The biggest thing for me - if I was putting together a case for Gio. Would be his Quality of Competition, Zone Starts, and 5v5 scoring stats.
Zone Starts
Burns: 62% of starts are in the offensive zone.
Giordano: 51% of his starts are in the offensive zone.
Quality of Competition
Giordano see's all the top lines, Burns not so much.
5v5 Scoring
Burns: G-4 P-37
Giordano: G-8 P-33
That really puts Giordano ahead of Burns in my book - the four extra points mean little to me in the big scheme of things when you consider that Giordano produces just as much at 5v5, with way more defensive responsibility.
Last edited by SuperMatt18; 03-13-2019 at 03:04 PM.
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Statistically, Burns generates more offense from the actual "blue line" areas than Giordano. He may have been a rover at earlier points in his career but these days he's a prototype defenseman, focusing on keeping the cycle going and getting shots through traffic. His best skill is probably keeping pucks in where other D would let the play go offside. If anything Gio is the rover of the two.
I would be disappointed if Gio doesn't win the Norris - but that doesn't mean Burns is necessarily undeserving of the award.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteMoss
Pretty easy to compare usage these days.
Burns has 63% offensive zone starts vs 52% for Gio.
Dillon, Vlasic and Braun get buried starting in the defensive end constantly so Burns and Karlsson get the easy starts.
Why true, I wouldn't necessarily knock Burns for playing on a team where this is an option. All the top players have things working in their favour. Gio isn't exempt from some benefits his team affords him.
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Last edited by GranteedEV; 03-13-2019 at 03:48 PM.
After tonight, in a nationally televised game, I think Mark Giordano just put his stamp on the Norris Trophy. He’s at 72 points and is a +37. How many other former Norris Trophy candidates can boast those kinds of gaudy totals.
Burns has more points, but has less goals and a considerably worse +/-, Reilly has similar stats, but is under Gio in pretty much all important statistical categories. He also doesn’t play enough on the PK which might hurt his case. Gio should be a lock at this point especially given his age and the team’s position in the standings.
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Giordano is currently tied with Victor Hedman's 2016-17 season for the 12th best scoring-season by a defenseman in the last 20 years.
In terms of P/GP (minimum 68 games, to include Mike Green's 08-09 season) it is the 6th best season of the last 20 years. To be fair to Burns, he currently has the 2nd best-scoring season by P/GP of any defenseman since 98-99.
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With that performance last night, on a nationally televised game (even if it was the late one), he just locked up the Norris.
Burns was pulling away with the points race, which is what he needed to do to win, but now that it is back down to only 5 points separating them (with 2 more games played for Burns), I think it's over. Giordano's defensive play, and leadership, more than trump 5 points.
Burns is probably the best offensive d-man in the league, Hedman probably the best defensive d-man. But Gio is world class in both departments and the "completest" d-man this season IMO, there's no question he'd absolutely deserve the Norris. Just look at the last few games ... saves a clear goal against Columbus with a ridiculous save while being up 3-2, then scores shorthanded on a breakaway the next game when they are down 0-1, then completely dominates the Canucks. He does it all, scoring 70+ points and being so good defensively ... and doing it all of that at 35? Absolutely ridiculous. I usually don't care too much about those individual trophies, but I'd be gutted for him if he didn't win it this year.
