The James Norris Memorial Trophy was introduced to the NHL
in 1953-54, awarded to the league’s top defenseman. The inaugural winner of the
award was Red Kelly of the Detroit Red Wings, a player who spent half his
career as a defenseman and half as a forward. However, it has been the Boston
Bruins that have dominated the award since. Just three Boston blue liners have
won the Norris Trophy but those three account for 14 victories. By 2008-09,
that accounted for around a quarter of the winners.
Bobby Orr
Bobby Orr has won the Norris Trophy more times than any
other player in NHL history. Orr won it eight times during his injury shortened
career. Niklas Lidstrom came close with seven Norris Trophies with the Detroit
Red Wings. What’s amazing is that Bobby won all eight in consecutive seasons,
beginning in 1967-68 and ending in 1974-75. Orr played with the Bruins from
1966-67 to 1975-76. He retired from the NHL shortly into the 1978-79 season
after a failed comeback with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Bobby also won the Hart Memorial Trophy three times, the
Conn Smythe Trophy twice and is the only defenseman in NHL history to capture
the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer. He was selected as rookie of
the year in 1966-67, earning the Calder Memorial Trophy. His 139 points in
1970-71 remain a record for most points in a season by a defenseman. Orr was
inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and had his number 4 retired by Boston in
1979.
Ray Bourque
Like Orr, Raymond Bourque won the Calder Trophy with Boston.
He played with the Bruins from 1979-80 to 1999-00 and won the Norris Trophy
five times. He won consecutively in 1986-87 and 1987-88 then again in 1989-90
and 1990-91. He won once more in 1993-94. Although not one of the rare
defensemen to total 100 or more points in a season, Bourque reached 96 in
1983-84, 95 in 1986-87 and 94 in 1990-91.
At the trade deadline in 1999-00, the Bruins traded Bourque
to the Colorado Avalanche. He finished out the season playing 14 regular season
and 13 playoff games for Colorado. The following season, his last in the
National Hockey League, Ray helped the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup championship,
the only time Bourque has his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.
After retiring following the 2000-01 season, Bourque
immediately had his number 77 retired by Boston. He joined Bobby Orr in the
Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004.
Zdeno Chara
Zdeno Chara is the latest Boston Bruins defenseman to win
the Norris Trophy. Chara is a one-time winner of the trophy, taking home the
hardware in 2008-09 and breaking Nicklas Lidstrom’s three year reign. The New
York Islanders took Zdeno in third round of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, 56th
overall. He played three seasons with the Islanders before moving to the Ottawa
Senators and coming into his own as a star defenseman. Chara came over to the
Bruins in 2006-07 and has starred with the club since. He surpassed the 1,100
NHL regular season game plateau in 2013-14.
Chara is in the running for the Norris in 2013-14. Nominees
include Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks, Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators
and Zdeno. Duncan Keith won the award in 2009-10, the year after Chara, while a
member of the Blackhawks. This is Keith’s second time nominated for the award.
Shea Weber has never won the Norris Trophy but has been nominated two times
before.
