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Pair of Wings among Selke Trophy finalists

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Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings, and New Jersey Devils center John Madden were announced as the the three finalists for the Frank Selke Trophy, awarded to the NHL's top defensive forward during the regular season.

The three finalists were determined after balloting by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. The winner will be announced on Thursday, June 12 during the 2008 NHL Awards Television Special.

Datsyuk, who is also a finalist for this season's Lady Byng Trophy (sportsmanship and gentlemanly play), received the first Selke nomination of his six-season NHL career. The Wings' center led the league in plus-minus rating with a career-high +4, and all forwards with 144 takeaways -- a whopping 67% more than second-ranked Mike Modano of the Dallas Stars, who had 86. Datsyuk also led all Red Wings forwards in blocked shots (42). Detroit topped the NHL with only 184 goals-against during the regular season.

Teammate Zetterberg earned his first shot at the Selke by leading all Red Wings forwards in ice time (22:04 per game) and ranked second to Datsyuk among Detroit forwards in plus-minus (+30). The left winger was Detroit's leader in in face-offs taken (1,210) and ranked second to Kris Draper in face-off winning percentage (55.0%).

Madden is a four-time Selke finalist who won the award in 2000-01, finishing as the runner-up in 2002-03 and 2003-04. He led all Devils forwards in shorthanded goals (three), ice time (19:26) and shorthanded minutes per game (3:35). The center ranked seventh among NHL forwards in face-offs taken (1,463) and had a 53.7% winning percentage. The Devils were the top defensive team in the Eastern Conference and ranked fourth overall with 197 goals-against.