The National Hockey League announced that Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins, Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks and Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators have been voted as finalists for the Norris Trophy, an award that goes to the top defenseman in the league.
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NHL.com revealed on Monday that after the regular season concluded, members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association voted for these three players as the finalists for the James Norris Memorial Trophy handed out each year to the "defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position," according to NHL.com.
Chara is up for the award for the third time in four years and sixth time overall in his career. Chara anchored a blueline that helped lead Boston to its first Presidents' Trophy since 1990. The defense was second in the league in goals-against with 177 while Chara logged a team-high 24:39 of ice time per game with the Bruins.
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The 6-foot-9 hulking defenseman was a plus-25 this season while netting three game-winning goals and 10 power play goals. Chara ranked in the Top 10 for defenseman with 17 goals while adding 23 assists for 40 points.
Keith was part of a top defensive pair that helped propel the defending Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks back into the postseason. Keith led all NHL blueliners with 55 assists and was second among defenseman with 61 points. Keith added six goals during the regular season.
Keith won the award in 2009-10 in the only other time he was up for it and topped Chicago with an average time on ice of 24:38, marking the ninth straight season that Keith led his team in ice time. During the season, Keith went on an eight-game point streak and set a franchise record by notching his 40th assist in Game No. 46, becoming the fastest player to reach the 40-helper plateau in team history.
Weber led the Predators in points this season with 56, which became a franchise record for a defenseman and he also led all NHL blueliners with 23 tallies. Weber also had three game-winning goals and led all defenseman with 12 power play goals.
The Predators' defenseman is up for the award for the third time in his career after he was a finalist in 2010-11 and 2011-12 and he finished with a +11 record down the stretch in the final 42 games.
Prediction: All three of these men are deserving of the honor as Chara finished in the Top 10 in a lot of categories for defenseman and Weber set a franchise record in points for Nashville and led all blueliners with 23 goals, however Keith has been outstanding this season. Keith was a proven role player by assisting on 55 goals and having 40 helpers in the first 46 games and he racked up the points while playing stingy defense, finishing at a +22 and helping Chicago thwart off attacks from other teams.
The Pick: Duncan Keith
The winner of the Norris Trophy will be announced on Tuesday, June 24, during the 2014 NHL Awards from Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas.
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