The Norris Trophy is awarded to the defenseman who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position. Before we start, I want to make sure everyone knows that no member of the committee was or will be allowed to vote for an award in which they are nominated. The Community Vote will be included in the final vote, along with the committee votes. Also, for Strength of schedule, the lower the number, the tougher your schedule. If your SOS was a 7.8 (Conf) and a 15.2 (League), your average game played would be against the 8th place team in the conference, and 15th in the league as a whole. Really high=really poor SOS If you guys have any questions as to why someone was not included, I will be happy to answer and provide the numbers to back it up. Also before I start talking about everyone I just have to say, the stats put up this season outside of the actual points category were absurd. Some of these defensive numbers are so gaudy, it's actually insane. Anyway, Here are your 7 finalists for the Season 7 Norris Trophy; _____________________________________________________________________________________ @TeeXGrizzley LD, Colorado Avalanche Overall Production 25P, 4G, 21A, +60, 138GA, 100TA, -38 T-G, 0.93 PPG, 26GA, 1.00 GAA Vs. Playoff Teams 9-0-0, 10P, 3G, 7A, +13, 55GA, 29TA, -26 T-G, 1.11 PPG, 11GA, 1.22 GAA Vs. Nonplayoff Teams 17-1-0, 15P, 1G, 14A, +47, 83GA, 71TA, -12 T-G, 0.83 PPG, 15GA, 0.83 GAA Record 26-1-0 Strength Of Schedule 17.65 (League), 9.12 (Conf) Always known before solely as a goalie, Domi made the switch to defense this season, and boy was he ever successful. Playing with the powerhouse Avalanche (A common theme for this award) Domi had an outstanding season, going a ridiculous 26-1, good for best record in the league. Most impressive, however has to be his 1.00 GAA. That is not a typo. 1 goal allowed per game. Easily the best in the league and the best I have seen for any position since I started doing this. On the other hand, Domi played just 9 games the entire season vs playoff teams, going a perfect 9-0, and was just 5th of the 7 finalists in terms of offensive production. However, he posted a ridiculous +60, good for 2nd amongst finalists, and his 100 takeaways were good for 3rd in the same grouping. Domi's 1.11 PPG vs playoff teams was good for 3rd. _____________________________________________________________________________________ @MacInnis_2 LD, Pittsburgh Penguins Overall Production 21P, 7G, 14A, +43, 135GA, 86TA, -49 T-G, 0.75 PPG, 47GA, 1.68GAA Vs. Playoff Teams 7-4-0, 9P, 2G, 7A, +10, 61GA, 34TA, -27 T-G, 0.82 PPG, 22GA, 2.00GAA Vs. Nonplayoff Teams 14-3-0, 12P, 5G, 7A, +33, 74GA, 52TA, -22 T-G, 0.71 PPG, 25GA, 1.47 GAA Record 21-7-0 Strength of Schedule 18.07 (League), 9.46 (Conf) After posting a solid, but unspectacular season in his rookie year, Macinnis returned on the blue line for the Pittsburgh Penguins and stepped his numbers up across the board. His 7 goals scored were the most in the league for all d men, and his 135 giveaways were 2nd fewest between finalists. He had the 2nd lowest SOS between finalists, and his 0.75PPG was lowest of all finalists. He also posted an extremely solid +43, as well as having the 3rd best TA/GA differential amongst all finalists. _____________________________________________________________________________________ @x_ReAcTiiOnz_71 RD, Colorado Avalanche Overall Production 37P, 6G, 31A, +57, 177GA, 110TA, -67 T-G, 1.42 PPG, 41GA, 1.58GAA Vs. Playoff Teams 11-1-1, 22P, 5G, 17A, +35, 101GA, 67TA, -34 T-G, 1.69 PPG, 17GA, 1.31 GAA Vs. Nonplayoff Teams 13-0-0, 15P, 1G, 14A, +22, 76GA, 43TA, -33, 1.15 PPG, 24GA, 1.85 GAA Record 24-1-1 Strength of Schedule 16.04 (League) 8.19 (Conf) After flying under the radar for a few seasons, Reactz emerged prior to last season as one of the top defensemen on the console. He backed that rating with an outstanding season across the board, going 24-1-1 with the Avalanche, helping them to the best record in the league. He had both the most points in the league for defensemen, with 37, and also had the most takeaways between finalists, both overall and vs playoff teams, with 110 and 67 respectively. His strength of schedule was 4th of 7, his GAA was just 5th, and his giveaways were the 2nd most of the 7 finalists. However, he also had the 3rd most wins vs playoff teams, had the best offensive production vs playoff teams, and his +57 was good for a tie for 3rd between the finalists. _____________________________________________________________________________________ @RSall14 RD, New Jersey Devils Overall Production 30P, 1G, 29A, +57, 104GA, 74TA, -30 T-G, 1.07 PPG, 43GA, 1.54 GAA Vs. Playoff Teams 14-2-0, 15P, 0G, 15A, +34, 54GA, 34TA, -20 T-G, 0.94 PPG, 20GA, 1.25 GAA Vs. Nonplayoff Teams 10-1-1, 15P, 1G, 14A, 50GA, 40TA, -10 T-G, 1,25 PPG, 23GA, 1.92 GAA Record 24-3-1 Strength of Schedule 15.5 (League) 8.05 (Conf) Another defenseman that has always seemed to find himself flying under the radar, RSall broke out in a big way with the New Jersey Devils this season. He went an outstanding 24-3-1, and his 104 giveaways were fewest among all finalists, with his -30 TA/GA differential also being the best of all 7. His strength of schedule was 3rd, but he tied for first in terms of most games played against playoff teams with 16. However, his 74 takeaways were the 2nd fewest, with just Chyz having 2 less while playing 6 less games. His 1.54 GAA also put him 4th amongst finalists. That being said, his 1.25 GAA vs playoff teams was 3rd, and he also had the 3rd most assists for d men. His 24 wins were also 3rd in the league for d men. _____________________________________________________________________________________ @BA_Sports_Fan LD, Minnesota Wild Overall Production 32P, 7G, 25A, +31, 1.23PPG, 169 GA, 101TA -68 TA/GA 60GA 2.30 GAA Vs. Playoff Teams 10-2-3, 15 P, 5G, 10A, +17, 54TA, 1.00 PPG 33GA 2.2 GAA Vs. Nonplayoff Teams 8-3-0, 17P, 2G, 15A, +14, 47TA, 1.54PPG 27GA 2.45 GAA Record 18-5-3 Strength of Schedule 15.30 (League), 7.84 (Conf) Featured once already this award season as a Calder finalist, BA makes another appearance, this time as a Norris finalist. He had the 2nd best SOS amongst finalists as well as the 2nd most games played vs playoff teams, with 15. His 101 takeaways were good for 2nd and his 32 points put him 3rd in the league for defensemen scoring. The big knock on BA this season however is his 2.3 GAA, which put him last between the finalists, and by a pretty substantial margin, as well as the fact that his +31 was lowest of the 7. However, he had the 2nd most points vs playoff teams, and put up these numbers vs the 2nd hardest schedule, as previously mentioned. _____________________________________________________________________________________ @x Chyzz RD, Colorado Avalanche Overall Production 33P, 3G, 30A, +66, 228GA, 72TA, -156 T-G, 1.50 PPG, 28GA, 1.27 GAA Vs. Playoff Teams 8-0-0, 11P, 0G, 11A, +19, 92GA, 25TA, -67 T-G, 1.38 PPG, 10GA, 1.25 GAA Vs. Nonplayoff Teams 13-1-0, 22P, 3G, 19A, +47, 136GA, 47 TA, -89 T-G, 1.57 PPG, 18GA, 1.29 GAA Record 21-1-0 Strength of Schedule 18.14 (League), 9.50 (Conf) After moving to RD with his return to LG last season, Chyz endured a bit of an up and down season with Arizona, before moving to Colorado at the deadline, and finding success with them down the stretch. He turned that stretch from last season into a full season's worth of outstanding production from the back end. Despite playing just 22 games, his 33 points were 2nd in the league amongst d men, and his 1.50PPG was the best in the league for d men. His +66 was also tops for all finalists. That being said, he had the worst SOS amongst all finalists, and played just 8 games vs playoff teams, also the fewest. His 228 giveaways were also the most-by a lot, and his -156 TA/GA differential was also the worst by almost 100. That being said, it's hard to put a ton of stock into those stats meaning a ton when the offensive output is the best in the league, and is matched by a 1.27 GAA on the other side of the puck, which was good for 2nd best in the entire league. He also lost just ONE game all season, going 21-1-0 with Colorado. _____________________________________________________________________________________ @TrapKING4Real LD, New Jersey Devils Overall Production 21P, 2G, 19A, +57, 141GA, 90TA, -51 T-G, 0.78 PPG, 40GA, 1,48 GAA Vs. Playoff Teams 16-0-0, 12P, 1G, 11A, +42, 72GA, 57TA, -15 T-G, 0.75 PPG, 19GA, 1.19 GAA Vs. Nonplayoff Teams 9-1-1, 9P, 1G, 8A, +15, 69GA, 33TA, -36 T-G, 0.82 PPG, 21GA, 1.91 GAA Record 25-1-1 Strength of Schedule 15.07 (League) 7.74 (Conf) 5-21-1, 8-14-3. Those were the records trapking put up in each of his first two seasons in the NHL, respectively. I guess he got fed up with struggling because he went out this season and went 25-1-1. TWENTY FIVE, ONE, and ONE. Just an absurd turnaround for someone who had yet to find any success in the NHL. Not only did he put up that record, he did it while playing the hardest schedule amongst all finalists, and went a ridiculous 16-0-0 vs playoff teams. I cannot stress just how impressive that is. Now his season wasn't completely perfect, as his offensive output was last in terms of finalists, posting just 21 points and 2 goals this season, the lowest and 2nd lowest numbers respectively. However, his lack of offense was countered by complete dominance defensively, with his +42 and 1.19 GAA vs playoff teams both being the best of all finalists, as well as his +57 overall putting him 3rd between finalists.
For those that may not have been reading this stuff for the other awards, I hope you/they at least do for this one, cause the margins (IMO) are razor thin and this was just such a dominant season for a few different guys.
He only won 14 games, the minimum requirement for the award is typically 18 games. Not really his fault with him being away for the first two weeks of the season, but he helped me with choosing the finalists and agreed with it. He wins 4-6 more games and he’s on here easily cause his production was outstanding
when has desjy ever pushed for himself to be in something even though he should be. he just agrees and moves forward regardless.
I agree. There are players who have better demonstrated that "all-round ability". I dont think because players happen to be on successful teams that makes them Norris worthy.
I’m glad you switched to lw Jon, that way to don’t have to struggle breaking out the puck, I hear the rules allow you to dump the puck once your past the red line, so you should be fine!
You retired a week ago to “live a life”. I’m sorry I don’t follow your irrelevent virtual career. Have a great summer!!
