Best defensemen not always recognized

Looking at the NHL over the past two decades, it would be hard to come up with a player who had more impact on the games in which he played than Scott Stevens, who patrolled the New Jersey Devils' blue line with efficiency and malice.

He was a first-ballot inductee into the Hall of Fame last fall, but over the course of his career, he never won a Norris Trophy as the game's best defenseman.

It's too late to correct that injustice, but not to prevent it from happening in the future.

The defensemen who contribute on offense are always going to have an edge in the voting, and the truly great two-way defensemen like Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque, Nicklas Lidstrom and Paul Coffey are no-brainer selections.

But Brian Leetch won two Norris Trophies while putting up big offensive numbers for the New York Rangers, while his equally deserving rival across the river, Stevens, won none.

There's an easy way to fix that, while honoring players whose contributions go largely unsung:

Create an award that goes to the league's best defensive defenseman, the Rod Langway Trophy. (The naming rights for this one are up for debate -- Stevens would be another prime candidate -- but the need for it is not.)

Langway, who won the Norris in 1983 and 1984 despite putting up only 65 points combined in those two seasons, was so good defensively that his candidacy surmounted his paltry offensive numbers. His 32 points in 1983 were the fewest since Bobby Orr had 31 in a half-season in 1968 and Jacques Laperriere had 31 in 1966.

Since Langway's two trophies, no Norris winner has recorded less than 50 points. Chris Chelios won his last Norris in 1996, when he had 72 points; he hasn't had half that many in a decade, yet for most of that time he was no less valuable on the blue line.

The voting for this award would be as different as the criteria. While the writers typically do a better job of picking the right winners than they're often credited for -- look no further than Barret Jackman as rookie of the year in 2003 based entirely on his defensive play -- an expanded, multi-dimensional panel would best assess the candidates for this award.

Six writers, six television/ radio broadcasters, six coaches, six players and six general managers -- one from each division -- would ensure that the voting pool is represented by people involved in every aspect of the game.

Unfortunately, the timing is a bit awkward. Lidstrom is a deserving winner of both the Norris and this new trophy, because no defenseman is better at both ends of the ice. But he'll be 38 this spring. His career is winding down and there's no clear successor, although there's a handful of contenders.

Once he's gone, the heirs to Stevens and Langway can take their rightful place on the podium the same way they carve out their space on the ice -- quietly, efficiently and without acclaim. At least, for now.