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All-Star nod a sign of Tyler Seguin’s improvement

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January 14, 2012|By Lenny Neslin

Tyler Seguin deflected pucks shot at him by teammates prior to last nights… (Jim Davis/Globe Staff )

Before the Bruins edged the Canadiens at TD Garden last night, Zdeno Chara and Tyler Seguin joined Tim Thomas and the Bruins coaching staff as selections for the All-Star Game at the end of the month.

Chara and coach Claude Julien were happy with Seguin’s improvement and selection.

“It’s an honor for him and anybody who is selected,” Chara said. “There’s a lot of top players from different teams in the league all get together and hopefully he’ll learn from them and carry it with him. He’s come a long way from last year.”

Seguin already has nearly doubled last season’s point output in about half the games, as he had 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) last year while this season he has 38 points (17, 21). Seguin, 19, participated in the skills contest last year but did not make the team.

“It’s a great experience for him,” Julien said. “Last year was even more so because he wasn’t in the lineup every night. This year he goes back again with a bit more confidence because he’s accomplishing more.”

Julien added that he thought more Bruins could have made the team, but acknowledged the advantage of giving his players rest.

“It’s a double-edged sword. You’re glad that your guys are getting some rest, but at the same I think a lot of our players are worthy to go there -- [Patrice Bergeron] comes to mind with the year he’s had,” Julien said.

“There’s other players, but at the same time there’s 30 teams in the league. They had to fill some spots, gotta give players on other teams an opportunity, you gotta kinda share the spotlight with other teams.”

Bergeron is second on the team with 36 points (11, 25) and in his eight years in Boston has never been selected to the All-Star Game.

The game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Jan. 29 in Ottawa.