Lidstrom No Longer a Lock for the Norris?

[umredwing11 2]

Per ESPN Article

Another injury-related development may be voters' reaction to the knee injury suffered by Detroit's world-class defender Nicklas Lidstrom, who has won five of the past six Norris Trophies as the league's best defenseman.

Lidstrom still leads all blue-line scorers with 57 points, five more than Pittsburgh's Sergei Gonchar. It's possible, if not likely, Gonchar will end up leading all defensemen in scoring as the Red Wings will be loath to rush Lidstrom back to action.

Even if Lidstrom doesn't play again during the regular season (no one is suggesting this might be the case), it's hard to imagine he wouldn't end up on the Norris ballot. But would it be enough to keep him from winning yet again?

History shows that players who miss significant time from injuries do not end up winning major trophies.

In the five seasons he won the Norris (2000-01, '01-02, '02-03, '05-06 and '06-07), Lidstrom played in 80, 80, 82, 78 and 82 games, respectively.

If Lidstrom doesn't return in a timely fashion, it would certainly set up an interesting voting pool, including Gonchar and Montreal's Andrei Markov, who ranks third among defensemen with 50 points but is a minus player. Boston's Zdeno Chara, Calgary's Dion Phaneuf and Anaheim's Chris Pronger might also get consideration.

I know this article comes from ESPN, a channel that could care less about the NHL, but what is everyone's opinion on this? Is Nick no longer the front-runner for the Norris? I personally think he is by a long shot, but does anybody agree with this ESPN writer that his injury could keep him from winning again?

Edited March 3, 2008 by umredwing11

[silkyjohnson13 0]

[silkyjohnson13 0]

Lidstrom is so far ahead of anybody else right now that he's still going to win in a landslide.

[Salviaman 104]

Absurd

[Reds4Life 51]

LOL this is yet another proof ESPN sucks.

[Wings_Dynasty 267]

That pretty much sums it up.

[wingsfan75 2]

Absurd, but I began to wonder the same thing. It's good to see that he's still atop the league leaders but I do think that if he doesn't make it back before the end of the season it might jeopardize his chances. On the other hand, this past losing streak (crossing fingers that it has passed) has surely made it clear how valuable he is to his team on the ice and this might bolster his chances.

[hak 21]

from "crashing the net" - nhl.com

Norris Trophy -- Yes, Nicklas Lidstrom will likely miss three weeks of the season with the knee injury that currently has him sidelined, but the Swede is so far ahead of everyone else that the absence won't even hurt him. Lidstrom has won five of the past six Norris Trophy awards for a reason. Simply, there is no one better. Just go look at the numbers.

Nobody will take this award away from Lidstrom. It's a lock. But Boston's Zdeno Chara and Calgary's Dion Phaneuf deserve some consideration. Chara is having quite the bounce-back season, and Phaneuf continues to lay claim as the best physical defenseman playing the game today.

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&a...rticleid=355288

[A.T.Hun 0]

I know this article comes from ESPN, a channel that could care less about the NHL, but what is everyone's opinion on this? Is Nick no longer the front-runner for the Norris? I personally think he is by a long shot, but does anybody agree with this ESPN writer that his injury could keep him from winning again?

The article says nothing about Nick no longer being a front-runner. His point is simply that Nick was running away with the Norris. If he didn't play for the rest of the season (which would put him out ~20 games total: 1/4 of a season), it would at least open up the possibility of someone else getting it. Seems logical to me. Of course, I don't think he's going to miss more than a few more games.

It probably hurts his consideration for the Hart more than the Norris.

[#19=Legend 29]

The injury is obviously going to weaken his chances. But like someone already said, he is so far ahead, it wont even matter. Unless one of those other guys start racking up the points, i see nick winning it yet again.

[irishtemper14+25 11]

sergei gonchar and andrei markov are his closest competition.....hahahahahahahahhahahahha nick could play half the season and they wouldnt win

[umredwing11 2]

The article says nothing about Nick no longer being a front-runner. His point is simply that Nick was running away with the Norris. If he didn't play for the rest of the season (which would put him out ~20 games total: 1/4 of a season), it would at least open up the possibility of someone else getting it. Seems logical to me. Of course, I don't think he's going to miss more than a few more games.

It probably hurts his consideration for the Hart more than the Norris.

The front-runner question was my question, not from the article. But, I totally agree with you with his prolonged absence hurting any chance he had at the Hart trophy, even though his absence alongside our losing streak only proves how badly this team needs him. But his offensive numbers are now taking a hit, and that unfortunately comes into play when deciding the Hart. Crosby, however, is taking a bigger hit, not just because of his numbers, but because Malkin has stepped up and led the team in Crosby's absence. Not that the Penguins would ever NOT need Crosby, he is arguably the best player in the league, but the Penguins have survived in his absence.

[akustyk 84]

*cough* the obvious candidate is *cough* Scotty "All Star" Niedermayer *cough*

[VM1138 1,921]

Lidstrom winning the Norris with all the games he's missing will just go even farther in showing how much better he is than Gonchar or anyone else.

[yankeebaddabing 0]

HaHaHa, espn blows...........

Nicky is leading by far, no one is even close in +/- to Norris Nicky execpt Datsyuk and he can win that trophy,

Don't worry it is a lock, for sure......

[wingslogo19 281]

I would see no reason why he doesn't

[edicius 3,269]

*cough* the obvious candidate is *cough* Scotty "All Star" Niedermayer *cough*

Oh, I didn't know we could vote for part-time players.

[cirov19 1]

When Lidstrom first got injured I read something about this...

In the argument they were arguing about the same thing, if Lidstrom could still win Norris...

Somebody brought up that Pronger had missed several games, or weeks (or whatever) the year that he had won Norris

So no, this will not affect Lidstrom's chances of winning the Norris. He is still the best defensmen in the league, and he until he retires he will still be the smartest defensmen in the league.

[cirov19 1]

Oh, I didn't know we could vote for part-time players.

lol.

[auxlepli 17]

Lidstrom No Longer a Lock for the Norris?

Shut your mouth!

[edicius 3,269]

Shut your mouth!

He's just talkin' 'bout Nick!

[Echolalia 2,961]

His absence only shows how important of a defensman he is to our system. Him not being in the lineup has contributed to our worst streak in almost 20 years. With Lids in the system, we were on pace to tie our all-time regular season points record. Add that little tidbit to the staggering +/- defensive points, shut-down ability and any other general statistics you can get on a guy and Lidstrom is still in his own league for the Norris.

In fact, I'm beginning to think the nhl should give out a "Lil Norris" or "Norris Jr." trophy, just so other defensmen have a chance to win something while Lids is around.

[toby91_ca 620]

When Lidstrom first got injured I read something about this...

In the argument they were arguing about the same thing, if Lidstrom could still win Norris...

Somebody brought up that Pronger had missed several games, or weeks (or whatever) the year that he had won Norris

So no, this will not affect Lidstrom's chances of winning the Norris. He is still the best defensmen in the league, and he until he retires he will still be the smartest defensmen in the league.

Pronger only missed 3 games the year he won. If he didn't miss all those games last year, he could have very easily taken the Norris. He was the front runner before going down.

I know it is very easy to jump on ESPN any chance we get, but I think people are extending their comments further than what they actually are.

Lidstrom is obviously the front runner, still, but the article is only questionning "what if?" he misses significant time, instead of the the few games he is expecte to miss. To be honest, if he doesn't play another game this season, I think him winning the Norris would certainly be in doubt, but he's likely still be a front runner, which speaks to how far out ahead he is right now.

[toby91_ca 620]

His absence only shows how important of a defensman he is to our system. Him not being in the lineup has contributed to our worst streak in almost 20 years.

I think Lidstrom is probably the most important player on the team and having him out hurts a lot, so don't take what I am going to say as a knock on Lidstrom, I just think those that are suggesting this slump has a lot to do with Lidstrom being hurt are a little off.

Last 6 games Lidstrom was still playing, the Wings record was 0-5-1 (I think)

5 games since his injury, their record is 2-2-1.

[FireCaptain 563]

Yeah, but then he wouldn't be able to decide if he wanted the trophy or not and then he'd come back 4 months after the awards ceremony to get it.

*cough* the obvious candidate is *cough* Scotty "All Star" Niedermayer *cough*