Norris Trophy Tournament (1992-Present) Round 4: 2003 Lidstrom vs 1994 Bourque

[blundluntman]

MATCHUP #1 (Round 4): Nicklas Lidstrom (2003) vs Ray Bourque (1994)

Nicklas Lidstrom (2002-03):

Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Minutes Per Game	Other Stats	Awards/Honors
82	18	44	62	27:32	+40	Norris Trophy, 1st AST, 8th in Hart, 2nd in Byng

Ray Bourque (1993-94):

Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Minutes Per Game	Other Stats	Awards/Honors
72	20	71	91	N/A	+26	Norris Trophy, 1st AST, 6th in Hart

Round 4 Matchups:
03 Lidstrom vs 94 Bourque
00 Pronger vs 92 Leetch

Round 1 Results
Round 2 Results
Round 3 Results

Click to read more...

 

[Hockey Outsider]

I'm fairly sure that Bourque was a "better" player than Lidstrom (comparing these two seasons). If we translate the old plus/minus data into something more modern, we see that the Red Wings had a GF% of 62% when Lidstrom was on the ice, and 51% when he wasn't (at even strength). The Bruins were at 59% when Bourque was on the ice, and 45% when he wasn't. Bourque is ahead, by a solid (but not enormous) margin. Both players got a ton of ice time on the penalty kill, and the powerplay (which, by definition, is excluded from the ES data), so I don't think either of them gains any ground on the other.

It comes back to "better" versus "more valuable". Lidstrom played every game, while Bourque missed 14. I'm fairly sure Bourque at/near his peak was better than Lidstrom at/near his peak (and the data seems to support that conclusion). But I'm not sure that the difference is so large that it makes up for missing 1/6th of the season. I voted for Lidstrom.

 

[bobholly39]

Very close but I'll go Bourque. I think if he had played all 84 games, it would be him a bit more clearly.