Boston Bruins: Will Any of Them Earn Individual Hardware This Season?

From possible playoff no-shows to possible President’s Trophy candidates, the Boston Bruins have restored normalcy in a matter of four weeks. The worst sensations and consequences of post-Stanley Cup hangover are decisively behind them with still roughly three quarters remaining on their 2011-12 regular-season itinerary.

Assuming they can avoid another protracted pothole like the plague they brought on in October, there should be no questions as to whether or not the Bruins will be seeing action in the postseason. Rather, the debate should be as to who, if any, of them will be accepting invitations to Las Vegas in mid-June and their odds of receiving any trophies once there.

Don’t get too carried away here. Where he is in his career, Tyler Seguin has far less of a chance of contending for the 2012 Hart Trophy than he has of using his peerless youth and energy to pilot the Bruins to the NHL’s first championship repeat in 14 years.

But if some of Seguin’s colleagues continue to dazzle around him and make Boston a threat once more, they should have an opportunity to reel in their own symbols of supremacy this spring.

The five men in question, the hardware within their reach and their top competition are as follows.

Patrice Bergeron: Selke Trophy

As of Sunday morning, Bergeron is tied for fifth among all NHL forwards in the plus/minus department with a plus-13 rating. If he keeps up the pace, he could surpass the career high he set last season (plus-20) and have as good a chance as anybody to earn the title of the league’s best defensive forward.

Granted, both of his linemates―Brad Marchand (plus-14) and Seguin (plus-19)―and teammate Chris Kelly (plus-15) are all ahead of him, but he is the elder brother of his line, which is typically assigned to counter the opposition’s most leaned-on scoring troika.

In addition, Bergeron sees more ice time on the penalty kill than any other Boston forward with an average of 2:14 per night. His input has helped the Bruins stay within the top 10 of all NHL penalty killing brigades.

Biggest Competition: Loui Eriksson (Dallas), Tomas Fleischmann (Florida), Patrick Sharp (Chicago), Alex Steen (St. Louis)

Zdeno Chara: Norris Trophy

Like Bergeron, Chara stands out in a critical defensive stat with his plus-13 rating, placing him in a tie for second with Nashville’s Ryan Suter among NHL rearguards.

His hit count of 53, on the other hand, is currently eclipsed by seven other defensemen, although most of those prolific hitters have a poor plus/minus transcript. And there have been more than a few defenders with more production on opposing property than Chara.

Regardless, if he continues to demonstrate and utilize his durability, Chara ought to build a portfolio that will earn him careful consideration for his second Norris Trophy.

Biggest Competition: Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit), Dion Phaneuf (Toronto), Ryan Suter (Nashville), Shea Weber (Nashville)

Claude Julien: Jack Adams Award

Exactly one month ago, the Bruins were four games below .500 and languishing in the basement of the Eastern Conference. One observer after another was quick to point to recent evidence that teams who are out of the playoff picture on Halloween are all but doomed not to make up enough ground by season’s end.

And yet, since then, Boston has earned 23 out of 24 possible points and soared to second place in the conference and a virtual tie for third in the league standings. It has won a few blowouts and several close shaves en route to what is easily the NHL’s best cumulative goal differential. When the more leaned-on contributors have gone dry, lower-ranking offensive players and stay-at-home defensemen have filled in.

Does success like this, especially when it’s such a sharp turnaround after a particularly harmful hangover to start the season, ever happen without some sort of contribution from the coach?

Anyone who doubts Julien’s role in the Bruins’ active hot streak should just ask the likes of Marchand.

Biggest competition: Kevin Dineen (Florida), Tom Renney (Edmonton), John Tortorella (NY Rangers), Mike Yeo (Minnesota).

Tuukka Rask and Tim Thomas: William Jennings Trophy

With this award simply going to the goaltending guild that allows the fewest goals through 82 games, all Rask and Thomas need to do is break Boston away from its tie for second and stay on top.

So far, discounting empty netters, the Bruins have allowed four goals only once in a single game and have allowed three on only six occasions, meaning they have been consistent in at least one department since opening night.

Biggest competition: Henrik Lundqvist/Martin Biron (NY Rangers), Brian Elliott/Jaroslav Halak (St. Louis), Jimmy Howard/Ty Conklin (Detroit), Nicklas Backstrom/Josh Harding (Minnesota)

Tim Thomas: Vezina Trophy

Of those who have played 10 or more games, only St. Louis’ Brian Elliott (1.34) has a better goals-against average than Thomas (1.86). The same holds true in the way of save percentage, with Elliott retaining a .951 success rate while Thomas boasts a .937 percentage.

Thomas is also tied with Elliott and three others for the NHL lead with three shutouts on the year. And he has only allowed the opposition to pull ahead by two goals on four occasions. Each time, he has immediately buckled down and not allowed the deficit to get further out of reach, ultimately winning two of those games. 

Time will tell as to whether or not he has it all in him, but Thomas has already defied logic just by putting himself in the conversation as he vies to defend his Vezina and go for his third in four seasons.

Biggest competition: Nicklas Backstom (Minnesota), Brian Elliott (St. Louis), Jimmy Howard (Detroit), Nikolai Khabibulin (Edmonton), Henrik Lundqvist (NY Rangers), Jonathan Quick (Los Angeles)