Steve, Jesse and Adam discuss the Norris Trophy race between Cale Makar and Roman Josi. Who do they think is the better defenceman? Who should take home the illustrious Norris Trophy?
Visit https://sdpn.ca for merch and more.
We’ve joined The Athletic and you can too! Hit the link to subscribe: https://theathletic.com/sdp
Visit this episode’s sponsors: https://sportsinteraction.com/sdp
Follow us on Twitter:@Steve_Dangle, @AdamWylde, & @JesseBlake
Follow us on Instagram:@SteveDangle, @AdamWylde, & @Jesse.Blake
44 Comments
Since when do we award the Norris trophy for the d man with the most points. That's like giving the lady bing to someone because they scored the most goals.
As an Avalanche fan, I want Makar to win the Norris and in my opinion he should win it. But Josi had, in my opinion, his last great season so I think josi will win it this year but makar will go god mode this series to kinda end the discussion on who wins the trophy
i got makar cuz…uhhh, he's better? his + is about a million times higher; key stat for defencemen. won lidstrom many a norris.
You guys really try to break down stats too much. Josi had to bust it every single game to even get to the playoffs with a lesser roster. Paul Coffey, ray borque….come on
Removing his points, he has lower points than the guy whose points we are not arbitrarily removing.
The Norris goes to the best defenseman, not the defenseman with the highest points. Josi is having an amazing year, but it's Makar any day of the week
I love how they talk about the media running with Josi trying to get 100 points and how that drove his candidacy because it’s a magic number while they did the exact same thing with Matthews and sixty goal
Jesse talking about why a nine point difference isn’t that big… who’s gonna tell him makar only had five more goals?
Josi is better at everything, Makar look better because he plays for the best team in th league
You know who is on every best defenseman video? Makar. Think about that. Vs. Hughes, vs. Fox, now vs. Josi. Not one of any of the rest are compared to each other in other videos. The only one comparable that's consistent is Makar.
Makar is so much more versatile, he plays heaps of ice time across the game on 5 on 5, PP and PK. The guy could play any skating position in the game and be elite – he’s like the inverse of Peter The Great.
Josi has been in the league longer than makar so that's this guy who is taking about his long term stats are right but you can't compare that makar… In a few years or the years ahead your gonna be saying that's about makar all the leading defense in scoring or assists or TOI
100% Josi. He carries his team. Avs would do just fine without Makar. I got Hedman over Makar even.
cale makar will win the art ross… soon
The “better roster” argument is so tired for this award. It’s the Norris, not the hart. Steve and Jesse are right.
Makar has many norris trophies ahead of him but I think this year it's Josi
Cale and it aint even close
The roster argument doesnt make sense to me. The avs are far superior but the top d man usually primarily plays with the top line not the 4th line. Nashvilles top line had all had incredible years, the avs constantly had people out so it was a different top line every 5 games. Cale makar pretty much played wing and d the 30 games that mac was out.
You’re telling me 2 40+ goal scorers isn’t help?
Cale Makar is without exaggeration the best defensemen hockey has seen since Bourque and Lidstrom. He's an all-time great in the making.
It’s not even close. Makar is the best defenceman by far. Watch the game and it’s easy to see how dynamic he is.
If you still need the answer to this question, just refer back to Josi literally on his knees worshipping the greatness of Makar as he buried the OT goal in game 2.
its easily makar. not his fault he makes his team a 1 seed and josi makes his an 8
josi, who else!? nobrainer🤣
Take all of Jesse's arguments against Josi and apply that same logic to his Matthew's vs McDavid take lol
Makar should’ve won it last year too
Just stop. Makar is the best defensemen in the game. Period. Josi is, uh…not that good on the actual defensive end.
Oh Makar made the Avs penalty kill good, where it was…not good before. Josi barely plays penalty kill because he doesnt add anything. That says something about the other stuff that isnt measurable.
This debate reminds me of when MacKinnon and Hall were up for the Hart. MacKinnon should have won it that year and Makar should win the Norris this year. He won't, and it's going to be because of Josi playing on a lesser team. At the end of the day, I can't imagine a world in which you would want Hall or your team as opposed to MacKinnon and I feel that same way about Josi and Makar. If you watch both players on a regular basis, it's very clear Makar is just next level. Not taking anything away from Josi, he's also great. That said, it is an award based on the individual season but even with that, I still think it's Makar based on his all around game this year and not just points.
I'm a Josi fan. Through and through. I will not lie I want him to win it. However other then the most important dman to his team argument which is a stipulation for Norris. As I'm not sure the preds are even in the playoffs without josi and he was involved in 36.1% of the teams points which hasn't been done since Orr, Coffey, etc. Other then that Makar blows Josi away with advanced stats in the D zone. It's kinda like when Josi won it in 2020 everyone thought it would be John Carlson because he had 10 more points but it was Josi because he was better defensively. So while I wish Josi would win it again. I gotta be honest here. Makar deserves it this year. What a season from both these guys though. 96 for Josi 86 for Makar and both are just amazing 200 foot players with great skating ability and never seem tired. I'm about to watch my preds get swept by the Avs in just a bit. Oh well just enjoying the hockey. On a side note they should make another award for defenseman called the Bobby Orr Award. Give it to the highest scoring dman and leave the Norris to its true roots…
10 points after a four game sweep. Makar dominated that series and especially the elimination game. There is no debate.
Maker hughes jossi zero cups ..hedman 2..plus hedman can shut down the best
Cofee 138 pts 4 cups 3 canada cups. Potvin 4 cups ..cal maker zero trophies… orr pretty much every yr he got 100 points 2 cups and 2 canada cups ..
Go watch the Nashville Colorado series
Josi is a great player and had an amazing season but makar is better and it’s not close
I know it's a regular season award-& it totally should be. But anybody who saw this series,saw why we said Makar is a far better ALL AROUND Dman. Hell,you also saw why I say Toewes is a top 10ish dman,& cuz of Makar-is maybe the most underrated dman in the NHL.
Josi was no better than the 3rd best dman this series,& Eckholm or whoever you think is Nashville's #2-would be lucky to even suit up for Colorado. And give Bo Byrum a year or 2,& Josi probably won't be better than him anymore. Eric & Jack Johnson,& Ryan Murray…got kind of exposed when we had tons of injuries,& they had to play 2nd pairing, earlier in the season. But as your 6th defenseman,(Eric)& #7/#8-healthy scratches, sitting up in the press box…no other team has guys of that experience,& quality in those spots. The talent at the top is amazing,as I can think of no other team,with a top 3 dman(Makar),& another whos probably top 8-10.
But the depth of their blue line,is arguably even more amazing,than the top. I hear you guys go on about how good Toronto's blue line is,& they are pretty good…but it's not even remotely comparable to Colorado. Riley would be a distant #3 on the Avs,& the rest of the Leafs blueline would have trouble even suiting up,though they'd probably find a 3rd pair spot for Giordano. But the contrast to Nashville was amazing.Its why I give Josi a bit of a pass,though he was exposed this series. But he has almost no help,if he doesn't drive offense from the blue line,they are screwed. But we also saw how much better deffensively-Makar…& Toewes are,than Josi.
After Cale dominated the Avs/predators it’s pretty clear. He was the best player on ice including all of his super skilled teammates.
The award is better player not better roster. So tired of Makar getting shafted since his team is better
This was such a good video with well constructed arguments until Adam started talking …….
It's all jokes but Adam's take has been thoroughly exposed
everyone still standing by their picks after Makar has destroyed the playoffs including the Preds (JOSI) and held McWho to a McExit in a sweep?!
I don't watch this podcast but the guy on the left saying that Josi should win because makar has better guys around him is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. That's like saying Andrei Vasilevskiy isn't the best goalie in the game because he has the best team defense in front of him, he still has to stop the shots and cale makar still has to make the plays. Maybe it's just the ragingly biased Avs fan in me but that statement just seems stupid to me
Makar will definitely have a 100 point season mark my words
WTF. As a Preds STH of 22 years, I have been furious that Shea Weber never once received the Norris for his defensive abilities. Now, seeing Roman Josi put up numbers not seen by a Dman in three decades on a traditionally lackluster offensive team devoid of the talents of say…a MacKinnon, Landeskog, or Rantanen…and you rob him. This is pure recency bias on display. Makar is a fantastic puck moving defenseman to be sure who will no doubt earn his hardware over the next two decades, but this is absurd.