Jared Crozier: Karlsson Denied

I'm not a Karlsson hater by any means, but I think they got this right. IMO Doughty is the best D man in the league, EK is probably #2

No problem. I would be more sympathetic to a Karlsson pitch if Sens had made playoffs. Also, despite their overall offensive output they gave up a ton of goals.

Let's see what happens next year. I think Karlsson plays a few less minutes per game and the slack is picked up by Ceci and Phaneuf. I think the backup pair is going to help Karlsson to have his best season yet.

I'm not a Karlsson hater by any means, but I think they got this right. IMO Doughty is the best D man in the league, EK is probably #2

but the award isn't for "who's the best dman in the league" it's for "which dman had the best season"........and i'm sorry but it wasn't doughty.

i agree with what jared said, you could make a very strong argument that doughty should have actually been 3rd....hell maybe even 4th (i think letang was better) in the norris voting. this vote was all about "doughty deserves to have atleast one norris so let's give it to him this year" and was not based on the fact that he was the best d-man this year.

just my opinion.

I think Karlsson is just getting better and better every year and I'm excited to see what he'll bring next season. I hope he can flirt with 90 points and be in the top 3 of league scoring. I don't care if he wins the Norris next season, I have bigger hopes for his regular season accomplishments. He'll be in the running for the Heart and the Lindsay awards.

Then he'll continue that success in the playoffs and Ottawa will kick some a$$

I think Karlsson is just getting better and better every year and I'm excited to see what he'll bring next season. I hope he can flirt with 90 points and be in the top 3 of league scoring. I don't care if he wins the Norris next season, I have bigger hopes for his regular season accomplishments. He'll be in the running for the Heart and the Lindsay awards.

Then he'll continue that success in the playoffs and Ottawa will kick some a$$
- riceroni

ok

When the (frank) did the Norris trophy become a popularity contest. Karlsson was robbed.

I thought Karlsson had to play defense first in order to win it??

Doughty has trailed Karlsson statistically in every year when they were both nominees for the Norris. How do you give the award to the least qualified candidate? As a side note, if Karlsson wasn't going to win it, it should have gone to Burns.

As for the voters getting their say...Weren't they all hockey reporters/analysts? The same guys who mention Karlsson's unbelievable stats and then in the same breath consider the also-rans to be "better" d-men? lol, what a crock of ship...

If you want to avoid people complaining about the Norris results, you are either going to have to close your eyes and plug your ears. That or hide under a rock somewhere.

I just saw this:

I keep hearing more about a Sens-Sabres deal centered around Ennis and Hoffman. Not 1 for 1 but it's something to talk about
- NHL Rumors ‏@NHLRumorsDaily 3m3 minutes ago

Aww....

I thought Karlsson had to play defense first in order to win it??
- Hockeytown4life

Congrats on being the 1 billionth person to make that "joke", which is neither funny, nor correct

Karlsson was the best Offensive dman by far. Thats not the award. Both he and Burns had a lot of points. But both had a +/- in the negative. Doughty was a +24. He'd also have way more pts if Sutter let him loose a bit more.

I guess it was DD's turn.

Doughty has trailed Karlsson statistically in every year when they were both nominees for the Norris. How do you give the award to the least qualified candidate? As a side note, if Karlsson wasn't going to win it, it should have gone to Burns.

As for the voters getting their say...Weren't they all hockey reporters/analysts? The same guys who mention Karlsson's unbelievable stats and then in the same breath consider the also-rans to be "better" d-men? lol, what a crock of ship...
- jaz258

Least qualified....

Way to go Doughty, you earned it, lots of sour grapes being grown in Ottawa.

So if it isn't an award for point production, how do explain past winners such as Orr, Potvin, Coffee, Chelios, MacInnis, Pilotte,

All were big point producers. Some of them could hit, but that's not why they won. They won because they could go end to end and score.

Orr and Potvin were prolific point producers, yet no one scoffs at the fact that they won the Norris.

Least qualified....

Way to go Doughty, you earned it, lots of sour grapes being grown in Ottawa.
- KingDoughnuts

Even with homer glasses on do you actually believe that DD had a better season this year than either EK or BB? Giving him the lifetime award for consistently being one of the best is fine I guess but if you think it is anything but that then you're sadly mistaken

So if it isn't an award for point production, how do explain past winners such as Orr, Potvin, Coffee, Chelios, MacInnis, Pilotte,

All were big point producers. Some of them could hit, but that's not why they won. They won because they could go end to end and score.

Orr and Potvin were prolific point producers, yet no one scoffs at the fact that they won the Norris.
- jaz258

Are you comparing Karlsson to Bobby Orr?

Congrats on being the 1 billionth person to make that "joke", which is neither funny, nor correct
- wilkobecks

Haha he should at least win something

Karlsson's talent, contributions and overall impact are undeniable, BUT much like the Conn Smythe, the Norris is one of the awards that typically goes to a player that "makes it to the dance," in this case the playoffs. Same goes for McDavid, you don't win the award if you don't play or do enough.

Both Doughty and Burns had fantastic seasons, but I was happy to see that the voters looked beyond the offensive numbers this year, something Karlsson's previous Norris wins have been more or less based on.

Chin up Sens fans, there are still multiple Norris' in Karlsson's future and that's something you should be ecstatic about.

I thought Karlsson had to play defense first in order to win it??
- Hockeytown4life

Well...if you knew anything regarding the history of the game, you'd know a lot of defensively challenged defencemen have won the award in the past.

Karlsson was the best Offensive dman by far. Thats not the award. Both he and Burns had a lot of points. But both had a +/- in the negative. Doughty was a +24. He'd also have way more pts if Sutter let him loose a bit more.

I guess it was DD's turn.
- storm88

If the LA decline continues it will be Doughty's one and only Norris. Remember Doughty (#2) and Karlsson (#15) came out of the Stamkos draft. Any player who has 2 Norris trophies is a first ballot HHOF inductee. Karlsson will be in the conversation for the Norris for the next 10 years. Doughty will remain in the conversation as long as the Kings are front line contenders. Karlsson, on the other hand, carries the entire team on his back.

The draft is right around the corner. Can we get 2 days at least away from the Karlsson-Doughty / OffensiveDman-Defensive Dman debate?


People are talking that a Sens - Sabres deal will be Hoffman + 12 for Ennis + 8.

I still don't like that.

I thought Karlsson had to play defense first in order to win it??
- Hockeytown4life

you should actually try watching him play, that way you can avoid posts like this one that make you look like an idiot.

Are you comparing Karlsson to Bobby Orr?
- Charlie.Conway

i'm not comparing anyone to anyone.....but Bobby Orr himself has compared karlsson to bobby orr. just saying

The draft is right around the corner. Can we get 2 days at least away from the Karlsson-Doughty / OffensiveDman-Defensive Dman debate?


People are talking that a Sens - Sabres deal will be Hoffman + 12 for Ennis + 8.

I still don't like that.
- MaxTLimit

i hate that deal. ennis is a MASSIVE step down from Hoffman, and i'm not convinced that the player taken 8th this year will be much better, or even better period, than the guy taken 12th.

most mock drafts have Chychrun going to ottawa at 12 which is the EXACT player i hoped ottawa got (other than hoping for guys like matthews or laine which is obviously not happening).

Ian Mendes made some interesting points on twitter. 23 voters didn't even have Karlsson on their ballot. That's 23 writers who "didn't think" Karlsson was a top 5 dman this year. Frankly that's unreasonable and clearly points to a lack of objectivity. You could understand a few guys doing it, for instance 3 writers left Doughty off, but 23 writers completely left him off the ballot. That's a problem.

Congrats to Doughty