There seems to be no major award that's as criticized as Carlyle's 1981 Norris.
I must join the consensus and say "I don't get it". With the caveat that the 1980-81 season is before my time, and so basically from looking at the stats (I did see Carlyle play quite a bit with Winnipeg, usually when they were getting destroyed by Edmonton), I do not really see the case for his '81 Norris. Let's see...
For the Defense
- He got 83 points, 2nd on his team, and 1st among all NHL defencemen (though, to be put this era into perspective, Mario Faubert, a D-man whom I'd never heard of until now, scored 52 points that season for Pittsburgh).
- Carlyle was kind of alone on the Pens, with only maybe 55-goal man Rick Kehoe for elite-level company
For the Prosecution
- He was -16. Given that the Pens went 30-37-13 and were a minus 43 team overall, Carlyle's plus/minus is about what you'd expect from a top player given big minutes. But it isn't particularly good, either, and obviously merits no Norris attention in itself. In fairness to Carlyle, he was actually a "plus 10" in overall on-ice goal differential, which is good on a minus 43 team, I guess... but is it good enough, given the competition...?
- The Pens were the 4th-worst defensive team in the NHL. (Why would such a team even produce the Norris winner...?)
- Playing 2 fewer games than Carlyle, Denis Potvin had only 7 fewer points and went +39. In overall differential, he was "plus 82" to Carlyle's "plus 10".
- How about rookie Larry Murphy? He scored as many points as Potvin, and was himself a nice +16 and an overall "plus 46". Not bad for a rookie on a team with poor defence!
It seems that 1980-81 wasn't such a strong season for defencemen. Bourque missed 13 games and that made his numbers look a bit less flashy. Larry Robinson was awesome, but his scoring points were modest compared to Carlyle's (and Potvin's, Murphy's...). The Leafs were into the toilet, which hurt Borje Salming's chances (though this didn't prevent Carlyle's winning it).
Hell, I think Potvin has to win that one! And if not him, then give it to super-rookie Larry Murphy or Ray Bourque.