightened things up. They have allowed a power-play goal in just four of their last 24 games.

Bergeron has showed and continues to show that he is a superb talent and being a long time assistant captain of the Bruins shows his leadership. A great team player and a highly skilled leader has helped the Bruins have and maintain the success over the past number of years. He's found his niche in the NHL and so far spending his whole career in Boston, in a salary cap era shows the value he has to his club and the Bruins franchise as a whole.