ckets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday.Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) -

DETROIT -- To no ones surprise, Patrice Bergeron, Jonathan Toews and Anze Kopitar are the finalists for the Selke Trophy, given to the NHLs best defensive forward. Bergeron of the Boston Bruins and Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks have each finished in the top three in voting for the past three seasons, and Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings was fourth last season. For Bergeron its an honour that underscores how much hes respected around the game for his two-way play. "I think youre always trying to work on things and I feel like the complete game is something that I take a lot of pride in and Im trying to work on," the Quebec City native said Thursday. "I think that this year I mean obviously I got the bounces offensively, but that being said it doesnt mean that I let the defensive part of the game out." Bergeron, who narrowly lost the 2013 Selke to Toews after winning it in 2012, has to be considered the favourite. His 1,015 faceoff victories were the most by any NHL player in the past seven seasons. "It makes you proud because you know hes well deserving of that, he has been for years now," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "Always up there in plus-minus, always plays against top players, and hes got 30 goals this year playing against top lines. I cant find a better candidate than him. Certainly deserves the nomination. Well see how it goes, but in our regards hes been the best." Toews, who thrived in a shutdown role as perhaps Team Canadas best forward at the Sochi Olympics, led the Blackhawks in ice time and won 57.2 per cent of his faceoffs. Kopitar played the most short-handed minutes of the leagues top 30 scorers and keyed the Kings top-rated defensive effort. Hes the first player in Los Angeles franchise history to be a Selke finalist. Detroits Pavel Datsyuk, a finalist last year and the winner in 2008, 2009 and 2010, missed a big chunk of this season with a knee injury. Sneakers Outlet .com) - It may just be the right place and the right opponent for the Detroit Red Wings to snap their longest losing streak of the season. Wholesale Sneakers Free Shipping . -- Albert Pujols is thrilled to have a reason to forget about his first two disappointing seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. http://www.cheapsneakers.us/ . -- Quarterback Josh Johnson has returned to the San Francisco 49ers and his former college coach, Jim Harbaugh. Adidas Sneakers Cheap . But last years runner-up Jarkko Nieminen crashed out despite winning the first set against Denis Istomin. Istomin fired 10 aces and won 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 to even his career record against Nieminen at 3-3. Cheap Sneakers From China .com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday.Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - The Arizona Coyotes provided further information on the injury to Mikkel Boedker, disclosing that the forward underwent surgery for a ruptured spleen he suffered in Sundays game at Winnipeg. The Coyotes previously announced on Monday that Boedker was week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Boedker, whose 14 goals this season leads Arizona, exited Sundays 4-3 shootout loss to thhe Jets and had the procedure performed later that night.dddddddddddd The 2008 first-round pick was placed on injured reserve and will have a streak of 257 consecutive games played end when the Coyotes visit Chicago on Tuesday. Arizona will have defenseman Brandon Gormley back in the lineup for Tuesdays game after activating him off IR. The 22-year-old rookie has missed the teams last four contests with a lower-body injury. ' ' '