Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
The Selke isn't about the best defensive forward anymore. These days it's awarded to the top 30 scorer who's best defensively. A Guy Carbonneau or Dirk Graham would have no chance of winning today.
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That's been the case for decades now. Graham last won the Selke in '91, Carbonneau in '92. After that:
1992-93, Doug Gilmour (127 points scored)
1993-94, Sergei Fedorov (120)
1994-95, Ron Francis (59 in 48 games)
1995-96, Fedorov again (107)
Followed by a mixed bag ever since.
The trouble is, there was never really any good way of telling how good an individual skater was defensively. (There still isn't; analytics has a long way to go. Pseudo-possession metrics and shot suppression are barely scratching the surface.) So the media guys, mostly beat writers, who vote on the Selke are generally left picking the most famous guy who
seems to be pretty good defensively.
Even Carbonneau won because he was the best-known defensive forward on the best defensive team in the league. That's been a pretty common rationale among the voters over the years.
Right back in the beginning, Bob Gainey won the Selke basically because it was created so he could have an award to win. His reputation preceded the award. He won it four years straight before the writers could think of anybody else to give it to.