It's evident that Norris calibre defencemen are a must to win the cup. The most prominent names in the last 5 years that have been effective are Zubov, Sydor, Bourque, Blake, Lidstrom, Niedermayer.
It's been mentioned in articles by sports wrieters that the exception was Tampa Bay with Boyle, Sydor, Kubina & Pratt. They point out that Tampa didn't have a calibre defenceman so it's not always necessary to have one.
I disagree. Let's face it. Sydor has 2 rings. He deserves mention with the other names.
In a nutshell, the last 6 years featured Norris winners or runner ups winning the