TheDaysOf 04
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http://www.nhl.com/ice/blogpost.htm?id=35601
Palat was the runner-up for the Calder Trophy last season, but Lightning coach Jon Cooper believes Palat should be in the pool of Selke candidates too. Palat's play this season has bolstered Cooper's opinion that if Palat was a center he'd be a perennial Selke Trophy finalist.
"I'm just trying to help the team, play good defensively, because that's my game," Palat said. "That's always been my game. I have always been a responsible player. I take care of our net first and then we get to go on offense. But when you're playing with linemates like [Nikita] Kucherov and [Tyler] Johnson, we are in the offensive zone a lot of time so it's easier to be a plus player."
"I still believe Palat is the straw that stirs the drink on that line," Cooper said. "He's oozing with hockey sense and he's skilled. He is like Patrice Bergeron as a winger to me."
"When you're with him he's a quiet guy, he's unassuming," Cooper said. "But if you were to poll our team and ask for the role model for how to practice and play I would pretty much guarantee he would be the guy who would get all the votes. I can't speak for our team but I think so.
"He competes, he works, he produces and he doesn't say a word."
