The James Norris Memorial Trophy, or simply the Norris Trophy, is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's top defenseman who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position. Here are the stats collected for the finalists to help you all decide who's the best candidate for the Norris this season. https://drive.google.com/open?id=19xuafCjX62SiZQC87oulntAzMNw9Jm1lS4cqiwJuBLY Read a little about what I had to say about each candidate and consult the stats page for any further scrutiny, then cast your vote on who you think should take home the Norris this season. The Finalists @Duggan 19-5-4 31P 5G 26A +37 185GA 130TA @Duggan signs up for LGHL as a defenseman for the first time since S23 and has arguably one of his most individually successful seasons. One of just two finalists from the Eastern Conference, and one of two finalists who were on a team that did not finish in a divisional playoff spot. His 130 takeaways were the most among the finalists by a significant amount and tied for 2nd among all skaters in the league this season, and his TA/GA ratio against playoff-bound opponents led his peers. Top 3 in both personal special teams stats and both zone efficiency stats paint a little better picture of the capabilities @Duggan had on both sides of the puck. Is being responsible with the puck and having a knack for getting it back in addition to being one of the best two-way defensemen in S30 enough for @Duggan to get his name on the Norris Trophy? @DurkRiot 22-5-2 22P 2G 20A +13 202GA 95TA @DurkRiot went into S30 LGHL bidding fresh off his contract given to him from the S28 LGHL Draft where he was selected 23rd overall. Safe to say he made a couple owners upset they passed on him as this season's bidding he collected a clean 7 million contract from the Colorado Avalanche, the same team he's been with the previous two seasons. No doubt the Avs are pleased so far as the smooth-skating defenseman has seemingly had his best season on both sides of the puck. He sports the second-best own end efficiency and personal penalty kill and posted the best goals against per game among the finalists all while increasing his highest yet points-total of 22 this season. Will a penchant for exemplary play with and without the puck win @DurkRiot the Norris? @iTz x Luigi x 21-5-3 43P 7G 36A +25 188GA 89TA The 2nd overall pick of the S29 LGHL Draft and previous year's Calder winner as best rookie wanted to avoid falling into the much dreaded "sophomore slump" that former rookies and Calder winners alike have fallen victim to. Rather than having his performance fall off, however, @iTz x Luigi x improved in just about every metric possible including points where he finished as the 3rd-highest scoring defenseman. He was a fixture on one of the league's most lethal powerplay units this season where, on powerplays he quarterbacked, the conversion rate was the highest in the league at 40%. In addition to ensuring his opponent's time in the box was short-lived, he made sure to minimize his own time in the box; he was the least penalized defenseman in the league (> 10 games played) with just two minor penalties taken all season. Does his powerplay aptitude accompanied with a two-way mindset make @iTz x Luigi x a deserving Norris recipient? @Nraimondi44 19-5-1 36P 4G 32A +39 159GA 94TA It seems like the Ducks liked the performance of @Nraimondi44 so much they offered to resign him for a $1 million pay increase during the offseason. He got back to his natural position at RD this season and was close to eclipsing his previous season despite playing a couple less games. His offensive zone efficiency was the highest by a decent amount out of all the finalists cementing him as one of the better puck movers in the league in S30 (creating odd-man rushes and quick scoring opportunities is the best way to get your OZE down). Furthermore, he (and his lineup) had the highest goals for per game of his peers throughout the regular season. Was the playmaking ability and defensive performance of @Nraimondi44 good enough to earn your vote for the Norris? @Optehic 23-5-1 52P 12G 40A +53 158GA 101TA @Optehic is on the 2nd year of a 3-season deal at 6.25 million, and a trade in the offseason helped reunite him with some familiar faces from his previous team and find success with a couple new faces including a Calder finalist. @Optehic was a key cog on perhaps the highest-scoring line of S30. His 23 wins are the most of the finalists and tied for most in the league. He was the highest-scoring defenseman in the league with 52 points and captured the assists title with 40 assists. To add to his offensive prowess, he was tied for 2nd in Scoring Factor with fellow finalist @iTz x Luigi x and 2nd to only fellow Rated R member @Nraimondi44 in offensive zone efficiency. He finished 2nd in goals against per game among finalists. Does being an offensive force throughout the season and a vital part to his line's play on both sides of the puck warrant @Optehic receiving the Norris Trophy? @TypicalPlayer33 18-5-4 44P 15G 29A +16 337GA 113TA @TypicalPlayer33 is on the back-end of a 2-season contract he signed in S29, both seasons with the Minnesota Wild, and they were probably pretty happy to have him on their back-end this season. He likely played with the most variable lineup out of the finalists and was a consistent game-changer for his team. He led all defensemen in SF contributing on a staggering 56.4% of his team's goals. He scored the most goals of any defenseman at 15, and, to go along with that offense, he had the highest own end efficiency of all the finalists where opposing teams had to spend 3:12 on average to score a goal against the Wild with him in the lineup. He did all this while edging out some of the other finalists in quality of competition faced. Will the impact @TypicalPlayer33 had on his team and nearly every game he was in make him worthy of the Norris this season?
i think optehic is the clear winner here base on the stats his TA and GA differential is better compare to the others and he got the most points the most wins and the best plus minus that right there is the best all around dman and that what the norris trophy stand for.
Pretty weak list .. none of these guys are necessarily known as stoppers and everyone pretty much played with all star lines every week.. It’s a shame that a video game league can’t correct the wrong that everybody knows is true in the actual Norris voting (mike green lol)
I didn't play with all star guys every week though. It was pretty much a different line every week for me unless we played "The Biggies".
With this being such a prestigious award, Maybe listing quality of opponents would help the community vote ? i mean all these d men are elite and deserve to be nominated, just would be nice for some advanced stats when awarding one of these guys the title of best dman in LG
Yeah, sorry I definitely wasn’t clear. The google docs link has everything that was collected for the finalists in 3 tabs labeled “Stats Snapshot” “Line Analysis” and “Advanced Stats” to give you a fuller picture of the six finalists.
let’s be honest none of these dudes are on @TypicalPlayer33 level and the only reason minny is in playoffs is because of him
