Norris Trophy Tournament (1992-Present) Round 1: 2021 Adam Fox vs 1997 Brian Leetch

[blundluntman]

MATCHUP #4 (Round 1): Adam Fox (2021) vs Brian Leetch (1996-97)

Adam Fox (2020-21):

Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Minutes Per Game	Other Stats	Awards/Honors
55	5	42	47	24:42	+19, 38 Takeaways, 36 Giveaways, 102 Blocked Shots, 23 Hits, 34.9 xGA	Norris Trophy, 1st AST, 13 in Hart

Brian Leetch (1996-97):

Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Minutes Per Game	Other Stats	Awards/Honors
82	20	58	78	N/A	+31	Norris Trophy, 1st AST, 16th in Hart

Round 1 Matchups
24 Hughes vs 20 Josi (Still Active) Thread
23 Karlsson vs 95 Coffey (Still Active) Thread
22 Makar vs 04 Niedermayer (Still Active) Thread
21 Fox vs 97 Leetch
19 Giordano vs 17 Burns
18 Hedman vs 12 Karlsson
16 Doughty vs 03 Lidstrom
15 Karlsson vs 10 Keith
14 Keith vs 07 Lidstrom
13 Subban vs 94 Bourque
09 Chara vs 00 Pronger
08 Lidstrom vs 93 Chelios
06 Lidstrom vs 96 Chelios
02 Lidstrom vs 01 Lidstrom
99 MacIniss vs 98 Blake

Note: Couldn't find advanced metrics for any seasons prior to 2009 so please try your best not to solely rely on them to evaluate players in discussions.

 

[Coffee]

Glad to see you’re back and making threads again!

 

[blundluntman]

Glad to see you’re back and making threads again!

I appreciate it my man, it feels good to be back after a little break. I think this'll be a fun tournament

 

[Rowlet]

Leetch was absolutely dominant in the voting that year.

 

[Ignatius]

Leetch was absolutely dominant in the voting that year.

That and the Fox win I thought was very weak and could have easily gone to at least two or three other players that year.

 

[Rowlet]

That and the Fox win I thought was very weak and could have easily gone to at least two or three other players that year.

Yeah, Fox, Makar, and Hedman had 40, 31, and 22 1st place votes.

 

[Ignatius]

Yeah, Fox, Makar, and Hedman had 40, 31, and 22 1st place votes.

I agree, compare that to Leetch getting 42 first place votes versus Scott Stevens, who finished second in voting that year, receiving only 7 first place votes.

 

[Rowlet]

I agree, compare that to Leetch getting 42 first place votes versus Scott Stevens, who finished second in voting that year, receiving only 7 first place votes.

It's interesting that Leetch was so dominant in '97 and is winning this massively, but Makar is beating Neidermayer despite Makar also not having a particularly dominant win over Josi, he didn't even have the most 1st place votes, while Neidermayer won 72-19 in 1st place votes over Chara.

That being said, Makar's winning year was better than Fox's even if he didn't get the most 1st place votes, but again, Josi absolutely deserved recognition that year as well.

 

[ESH]

It's interesting that Leetch was so dominant in '97 and is winning this massively, but Makar is beating Neidermayer despite Makar also not having a particularly dominant win over Josi, he didn't even have the most 1st place votes, while Neidermayer won 72-19 in 1st place votes over Chara.

That being said, Makar's winning year was better than Fox's even if he didn't get the most 1st place votes, but again, Josi absolutely deserved recognition that year as well.

Not all years are equal. A player can’t control how well other players perform

 

[Regal]

Not all years are equal. A player can’t control how well other players perform

It’s also a subjective vote, so it’s a bit odd to put much stock in the dominance in the voting system.

 

[Regal]

Yeah, Fox, Makar, and Hedman had 40, 31, and 22 1st place votes.

I think Leetch was better but there’s a lot that goes into these votes including reputation, team success, how a player does relative to expectations, etc. Fox’s year had better competition based on how voting typically goes. Makar had a great year (better than anyone else in ‘97) and probably would have won if not for missing games, and Hedman scored a similar amount to Fox and was running on his rep defensively and coming off a Conn Smythe year, but was notably poor by his standards after his injury midway through the year.

Meanwhile, Leetch’s year didn’t feature strong seasons. Bourque and Chelios were still good but had significant declines in production, and Bourque’s team was terrible. Lidstrom’s rep was still not as good as he actually was until his coming out party in the finals, Ozolinsh was weak defensively, and Konstantinov and Stevens didn’t produce enough. Relative to the league, both Makar and Hedman’s production were better than anyone other than Leetch in ‘97

 

[tabness]

Leetch

such a dissonance between the two Rangers superstar defensemen in terms of how graceful they are lol Fox looks downright gumpy skating next to Leetch

 

[JackSlater]

That and the Fox win I thought was very weak and could have easily gone to at least two or three other players that year.

Makar would have gotten the Norris if he had played pretty much the full season, so Fox is one of those awkward winners in a sense. I don't think you can.place one player over another based on voting thiugh because competition varies year to year. Leetch didn't really have much competition that year.

It is still Leetch though. Quality Norris season that year.

 

[Voight]

That and the Fox win I thought was very weak and could have easily gone to at least two or three other players that year.

Had Makar played 5-10 more games he would've easily won the Norris, he came close as is missing 20% of the season.