Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Victor Hedman Wins The Norris Trophy

06/20/2018 at 8:22pm EDT

via the NHL PR department,

Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning has won his first career James Norris Memorial Trophy, awarded to the defenseman demonstrating “the greatest all-around ability in the position,” as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Hedman was named on 163 of 164 ballots, including 94 first-place votes, in accumulating 1,385 voting points to edge second-place Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings. The 2015-16 Norris Trophy winner found support on 160 ballots, including 52 first-place tallies, for 1,164 points. Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban, the 2012-13 Norris winner, finished third with 565 points.

Hedman shared first place among NHL defensemen with a career-high 17 goals, tied for the second-most in one season by a Lightning blueliner (behind Dan Boyle: 20 in 2006-07). He also ranked fifth among League defensemen with 63 points, becoming the first blueliner in team history to top 60 points in multiple campaigns (16‑56—72 in 2016-17). Hedman established a career high with a +32 rating, ranking sixth in the League and second among defensemen, and also set personal bests in time on ice per game (25:51) and total time on ice (1,990:30), placing fifth and ninth overall, respectively.

The 27-year-old Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, native, who finished third in Norris Trophy voting last season in his first appearance as a finalist, is the first player in Tampa Bay history to win the award.

2017-2018 Norris Trophy Voting

Pts.(1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
1. Victor Hedman, TBL 1385 (94-57-6-5-1)
2. Drew Doughty, LAK 1164 (52-68-28-8-4)
3. P.K. Subban, NSH 565 (11-14-50-30-17)
4. Seth Jones, CBJ 406 (2-9-38-33-34)
5. John Carlson, WSH 311 (3-6-19-38-30)
6. John Klingberg, DAL 160 (1-7-4-18-27)
7. Roman Josi, NSH 86 (0-0-6-12-20)
8. Brent Burns, SJS 48 (1-1-3-3-7)
9. Alex Pietrangelo, STL 35 (0-0-3-4-8)
10. Shayne Gostisbehere, PHI 31 (0-0-4-2-5)
11. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, SJS 19 (0-0-0-6-1)
12. Erik Karlsson, OTT 15 (0-1-0-2-2)
13. Ryan Suter, MIN 11 (0-0-1-1-3)
14. Dougie Hamilton, CGY 9 (0-1-0-0-2)
15. Zdeno Chara, BOS 8 (0-0-1-1-0)
16. Mark Giordano, CGY 6

(0-0-1-0-1)

17. Josh Manson, ANA 4

(0-0-0-1-1)

18. Jaccob Slavin, CAR 1 (0-0-0-0-1)

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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