A Look at Flyers Who Should Have Won the Selke
After completely missing the boat on the Jack Adams Award (given yearly to the NHL’s best head coach) and the Bill Masterton Award (given yearly to the NHL player who best exemplifies perseverance and sportsmanship), and to the delight of all Philadelphia Flyers fans, the NHL finally got one right.
The 2020 winner of the Frank Selke Award, given annually to the forward who best demonstrates the most skill in the defensive component of the game, is Sean Couturier. There’s no doubt Couturier had an incredible season.
Playing against the opposition’s top offensive threats on a nightly basis and keeping them off the score sheet, while scoring 59 points in 69 games. Couturier finished with a PLUS (+) 21.
Just check out what Couturier was able to do offensively, while completely shutting down the other NHL’s team’s top forwards.
Couturier becomes the 3rd Philadelphia Flyer in history to win the award since the NHL introduced it in the 1977-78 season, joining Bobby Clarke (1982-83) and Dave Poulin (1986-87). I’m absolutely thrilled for Couturier, but it got me thinking:
The Flyers have had some really good defensive forwards since the introduction of the Frank Selke Trophy, why have there only been 3 winners in their history?
Here are some of the Flyers players that should have won the award but were somehow overlooked by the NHL.
Bill Barber // 1979-80
Many NHL experts believe that the Frank Selke Award was created to honor players who were so instrumental to their team, but weren’t offensively good enough to ever win any of the offensive awards and was created purposely for Montreal Canadiens great, Bob Gainey. That is probably true, as Gainey was given the award in the first 4 years of its existence.
With all due respect to Bob Gainey, however, who really was a brilliant defensive-minded hockey forward, there is no way he should have won the award over Bill Barber in 1979-80. Gainey finished that season with a MINUS (-)1 in 64 games played and totaling 33 points. While Barber finished the season with a whopping PLUS (+) 38 in 79 games played, while totaling 72 points.
The award was given to Gainey more by habit than on merit in that particular season. But to be fair, the NHL thinking at the time was that Barber was too skilled offensively to be considered for the Selke award, which is total nonsense in my opinion. Having a player with a negative plus/minus with the award for best defensive forward just made it a farce at the time.
Brian Propp // 1983-84 and 1984-85
I really believe that one of my all-time favorite players and Philadelphia Flyers great Brian Propp was robbed of this award on at least 2 separate occasions. The first time was in 1983-84. With Bobby Clarke having won the award the prior year, it just seemed like the NHL did not want to give it to a different player on the same team as the previous year’s winner. The award was ultimately given to Doug Jarvis of the Washington Capitals, who finished that season with a PLUS (+) 6 in 80 games while contributing 42 points.
Propp on the other hand, finished with a jaw-dropping PLUS (+) 47 while scoring 92 points in 79 games including 39 goals. Propp was robbed again by the NHL the following season in 1984-85. The award that year went to Craig Ramsey of the Buffalo Sabres. Ramsey ended the season with a PLUS (+) 17 in 79 games played while adding 33 points. Those are good numbers no doubt but fail in comparison to Brian Propp’s. That same season, Propp finished with an incredible PLUS (+) 44 in 76 games, while posting 97 points including 43 goals.
As unbelievable as it may seem, Propp finished 22nd in the voting for the Frank Selke Award that season. The NHL just did not want to hand out the award to a player with such incredible offensive skill as Brian Propp had. Which is a real shame because he was so darn good on both sides of the puck. As Mr. Propp stated in our PHL SportsNation interview, not too long ago, he took great pride in his defensive game. To not be recognized for it by the NHL because he was so good offensively is a real tragedy.
Sean Couturier // 2017-18
Yes, although Couturier won the award this season, he could have… no SHOULD have won another. In the 2017-18 season, Couturier finished second in the Frank Selke Award voting to Anze Kopitar. Kopitar finished that season with a PLUS (+) 21 in 82 games while recording 92 points including 35 goals. That same season, Couturier finished with a PLUS (+) 34 in 82 games, while recording 76 points including 31 goals.
While both were playing on their respective teams’ top lines, Couturier was by far the better defensive forward. The thinking was that Couturier would get other chances to win the award, while it might be Kopitar’s last chance to win an individual award. Which was probably correct, as Kopitar followed up that season with a MINUS (-) 20 season, while Couturier continues to shine on the defensive side of the puck (and offensive side as well).
As you can see, the NHL has changed it’s thinking on this award a few times. At first, giving it to an offensively gifted player was a no-no. Luckily for Pavel Datsyuk, Patrice Bergeron, and Anze Kopitar, the league had a change of heart in that aspect or none of those players would have won the award because they would be qualified as Brian Propp and Bill Barber were, as “Too offensively skilled”. They also thought that Couturier was too “young” in 2017-18, so the award went to Kopitar, because it may have been his last chance to win it. I wish the NHL would just put their big boy pants on and award it to the player who most deserves it every season.
Hopefully, they are headed in that direction, because the last 2 seasons the winners have been perfect, with Ryan O’Reilly and Sean Couturier being the ABSOLUTE most deserving of the award.
Couturier was the winner by a landslide, collecting 117 first-place votes compared to second-place finisher Patrice Bergeron’s 21.
Here’s to many more for the man they loving call “Coots”.
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