Scott Stevens - one of the all-time best?

Question

In several of the more recents posts asking for people's all-time best lineups, many people listed Scott Stevens as one of their top 6 D. I think Stevens is great. A fearsome hitter, no forward should want to get anywhere near him. Also, he's played 22 years and EVERY year has had a positive +/-. EVERY fricking year, that's bloody amazing, a truly remarkable feat and incredibly important for a defenceman.

However, Stevens has NEVER won a Norris. Is that because he had the bad luck of playing in an era of Bourque, Coffey, Leetch, Chelios and Lidstrom? (similar to Yzerman playing in an era of Gretzky and Lemieux?) Or is it because he not actually one of the best defencemen of all time? Discuss.

megalo: the question wasn't whether Stevens was THE best all-time, just whether he was ONE of the best all-time.

Puckdat and Mike J: I agree with most of what you say, except the part about 3 cups and Conn Smythe equating to automatic entry to HHOF. I think of players like Claude Lemieux, Butch Goring and Mike Vernon who have won both, but are borderline entries into HHOF.

Answer 1

for the norris, alot of the time the trophy just goes to the defensemen with the most point, even though it shouldn't because being a defensemen is not about getting points, its about protecting your goalie. points is just a bonus.
i'm pretty sure no one could argue against me when i say stevens was extremely good at protecting his goalie (most of the time brodeur).
as you mentioned earlier, getting a positive +/- rating each year is a huge accomplishment. that he never won the norris just shows how dumb some people are. some years its understandable to see who he lost it to, but honestly, would you rather have rob blake or scott stevens on your team? i' go with stevens. blakes god, but not that good

stevens should have one it at least a few times.

Answer 2

The darn Norris is based too much on the amount of points a guy scores. To take some examples - not that they're bad D-men, just, were they the BEST D-men in that season? Carlyle, Coffey, Blake, Pronger,
in the years that they were selected? No!!!!

Why is it that the Devils were transformed from a decent team to an instant contender the moment that whatever arbitrator that was awarded Stevens as compensation to the Devils for the signing of Shanahan?

In a way, it's almost Bobby Orr's "fault" - b/c the standard he set is so high that even more than 30 years later, the "best" defenceman is being judged by "how much is he like Orr was?" There'll never be another Orr ever. And just b/c somebody reminds a person of Orr doesn't mean he was the most valuable defenceman that year.

There are a lot of guys: Kuba, Jovanovski, Regehr, who should be contenders for the Norris as well if it was really awarded to the best defenceman.

Answer 3

Stevens in my opinion is the best to ever play the position. The reality is that he was never looked at for a Norris is because of where he played. Coming into the NHL with the offensive minded Caps he was not noticed but was a key member of that team. In NJ, where he will always be remembered as the C, he was looked past by people saying he's only effective in the Trapping system the Devils play, he had Marty Brodeur to clean up if he ever made a mistake, and the others he played D with: Ken Daneko, Scott Niedemeyer (spelling is shot there) and many others where he just blended. No the truth is he was completly overlooked when i came to Norris Trophies. If you look at the numbers i think he has the greatest Plus in +/-, most blocked shots for a career as a Defensman, but forget a Norris, I think the Conn Smyth and 3 cups ought to put him in 1st ballot HOF!!!

Answer 4

He most definitely is one of the greatest defenseman ever to have played the game. I think the reason he never won the Norris was because he had the bad boy persona. He would deliver crushing hits to anyone around him. Most people didn't like to see the top forwards being smashed around like little rag dolls. That is pretty much what he did(not to take away from his actual defenseman skill) He was a great leader for his team. I am quite sure the Devils would not have produced quite like they had without him around.

Answer 5

Not even close. Everyone likes a big hitter and he was one of the best at that particular aspect of the game. Hitting is an exciting and important part of the game but far from the most important.

P.S. If 'offensive' defensmen couldn't play defense too, they wouldn't even make the team.

P.P.S. - Sorry, with all due respect to you and to Mr Stevens (I wouldn't want to make him angry) he's not even ONE of the best.

How big of a list are you intending here? Top 10? Top 20? I don't think he even makes the top twenty. There's a long list of defencemen that many hockey experts would agree are better.

He's not even the best Devil's defensemen of all time. Niedermeyer takes that honor.

I just mentioned Orr because he's my favorite and people forget him sometimes.

People are just sucking up for the points. So along those lines, thanks for the hockey chat - it helps with the withdrawals.

Answer 6

Too often the Norris goes to a flashy point scoring defenseman. Stevens was probably the most intimidating player of his time and is truly one of the greatest D-men ever. He went into the HOF today with Al Mcinnis, Mark Messier, and Ron Francis.

Answer 7

Stevens is one of the best defensive defensemen of all time. The norris seems to always go to an offensive defensmen. Ask the players that had to go up against him and I am sure they will all tell you that Scott was one of the alltime greats.

Answer 8

Stevens never put up the offensive numbers that it takes to win a Norris. Hard hitter but stay at home type.

Answer 9

He won 3 cups and a playoff MVP what else does he need? He made all forwards fear him, does he need more?
He is now a member of the HHOF (announced today) should I go on?

Definitely one of the all time best.