Our Choice for the Norris Trophy

If you missed our post on the Calder Trophy, you can see it here.

The three choices for the Norris Trophy are as follows:

Zdeno Chara

#33 / Defenseman / Boston Bruins

Height: 6-9

Weight: 255

Born: Mar 18, 1977

Zdeno Chara is one of those players as a Sabres fan that you just dislike everything about him.  Between his time in Ottawa and Boston, Chara has always seemed like a thorn in the Sabres side.  In 40 career games against the Sabres, Chara only has 5 goals and 23 points.  He is also a -4.  Those are alright stats for a defenseman but it always seems worse.  This season, Chara had 19 goals and 50 points in 80 games with the Bruins.  While the offensive stats are not as impressive as other nominees, Chara always has the defensive presence on the ice. 

Mike Green

#52 / Defenseman / Washington Capitals

Height: 6-2

Weight: 208

Born: Oct 12, 1985

Mike Green is what you consider the offensive defenseman this season.  His 31 goals and 73 points were tops for all defensemen.  He was an important piece to a very potent Capitals regular season offense to a Southeast division title and a second straight playoff berth. 

Nicklas Lidstrom

#5 / Defenseman / Detroit Red Wings

Height: 6-1

Weight: 189

Born: Apr 28, 1970

A perennial member to this list of nominees, Lidstrom finds himself having another good season in his well decorated NHL career.  Lidstrom has won six Norris trophies in his NHL career and is poised for his seventh.  While Lidstrom's offensive numbers aren't as strong as Mike Green's, his defensive numbers are probably as strong as Chara's are.  The winner of this award is going to be based upon whether the voter weighs more towards offensive play or defensive play.  If it is the latter, expect Lidstrom to win again.

Just as we did with the Calder, we are going to provide you with our pick for the Sabres Norris'.

Coolman's Take

I think that Jaroslav Spacek would have to be my choice for the best overall defenseman for the Sabres.  I say this because there really isn't another good choice.  Spacek's offensive stats were far and away the best on the team.  He led all defensemen in goals with 8 and assists with 37.  He also was pretty good on the defensive side of things and overall was the leader of the blueline. 

D.O.'s Take