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Calgary Flames

Elias Lindholm Is A Selke Finalist

Lindholm has been superb this season and is being recognized for his play.

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Another Calgary Flame is up for some post season hardware and this time it's Elias Lindholm. The Flames center is one of the three finalists for the Frank J. Selke Award and it's his first time being nominated.

The Selke is given out to "the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game” and you can certainly agree with the fact that the description fits Lindholm perfectly.

From the NHL:

Lindholm posted a +61 rating in 82 games, behind only linemate Johnny Gaudreau (+64) as the NHL’s best in the past 34 years. He led Flames forwards in several key categories on a team that posted its lowest goals-against total over an 82-game season (206) since 2009-10, including blocked shots (52), takeaways (t-1st, 55), time on ice (19:57 per game) and average time while shorthanded (2:07) for the League’s sixth-best penalty-killing unit (83.2%). He also was one of the NHL’s top face-off performers, ranking third overall in total face-offs (1,592) and fifth in face-off wins (842) for a 52.9% win percentage."

Having been named a finalist, Lindholm is the first Flames player to be one of the final three since Craig Conroy was a finalist in 2001-02. If he were to win the Selke he would be the first Flames player to ever take home the award.

Elias Lindholm does have some pretty tough competition as he's up against Florida's Aleksander Barkov and the heavy favourite, Boston's Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron has won the award four times in the past, tying him with Montreal Canadiens legend Bob Gainey for the most all time.

by Mark Parkinson