Seidenberg gives Bruins everything they need

He’s not one of the names that comes to mind when the Boston Bruins are mentioned.

In fact, he might not even be in the top 10.

But the Stanley Cup Final isn’t about being the most popular player with the fans or the media, it’s about doing all the little things right and being a reliable force every time you hit the ice in the quest for the Cup.

That has certainly been the M.O. of Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, who has quietly put together quite a run thus far while playing in the enormous shadow of his enormous blueline partner, Zdeno Chara.

But in the Boston room, Seidenberg’s play has been anything but overlooked.

“He’s a warrior,” Brad Marchand said. “They’re the kind of guys that can go unnoticed, but they definitely don’t on our team.”

Putting together numbers like Seidenberg did in Game 3 will certainly put you in the spotlight: 6 blocked shots, 4 hits and 25:04 of ice time, second only to Chara’s 25:47.

That kind of play will also earn you the coveted Army Rangers jacket, awarded by teammates to the Boston player of the game.

And said jacket was just what Seidenberg was sporting after the Bruins’ 2-0 victory over the Blackhawks on Monday.

“He very much deserves the credit,” Chara said. “He logs a lot of minutes, he plays a physical game, he’s willing to play whatever role we ask him to do, and for sure he’s a warrior.”

“He’s a guy that a lot of guys hate to play against,” Marchand said. “He’s very strong, very physical. That’s what he’s all about. He steps up every night and he’s been huge for us so far. He definitely deserved it.”

The 31-year-old said he appreciated all the postgame kudos, but ...

“I mean, yeah, that’s my job. I haven’t really been scoring, doing anything offensively so I better do that stuff,” he said with a smile.

Before finding a home in Boston in 2009, the native of Schwenningen, Germany had played for four different teams in five seasons.

A concept hard to fathom.

“I think our guys that scouted him had noticed one thing: that he always played well in big games, had the great stats,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “The bigger the games were, the better he became.

“He became a good fit with our hockey club. Every year in the playoffs, he becomes a horse. You can’t tire him out. He wears guys down. He’s strong physically.

“You can give him as much ice time as you do to Zdeno. He’s capable of handling that.”

And Seidenberg doesn’t plan to slow down any time soon.

“It’s fun,” he said. “I enjoy playing tough minutes and doing the little things, just like everybody else in this room.”