Felidae
Registered User
- Sep 30, 2016
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Every Norris win in the 2000s was won by a clear margin (some a bit close, others not so much)... except this one.
A rare (the only?) Occasion where 2 players from the same team compete in a close race for the Norris trophy.
Lidstrom had just 1 more 1st place vote than Chelios, though the gap slightly widened in 2nd and 3rd place votes, but it was still close.
Here are some of the stats..
Lidstrom had 59 points which led all defenseman and 9 goals. 20 more points and 3 more goals than Chelios.
Lidstrom also averaged 28 minutes a night which again, led the league. 3 more minutes than Chelios. However, this is due to Lidstrom's TOI on the PP was 5 minutes as opposed to Chelios, who was just under 2 minutes. So they essentially had the same TOI SH and EV
Lidstrom averaged 5 minutes SH, 2nd in the league. Chelios just 5 seconds below that, good for 4th most in the league.
However, the one stat Chelios has over Lidstrom is +/-, and it's no small gap either.
Chelios led the league with a +40, 10 more than 2nd best in the league, and 27 more than Lidstrom.
Of course, +/- is a questionable stat, but they were also on the same team. This may have more to do with deployment and/or linemates rather than Chelios having an edge defensively, but I'll leave that one for the people who watched the Wings regularly at the time. (Especially curious about Red wings fans opinions on who was better this year)
So, was this a case like 2010-11 where narrative came into play and they wanted to give a HHOF defenseman one last shot at the Norris, or was him being so close to Lidstrom in voting legitimately deserved? Maybe he even deserved the win over Lidstrom? Or perhaps someone else entirely?
A rare (the only?) Occasion where 2 players from the same team compete in a close race for the Norris trophy.
Lidstrom had just 1 more 1st place vote than Chelios, though the gap slightly widened in 2nd and 3rd place votes, but it was still close.
Here are some of the stats..
Lidstrom had 59 points which led all defenseman and 9 goals. 20 more points and 3 more goals than Chelios.
Lidstrom also averaged 28 minutes a night which again, led the league. 3 more minutes than Chelios. However, this is due to Lidstrom's TOI on the PP was 5 minutes as opposed to Chelios, who was just under 2 minutes. So they essentially had the same TOI SH and EV
Lidstrom averaged 5 minutes SH, 2nd in the league. Chelios just 5 seconds below that, good for 4th most in the league.
However, the one stat Chelios has over Lidstrom is +/-, and it's no small gap either.
Chelios led the league with a +40, 10 more than 2nd best in the league, and 27 more than Lidstrom.
Of course, +/- is a questionable stat, but they were also on the same team. This may have more to do with deployment and/or linemates rather than Chelios having an edge defensively, but I'll leave that one for the people who watched the Wings regularly at the time. (Especially curious about Red wings fans opinions on who was better this year)
So, was this a case like 2010-11 where narrative came into play and they wanted to give a HHOF defenseman one last shot at the Norris, or was him being so close to Lidstrom in voting legitimately deserved? Maybe he even deserved the win over Lidstrom? Or perhaps someone else entirely?