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'Sheldon Souray', 'candidate' and 'Norris Trophy'


shortcat1

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i know that he's a long way behind NICKLAS LIDSTROM in +/- but in all other categories, he's in the same ballpark.

On top of that, he more than doubles Lidstrom's scoring record and, probably, he's a better leader (that's just a guess on my part) on his team..., a more valuable part of his team than Lidstrom would be on his...

I'm certain that there are many who would find much to say against this proposition but I still wonder if he couldn't at least be considered a candidate if not even a credible winner.

GO :hlogo: GO!

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Souray is under rated defensively. Okay, hes not great, but just because you are horrible on 1 on 1's doesn't mean you are horrible in your own end. I've seen him easily take the puck of players in the corners and make some great plays.

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Those words should never be mentioned in the same sentence. If Souray were to even be nominated for the Norris, the trophy would become as much of a joke as baseball's golden glove award.

For years Bret Boone was the best defensive 2nd baseman in the NL, but never won it because he hit below .250 with little power. In 1997 he had an insane .998 fielding percentage, making 2 errors in 136 games. Craig Biggio won the gold glove that year, despite a.979 fielding percentage. The difference? Boone only batted .223 with 7 homers, while Biggio hit .309 with 22 homers. The next year, Boone won the award, despite a lower fielding percentage of .988 (still stellar), because he hit .266 with 24 homers. All of a sudden his offense was decent enough for him to win a fielding award. :wacko:

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i know that he's a long way behind NICKLAS LIDSTROM in +/- but in all other categories, he's in the same ballpark.

On top of that, he more than doubles Lidstrom's scoring record and, probably, he's a better leader (that's just a guess on my part) on his team..., a more valuable part of his team than Lidstrom would be on his...

I'm certain that there are many who would find much to say against this proposition but I still wonder if he couldn't at least be considered a candidate if not even a credible winner.

GO :hlogo: GO!

They are in the same ballpark. Souray is back behind home plate, by the back stop, and Lidstrom is out at the centerfield wall.

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Wasn't Zubov nominated last year?

The Norris doesn't go to the defenceman who's best defensively, heck, it doesn't even go to the best defenceman around (well, it does usually but it's not officially supposed to) - it goes to the guy most valuable to his team. This year, Souray is probably our MVP? 21 goals already. Most habs fans say that it was our PP that made us half decent at the start of the season. "Our PP" is basically synonimous with "Souray's pointshot."

No, I don't think Souray will win but he will and should be nominated. His +/- will be what holds him back (and we'll have to make the playoffs).

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Ironically I was talking aboot this today during the game.

I think Souray is a legitimate candidate for sure. Everyone bitching aboot his poor D must be forgetting that McCabe was once a candidate based solely on his points. McCabe wasnt able to keep up his scoring, so he ended up not being a candidate. Souray is definitely better than McCabe, so why not? :lol:

I think some of you are too hard on Souray. Sure, he does have some defensive lapses, but the majority of the top Dmen do. Nobodies perfect, mistakes and poor choices will be made. I've never seen Souray do a patented McCabe lie down and take a power nap on a 2 on 1. Last year the Sens were knocked out because Redden lied down and took a power nap.

The other year it was unfortunate for Souray that 2 of the best goals of the year featured him being undressed in the clips. We've all seen the Spezza goal and the Crosby goal lots of times. However I've also seen on several other occaisions these players undress the whole bloody team!! I dont always nescessarily come to the conclusion that Souray is horrible at D, more like the offensive players making him look like a pylon are some of the top players in the league. Besides, its not like these players are only pulling moves like this off on Souray or the Habs.

If Souray did 10 2 on 1's with Kovalev Souray would be deked out for sure. But Kovalev wouldnt be able to deke Souray out 10 times out of 10, hes not useless. Just a few games ago Souray broke up a 3 on 1 where they didnt even get a shot. How many times have we seen that clip over and over? :P

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I think I can make one. What about: "Sheldon Souray" will read the names of the "Norris trophy" "candidates" at the NHL awards ceremony.

:clap:

It's funny that Souray could be nominated with a -14. Lidstrom has already run away with the award. Leading D-men in points and the best +/- in the game.

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Wasn't Zubov nominated last year?

The Norris doesn't go to the defenceman who's best defensively, heck, it doesn't even go to the best defenceman around (well, it does usually but it's not officially supposed to) - it goes to the guy most valuable to his team. This year, Souray is probably our MVP? 21 goals already. Most habs fans say that it was our PP that made us half decent at the start of the season. "Our PP" is basically synonimous with "Souray's pointshot."

No, I don't think Souray will win but he will and should be nominated. His +/- will be what holds him back (and we'll have to make the playoffs).

Actually the MVP award goes to the player thats most valuable to his team. THe Norris goes to the best all around defensman. And yes Souray is Montreal's MVP.

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Just food for thought regarding Souray as Habs' MVP:

When Koivu had a point per game, we were one of the top teams in the NHL.

When Koivu had that horrible stretch recently, we fell to 10th in the conference.

Now that Koivu is putting up points again, we won 3 of the last 4.

My guess is that we would do better without Souray than without Koivu... or even Markov.

Could Souray be a candidate for the Norris? Not unless Lidstrom, Pronger and Niedermayer all retire tomorrow... I'd probably also nominate Dion Phaneuf before him.

By the way, what happened to Souray's defensive game? Is it just me or not too long ago we used to call him a good, reliable and physical defenseman with very limited offensive skills. Today, he's all offense, but no defense.

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