Bruins Hat Trick

Posted by Morry Levine June 18, 2009 at 9:29 pm

It was quite a night for the Boston Bruins at the NHL Awards. The team was honored with awards for the best coach, goaltender and defenseman.

Let’s start with the coach, Claude Julien. He was given the Jack Adams Award as the league’s top coach. He finished his second season with the Bruins, guiding them to the Eastern Conference’s top record, finishing 53-19-10 for 116 points. Julien also coached the Bruins to their first Eastern Conference Semifinals appearance since 1999, before falling to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Tim Thomas won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender. There couldn’t be a player more deserving. Thomas set a career high with wins (36), played in his second straight NHL All-Star Game and led the league in Goals Against Average (2.10) and Save Percentage (.933).

And the captain, Zdeno Chara took home the Norris Trophy for the league’s top defenseman. Chara anchored a Bruins blue line that allowed the lowest goals per game figure in the NHL this season (2.29). He finished the regular season with a career-high 19 goals, 31 assists and a +23 rating.