Player Discussion: Victor Hedman - Part 2: Norris God and Norse God

[These Are The Days]

Took 8 years to get here. Will take better thread title suggestions starting immediately.

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[The Macho King]

Norris God

 

[These Are The Days]

Norris God

Love it

 

[Major4Boarding]

Love it

Seconded. /thread

 

[BoltSTH]

I prefer Thor, God of Thunder and Lightning

 

[LightningStrikes]

I prefer Thor, God of Thunder and Lightning

VicThor?

 

[TeslaCoilFan]

I prefer Thor, God of Thunder and Lightning

Oh yes, indeed!

P.S. Yes, I know I already posted this in the last Heddy thread, but it's just THAT good!

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

 

[The Gongshow]

Hedman is everyones daddy

 

[Phil McKraken]

Easy Norris favourite so far? I haven't caught many Tampa games but points wise he's having a great season.

 

[These Are The Days]

Other guys have had great seasons but yeah Heddy should be the odds on favorite to win it this year. He is leading his team in scoring and doing it with guys like Rutta stapled to him AND giving world caliber defending on the nightly. He's had big stinkers there and here but I can't imagine his competition has been flawless either.

The shift of the NHL landscape and Hedman's own play makes him arguably the best defender on the world and I don't see that changing much very soon

 

[LTIR Trickery]

He just makes it look all too easy.

 

[DMXATF23]

Dude is playing out of his mind, arguably on the short list for best imager in the game.

 

[RussianGuyovich]

hedman been getting just rocketed in the arms recently. several times the last couple of games. and no way you can make that big guy sit, i imagine.

hopefully he just needs to heal more since he's been looking more mortal with the turnovers lately.

 

[OdinsFury]

He just makes it look all too easy.

I think this quote nails it! Hedman plays so smoothly and easily that his greatness is just not sufficiently recognized. Every defenseman turns the puck over here and there, especially those that are asked to carry the puck out of their own zone as Hedman often does. But Hedman is able make plays that few other defenseman can consistently make and throw in his ability to recover and stop break aways that are highlight worthy. His real only weakness is allowing opponents to get a bit too comfortable in the area in front of the net. He is not overly physical in this area although he has improved since his early years. All that said, he has been the best defenseman in hockey for about the last 5 or 6 years and by that fact alone he is a hall of famer. What remains to be seen is if he can continue this level of play for another 3 to 4 years and essentially become one of the all time greats in the same conversation as fellow Swede Nik Lidstrom!

 

[Stormbreaker]

 

[The Gongshow]

Just give this man the Norris now

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

Victor Hedman is the best defenseman in the NHL this season, and there doesn't seem to be much of a debate.

Hedman leads NHL defensemen with 27 points (five goals, 22 assists) in 28 games this season and entering Tuesday was fourth in average time on ice per game (25:30). He has played a big role in the Lightning's success; they are 20-6-2 and are tied for first place in the Discover Central Division with the Florida Panthers.

A panel of 17 NHL.com writers agrees with Cooper and unanimously expect Hedman to win the Norris Trophy as the top defenseman in the NHL for the second time. Hedman has been a finalist for the award in each of the past four seasons and won in 2017-18.

 

[Master P]

Well well well, looks who's leading the team in points.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Well well well, looks who's leading the team in points.

He’s lucky Stamkos missed two games!

 

[Lolaimbot]

Well well well, looks who's leading the team in points.

Just now when I saw this I realized how much I miss Kuch

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

Modo, the home town club of Victor Hedman turns 100 today.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

We canvassed 10 active NHL players -- seven skaters, three goaltenders -- and 10 individuals in team hockey operations, from coaches to general managers to player personnel executives. The surveys were conducted over the past two months.

1. Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
182 points | Age: 30

I've made the case that the Lightning defenseman could be the best all-around hockey player in the world. Our survey respondents agreed that Hedman is, at the very least, the best defenseman in the world. He was ranked No. 1 on 14 of the 20 ballots. Two more had him second. Two more had him third.

"He's just a hell of a player," said one NHL coach.

One of the aspects of his game that doesn't get enough attention: That the Lightning have been able to play him with anyone and still Hedman excels. He had four different primary defensive partners -- Jan Rutta, Dan Girardi, Jake Dotchin and Anton Stralman -- during his four straight Norris nominations.

"Hedman came in young. He had a longer runway than other young players," Lidstrom told me recently, "but boy, did he ever take off, in every aspect of his game."

 

[Lightning1995]

Hope he can be 100% for the playoffs. Definitely seems off the last week or two. But he still leads the team in ice time every night. If he’s hurt, I have to think Coop would cut that back.