The History of the Norris Division

Ever since I learned about the old NHL divisions--the Adams, Patrick, Norris, and Smythe, my fascination with them has increased as time passed by. I do love reading about the Adams Division because I'm a Quebec Nordiques fan, and learning about how they fared in that division back in the day was just amazing. The Patrick Division was spectacular due to the geographical aspect, and while the Smythe Division is a story I'll delve into later, it was definitely an impactful division. The subject of this story is the Norris Division. This one was quite amazing, according to what I've read about the Norris.

The Norris Division was named after James E. Norris, who was the longtime owner of the Detroit Red Wings. After Norris' passing in 1952, the NHL named the prestigious Norris Trophy after him, and since 1954, the trophy was awarded to the league's top defenseman. When the division was formed in 1974, the Red Wings were one of the founding members, along with the Montréal Canadiens, the Los Angeles Kings, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the debuting Washington Capitals. That's right. The Capitals were members of the Norris Division during their historically disastrous expansion season, which saw them win only eight of the 80 games played. The five teams remained together in the Norris until the 1979-80 season, which saw the Hartford Whalers (one of four teams from the WHA-NHL merger) replace the Caps (who went to the Patrick Division) as the fifth team in the division. During the division's first seven seasons, the Canadiens finished first in the Norris every year, and won four straight Stanley Cups between 1976 and 1979.

For the first seven seasons, the Norris Division was part of the Wales Conference, but in the 1981-82 season, the Norris swapped conferences with the Patrick. In addition, the Norris received a huge makeover. All but Detroit left the Norris and were replaced by the following teams: the Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986), the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Winnipeg Jets, the St. Louis Blues, and the Minnesota North Stars. In addition, 1981-82 was the first year of the league's divisional playoff format, and during that year, the North Stars (coming off reaching the Cup Final) finished first in the Norris. However, that year saw the Blackhawks emerge as the first Norris playoff champions, as they upset the North Stars in a four game Norris Semifinal series, and ousted the Blues in a six-game Norris Final.

In the following season, the Jets went off to the Smythe, giving us the most familiar version of the Norris Division. During that year, the Blackhawks finished first and later repeated as playoff division champions, but were swept in the Campbell Conference Final by the up-and-coming Edmonton Oilers. 1983-84 saw the North Stars finish first, and this time, they ended up representing the Norris in the Campbell Final, but could not defeat those rising Oilers. The Blues won the Norris during the 1984-85 regular season, but these were the hard luck Blues, and the playoffs saw them swept by the North Stars in the opening round, though the Blackhawks bested the North Stars in the Norris Final.

It was during this period that the Norris was a bit of a trainwreck division. Before the Southeast Division (and four of its teams) existed, there was the Norris as the beacon of mediocrity. The following season proves it. The Blackhawks finished first in 1985-86 with 86 points. That same year, the Maple Leafs qualified for the playoffs with 57 points in the standings. That is 23 points (or 11 1/2 games) below .500. A win percentage of .356, yet despite this, the Leafs not only swept the best-of-five Norris Semifinals against the first place Blackhawks, they fell one win short of winning the Norris Final against the Blues. Speaking of the Blues, they won the Norris on the following year with 79 points, which is one point below .500, meaning that everyone in the Norris had a losing record. All that meant is that it was St. Louis' turn to be upset by the fourth place Leafs, who later lost a seven game Norris Final to the Red Wings.

The Red Wings would win the next two Norris Division titles, with one of the years (1987-88) seeing the Leafs in the playoffs with 52 points. The Wings ended up representing the Norris in the Final Four in 1988, but not in 1989, as the Blackhawks ended up winning the playoff championship that year. While 1989-90 saw the Blackhawks finish first with 88 points, the point totals started to increase in the 1990s. The Blackhawks finished with 106 points in 1990-91 and won the Norris (and the Presidents' Trophy) by a single point over the Blues. However, that year saw the Minnesota North Stars (who finished with 68 points; 12 points below .500) go on a huge Cinderella run, defeating both 100+ point teams (Blackhawks in the Norris Semifinals, Blues in the Norris Final) before upsetting the then-defending champion Oilers in a five game Campbell Final to become the first Norris team to reach the Stanley Cup Final since 1979, but they were defeated by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In 1991-92, it was the Blackhawks' turn to reach the Stanley Cup Final, as they went on a run that saw them defeat the Blues in six (Norris Semifinals), and then sweep the Red Wings (Norris Final) and Oilers (Campbell Final), before being swept themselves in the Cup Final by the Penguins. The run saw the Blackhawks win 11 straight playoff games. 1992-93 was the final year of the Norris Division, and it would grow to six teams with the debuting Tampa Bay Lightning joining the division. During that season, the Blackhawks finished first, followed by the Red Wings, Maple Leafs, and Blues.

As for the playoffs:

Both the Blackhawks and Red Wings were upset in the opening round by the Maple Leafs and Blues, respectively. In the Norris Final, seven games were needed, but this time, the Leafs won Game Seven to claim the Norris Division championship, and reach the Final Four for the first time in 15 years. Their opponents in the Campbell Final were the Los Angeles Kings. We all know how this ended: Leafs led the series 3-2, Game Six was in OT, and Doug Gilmour was high-sticked by The Great One. Kerry Fraser didn't call it. As for Gretzky, he scored in OT to force Game Seven, where the Leafs fell due to The Great One's hat trick. Ouch.

Before I give the epilogue, I have to mention this.

This man, this legend, is Chris Berman. He has been a staple at ESPN ever since the whole thing began back in 1979. He's known for a lot of his mannerisms, his catchphrases, and his nicknames for a lot of players during his long tenure as the main host of NFL Primetime. One of the many nicknames in Berman's repertoire was one he had for the NFC Central/North, referring to the football division as the "NFC Norris." For years, I never understood the reference, but I did finally learn Berman's reason for the nickname. "NFC Norris" was Berman's reference to the NHL's old Norris Division, as both sports divisions featured teams from Chicago (Bears and Blackhawks), Detroit (Lions and Red Wings), and Minneapolis (Vikings and North Stars). For the 1992-93 season, Tampa Bay was represented in both divisions (Buccaneers and Lightning). So by that logic, which team was the Green Bay Packers: the Maple Leafs or the Blues?

The Norris Division was renamed the Central Division in 1993-94, and yes, the Maple Leafs were actually in the Western Conference until the 1998-99 season. The Canadiens' seven straight Norris Division titles remain the most in the division's history. Regarding the familiar version of the division, the Blackhawks won the division five times, the Red Wings won it three times, and the Blues and North Stars won it twice each. The Blackhawks won half of the Norris Division's 12 playoff division championships. As for the other half, the North Stars and Red Wings each won twice, and the Blues and Maple Leafs each won once.

The current eight-team Central Division serves as a descendant of the Norris Division, with the Blackhawks, Blues, and the relocated Dallas Stars being brought back together in this division. In addition, the Central has a Minnesota representative, but in this case, it's Minnesota Wild, who began play in 2000. The Norris was quite fascinating. After the Canadiens' Cups, the familiar version of the Norris only reach the Cup Final twice. It was a gritty division, but it was a bit of a trainwreck. Even so, the rivalries were amazing, mainly because the Norris had three Original Six teams in it. Plus, it was a mostly Midwestern division, and rivalries in that area are always intriguing. In all, the Norris may not have been a strong division, but the moments were absolutely plentiful.