Best Defenseman Never To Win The Norris Trophy

1. Scott Stevens - It still shocks me he never won a Norris trophy. He finished as a runner up twice, both times to Ray Bourque.

2. Brad Park - Was runner-up to Bobby Orr four times (!), and was runner-up to Denis Potvin once.

3. Bill Gadsby - Though he finished in top 3 in balloting 6 times in his career, he never won the Norris. He had the great misfortune of playing at the same time as Doug Harvey and Red Kelly.

4. Borje Salming - The Swede finished in the top five in Norris voting seven straight years, but never won.

5. Larry Murphy - Consistently good year in and year out, but never the best defenseman in any given year. He is in the Hockey Hall of Fame though.

6. Mark Howe - This three time runner up was even a Hart Trophy finalist in 1986, finishing third behind Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Should win the Norris that year, right? He finished second to Paul Coffey.

7. Serge Savard - Overshadowed by Bobby Orr and to some degree his teammates Larry Robinson and Guy Lapointe, Savard was a stud on defense. He won a Conn Smythe trophy even.

8. Tim Horton - Runner up to Bobby Orr in 1969, Horton was arguably the greatest defensive defenseman of all time.

9. Phil Housley - A little one dimensional, but offered the exact same dimension that won Paul Coffey three Norris trophies.

10. Sergei Zubov - Underrated. Often a top 5 dman, but never top 1 or even top 2. See Larry Murphy.

Special mention for Marcel Pronovost, who was over-shadowed in Detroit by Red Kelly.