Welcome to the Hotstove! As always, I'm your host, Travis Yost.
Last Thursday, Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators, Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins, and Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators were selected as finalists for the 2011-2012 Norris Trophy -- the award given out to the defenseman who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.
As is the case with many of the awards this season, it's hard to fault the PHWA for their selection. All three players are deserving after their respective campaigns.
Shea Weber (19G/30A in 78 GP) created one-half of the dynamic shutdown pairing in Nashville, joined at the hip by another talented blue liner in Ryan Suter. Not only was Shea a valuable offensive contributor for Nashville's suddenly-impressive attack, but the guy once again got the job done against a high-quality of competition in his defensive zone. Weber had 177 hits and 145 blocked shots on the season, and finished second in the NHL in D takeaways with fifty-one.
Per NHL.com:
He ranked fifth in the NHL in average ice time per game (26:09), tied a career high and led all defensemen with 10 power-play goals and posted a team-leading and career-best +21 rating. Weber is a Norris Trophy finalist for the second consecutive season; he finished second to Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom in 2010-11.
Our second finalist,
Erik Karlsson, took the NHL by storm in his third professional season. The twenty-one year old put up nearly historic offensive numbers, with nineteen goals and fifty-nine assists -- good enough for 78 PTS total, and a twenty-five point lead over his nearest competitors in Dustin Byfuglien and Brian Campbell.
Karlsson's unprecedented offensive run certainly made him a desirable candidate, but it's his improvements in the defensive zone that put him over the top. Whereas Weber and Chara are more likely to play a physical brand of hockey, Karlsson's finesse stick-work separated him from the pack. His 67 takeaways led NHL defensemen by a wide margin -- sixteen more than second-place Shea Weber.
Via NHL.com's release:
Karlsson enjoyed a breakout season, leading all NHL defensemen in scoring with 78 points (19 goals, 59 assists) in 81 games. He recorded 25 points more than any other League defenseman -- the widest winning margin since Pittsburgh's Paul Coffey lapped the field by 38 points in 1988-89 -- and set Ottawa franchise records for blueline assists and points. The 21-year-old also is the youngest defenseman to tally as many as 78 points in a season since Coffey's 96 with Edmonton in 1982-83. Karlsson topped NHL defensemen in shots (261), was ninth in the League in average ice time per game (25:19) and posted a +16 rating.
Another year, another terrifying season from our third candidate --
Zdeno Chara. A formidable and dynamic two-way defenseman, Chara's offensive game (12G/40A in 79 GP) became largely responsible for Boston's ridiculous 3.2 GPG output(2nd in the NHL). However, equally as important, Chara continued to dominate the defensive end of the ice, with 166 hits and 87 blocked shots through seventy-nine games played. And, remember - he did it all against the opposition's best.
Again, per NHL.com:
The Boston captain led all defensemen and tied for third in the NHL in plus-minus (+33) -- matching his League-leading rating from 2010-11 -- and recorded a career-high 52 points (12 goals, 40 assists) to rank fourth among all defenders in scoring. In addition, he led the Bruins in power-play goals (eight) and average ice time per game (25:00).
In your estimation, who wins the 2011-2012 James Norris Memorial Trophy? Drop it in the comments section below.
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