overpass
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- Jun 7, 2007
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Anyone who has followed the NHL in the last 20 years has noticed the trend to have defencemen playing their strong side as often as possible. I took a look at Norris winners going back to 1959-60 to see if we can find any trends in who is winning Norris trophies and what type of pairings they played on with respect to handedness.
I used the method outlined in the threads below, using game-by-game plus-minus correlation, to identify the primary even-strength partner of each season's Norris trophy winner.
For any LHS-RHS pairings, I assumed the LHS is on the left side and the RHS is on the right side. For any LHS-LHS-pairings, I checked some video from those seasons until I was satisfied about which partner played the left side and which played the right.
LHS-LHS
From 1959-60 through 1975-76, 16 of 17 Norris trophies were won by an LHS defenceman playing the right side in an LHS-LHS pairing. These included Bobby Orr x8, Doug Harvey x3, Pierre Pilote x3, Harry Howell, and Denis Potvin. The very best defencemen were deployed on their off side. Was it because it gave them an offensive advantage? Because they could best overcome the defensive handicap of playing on their off side? Or both?
From 1976-77 through 1993-94, 7 of 18 Norris trophies were won by an an LHS defenceman playing the right side in an LHS-LHS pairing. 5 of these went to Ray Bourque, and the other two to Denis Potvin in 77-78 and Robinson in 79-80. Potvin would move to the left side after this season, and Robinson had previously played the left side before playing more on the right side in the 80s.
Chris Pronger (99-00) and Scott Niedermayer (03-04) were the last hurrah for LHS on the right side. Since Niedermayer's 2004 Norris win, no defenceman has won the Norris trophy playing on his off side.
LHS-LHS
9 of the 63 Norris trophies since 1959-60 have gone to as LHS defenceman playing the left side, with an LHS partner playing the right side. There are relatively spread through history, with 3 of the 9 going to Paul Coffey. Mark Giordano has recently won a Norris trophy in this configuration.
LHS-RHS
If you've followed along above, you've realized no defenceman won a Norris trophy as part of an LHS-RHS pairing from 1959-60 through 1977-78. Finally, in 1978-79, Al Arbour moved Denis Potvin primarily to the left side at even strength, and he broke this streak while partnered with rookie RHS Bob Lorimer. For the 22 seasons from 78-79 through 99-00, the Norris trophy went to an LHS partnered with an RHS 6 times. Twice to Rod Langway, twice to Brian Leetch, once to Potvin, and once to Randy Carlyle.
Since Nicklas Lidstrom started winning Norris trophies in 2000-01, the Norris has gone to an LHS in an LHS-RHS pairing 10 out of 22 times. 5 times to Lidstrom, Duncan Keith x2, Zdeno Chara, Victor Hedman, and Roman Josi. Quinn Hughes is likely to join this group at the end of the 23-24 season.
LHS-RHS
There is one all-but-universal law of defenceman handedness, and it is this: A RHS defenceman will always be paired with an LHS defenceman. The Norris trophy winners have followed this law.
Oddly enough, no RHS defencemen ever won the Norris trophy until Chris Chelios did so for the 88-89 season. And now 8 of the past 12 Norris trophies have gone to RHS, including 3 to Erik Karlsson.
If you go back before the Norris trophy was established, there were great RHS defencemen who might well have won the trophy had it existed, including Eddie Shore (a lock), Earl Seibert, Dit Clapper, and Butch Bouchard.
I used the method outlined in the threads below, using game-by-game plus-minus correlation, to identify the primary even-strength partner of each season's Norris trophy winner.
D-partners of the greats
Using the game-by-game plus-minus correlation method I outlined here, I'm going to go through the careers of some of the great defencemen from 1960 to 2000 and identify who their defence partners were. Starting with the great Bobby Orr. I'm bolding anything about 0.7 as more-or-less a full...
forums.hfboards.com
Identifying D-partners with game by game plus-minus
Here's a statistical method for identifying which defencemen played together at even strength, using historical game log plus-minus data which goes back to 1959-60. It's most useful for historical seasons for which we don't have any ice-time data on which players played together. It's...
forums.hfboards.com
For any LHS-RHS pairings, I assumed the LHS is on the left side and the RHS is on the right side. For any LHS-LHS-pairings, I checked some video from those seasons until I was satisfied about which partner played the left side and which played the right.
LHS-LHS
From 1959-60 through 1975-76, 16 of 17 Norris trophies were won by an LHS defenceman playing the right side in an LHS-LHS pairing. These included Bobby Orr x8, Doug Harvey x3, Pierre Pilote x3, Harry Howell, and Denis Potvin. The very best defencemen were deployed on their off side. Was it because it gave them an offensive advantage? Because they could best overcome the defensive handicap of playing on their off side? Or both?
From 1976-77 through 1993-94, 7 of 18 Norris trophies were won by an an LHS defenceman playing the right side in an LHS-LHS pairing. 5 of these went to Ray Bourque, and the other two to Denis Potvin in 77-78 and Robinson in 79-80. Potvin would move to the left side after this season, and Robinson had previously played the left side before playing more on the right side in the 80s.
Chris Pronger (99-00) and Scott Niedermayer (03-04) were the last hurrah for LHS on the right side. Since Niedermayer's 2004 Norris win, no defenceman has won the Norris trophy playing on his off side.
Season | Norris winner | Shoots | Side | Partner | Partner correlation | Partner shoots | Partner side | Partner stats | Partner Accolades |
1960 | Doug Harvey | LHS | RD | Junior Langlois | 0.73 | LHS | LD | 67-1-14-15 | |
1961 | Doug Harvey | LHS | RD | Junior Langlois | 0.86 | LHS | LD | 61-1-12-13 | |
1962 | Doug Harvey | LHS | RD | Junior Langlois | 0.85 | LHS | LD | 69-7-18-25 | |
1963 | Pierre Pilote | LHS | RD | Moose Vasko | 0.69 | LHS | LD | 64-4-9-13 | AS-2, Norris-4 |
1964 | Pierre Pilote | LHS | RD | Moose Vasko | 0.74 | LHS | LD | 70-2-18-20 | AS-2, Norris 3 |
1965 | Pierre Pilote | LHS | RD | Moose Vasko | 0.83 | LHS | LD | 69-1-10-11 | |
1967 | Harry Howell | LHS | RD | Arnie Brown | 0.92 | LHS | LD | 69-2-10-12 | Norris-10 |
1968 | Bobby Orr | LHS | RD | Dallas Smith | 0.30 | LHS | LD | 74-4-23-27 | |
1969 | Bobby Orr | LHS | RD | Dallas Smith | 0.84 | LHS | LD | 75-4-24-28 | |
1970 | Bobby Orr | LHS | RD | Don Awrey | 0.72 | LHS | LD | 73-3-10-13 | |
1971 | Bobby Orr | LHS | RD | Dallas Smith | 0.78 | LHS | LD | 73-7-38-45 | |
1972 | Bobby Orr | LHS | RD | Rick Smith | 0.74 | LHS | LD | 78-3-16-19 | |
1973 | Bobby Orr | LHS | RD | Don Awrey | 0.54 | LHS | LD | 78-2-17-19 | |
1974 | Bobby Orr | LHS | RD | Al Sims | 0.75 | LHS | LD | 77-3-9-12 | |
1975 | Bobby Orr | LHS | RD | Dallas Smith | 0.56 | LHS | LD | 79-3-20-23 | |
1976 | Denis Potvin | LHS | RD | Gerry Hart | 0.50 | LHS | LD | 80-6-18-24 | |
1978 | Denis Potvin | LHS | RD | Dave Lewis | 0.57 | LHS | LD | 77-3-11-14 | AS-16 |
1980 | Larry Robinson | LHS | RD | Rod Langway | 0.41 | LHS | LD | 77-7-29-36 | AS-9 |
1987 | Ray Bourque | LHS | RD | Mike Milbury | 0.68 | LHS | LD | 68-6-16-22 | |
1988 | Ray Bourque | LHS | RD | Gord Kluzak | 0.75 | LHS | LD | 66-6-31-37 | |
1990 | Ray Bourque | LHS | RD | Glen Wesley | 0.36 | LHS | LD | 78-9-27-36 | |
1991 | Ray Bourque | LHS | RD | Jim Wiemer | 0.40 | LHS | LD | 61-4-19-23 | |
1994 | Ray Bourque | LHS | RD | Don Sweeney | 0.65 | LHS | LD | 75-6-15-21 | |
2000 | Chris Pronger | LHS | RD | Todd Reirden | 0.59 | LHS | LD | 56-4-21-25 | |
2004 | Scott Niedermayer | LHS | RD | Colin White | 0.64 | LHS | LD | 75-2-11-13 |
LHS-LHS
9 of the 63 Norris trophies since 1959-60 have gone to as LHS defenceman playing the left side, with an LHS partner playing the right side. There are relatively spread through history, with 3 of the 9 going to Paul Coffey. Mark Giordano has recently won a Norris trophy in this configuration.
Season | Norris winner | Shoots | Side | Partner | Partner correlation | Partner shoots | Partner side | Partner stats | Partner Accolades |
1966 | Jacques Laperriere | LHS | LD | J.C. Tremblay | 0.89 | LHS | RD | 60-6-29-35 | Norris-4 |
1977 | Larry Robinson | LHS | LD | Serge Savard | 0.63 | LHS | RD | 78-9-33-42 | AS-5, Norris-5 |
1982 | Doug Wilson | LHS | LD | Dave Hutchison | 0.67 | LHS | RD | 66-5-18-23 | |
1985 | Paul Coffey | LHS | LD | Charlie Huddy | 0.92 | LHS | RD | 80-7-44-51 | AS-12 |
1986 | Paul Coffey | LHS | LD | Charlie Huddy | 0.82 | LHS | RD | 76-6-35-41 | |
1995 | Paul Coffey | LHS | LD | Nicklas Lidstrom | 0.74 | LHS | RD | 43-10-16-26 | |
2006 | Nicklas Lidstrom | LHS | LD | Andreas Lilja | 0.59 | LHS | RD | 82-2-13-15 | |
2011 | Nicklas Lidstrom | LHS | LD | Brad Stuart | 59% | LHS | RD | 67-3-17-20 | |
2019 | Mark Giordano | LHS | LD | TJ Brodie | 78% | LHS | RD | 64-4-15-19 |
LHS-RHS
If you've followed along above, you've realized no defenceman won a Norris trophy as part of an LHS-RHS pairing from 1959-60 through 1977-78. Finally, in 1978-79, Al Arbour moved Denis Potvin primarily to the left side at even strength, and he broke this streak while partnered with rookie RHS Bob Lorimer. For the 22 seasons from 78-79 through 99-00, the Norris trophy went to an LHS partnered with an RHS 6 times. Twice to Rod Langway, twice to Brian Leetch, once to Potvin, and once to Randy Carlyle.
Since Nicklas Lidstrom started winning Norris trophies in 2000-01, the Norris has gone to an LHS in an LHS-RHS pairing 10 out of 22 times. 5 times to Lidstrom, Duncan Keith x2, Zdeno Chara, Victor Hedman, and Roman Josi. Quinn Hughes is likely to join this group at the end of the 23-24 season.
Season | Norris winner | Shoots | Side | Partner | Partner correlation | Partner shoots | Partner side | Partner stats | Partner Accolades |
1979 | Denis Potvin | LHS | LD | Bob Lorimer | 0.64 | RHS | RD | 67-3-18-21 | |
1981 | Randy Carlyle | LHS | LD | Mario Faubert | 0.80 | RHS | RD | 72-8-44-52 | |
1983 | Rod Langway | LHS | LD | Randy Holt | 0.53 | RHS | RD | 70-0-8-8 | |
1984 | Rod Langway | LHS | LD | Larry Murphy | 0.75 | RHS | RD | 78-13-36-49 | |
1992 | Brian Leetch | LHS | LD | Jeff Beukeboom | 0.70 | RHS | RD | 74-1-15-16 | |
1997 | Brian Leetch | LHS | LD | Jeff Beukeboom | 0.84 | RHS | RD | 80-3-9-12 | |
2001 | Nicklas Lidstrom | LHS | LD | Mathieu Dandenault | 0.51 | RHS | RD | 73-10-15-25 | |
2002 | Nicklas Lidstrom | LHS | LD | Fredrik Olausson | 0.43 | RHS | RD | 47-2-13-15 | |
2003 | Nicklas Lidstrom | LHS | LD | Mathieu Dandenault | 0.71 | RHS | RD | 74-4-15-19 | |
2007 | Nicklas Lidstrom | LHS | LD | Danny Markov | 0.64 | RHS | RD | 66-4-12-16 | |
2008 | Nicklas Lidstrom | LHS | LD | Brian Rafalski | 65% | RHS | RD | 73-13-42-55 | AS-9, Norris-9 |
2009 | Zdeno Chara | LHS | LD | Aaron Ward | 49% | RHS | RD | 65-3-7-10 | |
2010 | Duncan Keith | LHS | LD | Brent Seabrook | 71% | RHS | RD | 78-4-26-30 | AS-10, Norris-13 |
2014 | Duncan Keith | LHS | LD | Brent Seabrook | 86% | RHS | RD | 82-7-34-41 | AS-17, Norris-18 |
2018 | Victor Hedman | LHS | LD | Jake Dotchin | 35% | RHS | RD | 48-3-8-11 | |
2020 | Roman Josi | LHS | LD | Ryan Ellis | 57% | RHS | RD | 49-8-30-38 |
LHS-RHS
There is one all-but-universal law of defenceman handedness, and it is this: A RHS defenceman will always be paired with an LHS defenceman. The Norris trophy winners have followed this law.
Oddly enough, no RHS defencemen ever won the Norris trophy until Chris Chelios did so for the 88-89 season. And now 8 of the past 12 Norris trophies have gone to RHS, including 3 to Erik Karlsson.
If you go back before the Norris trophy was established, there were great RHS defencemen who might well have won the trophy had it existed, including Eddie Shore (a lock), Earl Seibert, Dit Clapper, and Butch Bouchard.
Season | Norris winner | Shoots | Side | Partner | Partner correlation | Partner shoots | Partner side | Partner stats | Partner Accolades |
1989 | Chris Chelios | RHS | RD | Craig Ludwig | 0.85 | LHS | LD | 74-3-13-16 | AS-16, Norris-13 |
1993 | Chris Chelios | RHS | RD | Steve Smith | 0.61 | LHS | LD | 78-10-47-57 | AS-14 |
1996 | Chris Chelios | RHS | RD | Keith Carney | 0.64 | LHS | LD | 82-5-14-19 | |
1998 | Rob Blake | RHS | RD | Mattias Norstrom | 0.44 | LHS | LD | 73-1-12-13 | |
1999 | Al MacInnis | RHS | RD | Ricard Persson | 0.41 | LHS | LD | 54-1-12-13 | |
2012 | Erik Karlsson | RHS | RD | Filip Kuba | 69% | LHS | LD | 73-6-26-32 | AS-21 |
2013 | PK Subban | RHS | RD | Josh Gorges | 49% | LHS | LD | 48-2-7-9 | |
2015 | Erik Karlsson | RHS | RD | Marc Methot | 44% | LHS | LD | 45-1-10-11 | |
2016 | Drew Doughty | RHS | RD | Brayden McNabb | 62% | LHS | LD | 81-2-12-14 | |
2017 | Brent Burns | RHS | RD | Paul Martin | 75% | LHS | LD | 81-4-22-26 | |
2021 | Adam Fox | RHS | RD | Ryan Lindgren | 68% | LHS | LD | 51-1-15-16 | |
2022 | Cale Makar | RHS | RD | Devon Toews | 56% | LHS | LD | 66-13-44-57 | AS-8, Norris-8 |
2023 | Erik Karlsson | RHS | RD | Jaycob Megna | 38% | LHS | LD | 54-1-11-12 |
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