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Toews a finalist for NHL's Selke Trophy

After winning the award last season, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews is a finalist again for the 2014 Frank J. Selke Trophy, which is given annually to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.

NHL officials made the announcement on Thursday, with Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins) and Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings) also named as finalists.

This season, the 25-year-old Toews ranked third on the Blackhawks with 68 points (28g, 40a) and ranked second on the team with a plus-26 rating in 76 regular-season games. He also ranked second on the Blackhawks with 51 takeaways and ranked fifth in the NHL, third in the Western Conference, winning 57.2 percent of his faceoffs.

Last season, Toews had 48 points in 47 games and was third in the league at plus-28, won 59.9 percent of his faceoffs and shared the NHL lead with 56 take-aways.

Of the 35 Selke Trophy winners since the award was first given out in 1978, only eight have been wingers. Since Montreal left winger Bob Gainey won the first four Selke Trophies, only four have been wingers — the last being Jere Lehtinen of Dallas in 2003.

Previous Blackhawks to win the award include Troy Murray (1986), Dirk Graham (1991) and Toews (2013).

The winner of the 2014 Frank J. Selke Trophy will be announced during at the NHL Awards Show on June 24 in Las Vegas, Nev. The award is selected by a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season.

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