The list of finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy was announced on Wednesday. Like every year in recent memory, Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk is one of the three finalists. He is joined this year by Chicago's Jonathan Toews and Vancouver's Ryan Kesler.
↵The Selke Trophy is awarded annually "to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game." Datsyuk is well known for his outstanding defense, which is why he has won the Selke Trophy three years in a row. He will go for a fourpeat this year.
↵The last Red Wings player not named Datsyuk to take home the Selke Trophy was Kris Draper, who won the award the season before the NHL lockout. Steve Yzerman won it in 2000, and Sergei Fedorov took it home twice in the 90s.
↵The winner of the Selke Trophy and the winners of the other NHL awards will be announced on June 22 in Las Vegas. Hopefully both Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom, who was named a finalist last week for the Norris Trophy and Lady Byng Trophy, will be coming home to Detroit with some hardware.