1993-94 Norris Trophy Revisit

[Felidae]

The 1995-96 Norris trophy race is discussed quite a bit for how close it was (I'll get to that one eventually), but just a few years earlier, Bourque was involved in another very close Norris race with Scott Stevens that doesn't get talked about nearly as much.

Bourque had 26 1st place votes and 21 2nd place votes. Scott Stevens had 24 and 23. No one else was close to winning the trophy.


Statistically, Bourque had 91 points, 2nd most on his team but led defenseman in points, 20 goals, and was a +26 (also 2nd most on team


Stevens had 78 points which led his team, 17 goals, and was a +53, 1st in the league as well as a +17 gap over the next best teammate

The Bruins were 8th in GF and 10th in GA. NJD was 2nd in both categories

Al Macinnis and Sergei Zubov also had great years (Zubov led his team in points) Were 2nd and 3rd in scoring amongst defenseman.


Do you think Bourque deserved his win? Or should it have gone to someone else? If you think Bourque deserved the win, in hindsight do you think the Norris race was closer than it should have been, or just right?

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[The Panther]

There may have been one or two earlier seasons when Bourque didn't win the Norris and should have, but this season -- as much as it pains me to say it -- is one where I think he wasn't really the best Dman.

I think Scott Stevens should have won it.

 

[JackSlater]

I do think that Bourque was the correct pick but Stevens had one of the great runner up seasons, particularly among defencemen who never won the trophy in their careers. That was the year that you had glimpses of New Jersey Stevens and early Stevens, so dominant defensively and still a threat/contributor offensively.

 

[The Panther]

...so dominant defensively and still a threat/contributor offensively.

In fact, Stevens' 60 assists that season are still #1 in the FIFTY-year history of the Kansas City-Colorado-New Jersey franchise. (His 78 points are #1 for defencemen.)

 

[Stephen]

I don't stay up at night wondering about it, but balancing between trophy fatigue and Stevens' unique season where his offensive Washington self overlapped with the New Jersey version of that defensive killer, it could have gone to the runner up.

 

[Crosby2010]

I always knew it was close, but just looking it up again and 199-195 in voting is awfully close. Yeah, there are so many years Bourque could have won the Norris and didn't. The fact he won 6 and Lidstrom won 7 is a product of just how stacked the late 1980s and 1990s was when it came to defensemen in the NHL. Probably the toughest competition out of any era in NHL history. And a shout out to 1994, this was a very underrated year when it came to defensemen and their big years. Just look at the top 10 in Norris voting: Bourque, Stevens, (then a big gap in Norris votes), MacInnis, Zubov, Leetch, Chelios, Coffey, Lidstrom, Ozolinsh, Murphy. Talk about a who's who of that era. And they all had big years, everyone of them. Coffey would win a Norris the following year and this was Bourque's last Norris, although not his last great year. Leetch would win in 1997 and Chelios in 1996. Obviously Lidstrom starts much later in 2001. So that is a heavy, heavy year and you know, I think they got it right. If Stevens won, I could see it too, and it would just end up as another year where you said that Bourque had a monster year but didn't win it. I'm fine with how it went and I would be fine if Stevens took it too.