Lidstrom, overrated greatness?

In a resent post I talked about Nicklas Lidstrom and how his injured knee may hurt his chances at a sixth Norris Trophy. That article got a very interesting and somewhat controversial comment from my old friend and hockey connoisseur, Philip Arvidsson. Philip, a resident of Toronto for many years and currently living in the Netherlands, knows more about this sport than most so-called experts and it’s a pleasure to get his thoughts on the NHL as he is a frequent commentator on my blog. This comment fueled an interesting and heated debate that I decided to post here. I hope to be able to post more "face offs" like this in the future, but here is the premiere!

Philip
To me, Mr. Lidstrom is a complete enigma. The guy gets showered with perks by every hockey writer and critic and Norris Trophies seem to be fedexed to his home on a yearly basis. I've never really understood the Lidstrom hype but that does not mean I'm right.

Niklas
Unless I missunderstood, you say Lidstrom is being handed this trophy every year for lack of a better recipient, an argument I am having massive problems getting my head around. I think the fact that almost every player in the NHL agrees he is the best in the league speaks volumes.

Philip
As far my own humble opinion is concerned, I've never been sold on No. 5. I'm not saying he's not Norris Trophy material but five, six, or even seven of them? More than Ray Bourque, my favorite player? Due to that, coupled with the fact that every time I've seen Lidstrom play for Tre Kronor he appears utterly lost, I find him to be highly overrated.

Niklas
I know you are a Bruins fan (I think everyone reading this blog knows that) and so you favoring Bourque comes as no surprise. So you think the competition was so much tougher back in the day when he reigned?

Philip
I thought about this not too long ago and came up with a theory. Bourque "only" collected five Norris Trophies. But back in his heydays, there were 4 or 5 other "Ray Bourques" such as Brian Leetch, Scott Stevens, Al MacInnis, Chris Chelios, and Paul Coffey. They were all Bourque-caliber players, in their prime at the same time, competing against each other thus the Norris was passed around among them every season. To be fair, Maybe Lidstrom also belongs to that high echelon of d-men but he doesn't have to share the Norris with anyone simply because there are no other defenders of that magnitude in today's game.

Niklas
Perhaps, but does that mean you value Bobby Orr's career any less? He certainly did not have that many oponents of his own caliber. But ok, for arguements sake, Chris Pronger is on par with a guy like Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer is even better than his former captain (to me he was always a better leader than defensman). Paul Coffey was a forward in disguise, so out of the 4-5 you mentioned I will agree on only MacInnis, Chelios and Leetch. By the way, not long ago you were telling me what a great player Niedermayer was (which I agreed on).

Philip
I would say Niedermayer MAYBE, but that's it. And yes I also recall sticking up for Niedermayer after his Conn Smythe/Stanley Cup season because you ripped him with the following headline "who cares?". And by the way, Ray Bourque was robbed of the Hart Trophy in 1990!

Niklas
Agreed we're not seeing as large of a group of future Hall of famers today as we did back then, but like I said, how large was that group of top blueliners during Bobby Orr's heydays? Orr is still the best ever in my opinion, just like the lack of "Bourques" doesn't make Lidstrom any less great. About Bourque being robbed, sure, eventhough Gretzky, Lemieux and Messier all had great seasons, the Hart should probably have ended up in Beantown that year.

Philip
Hey, perhaps you're right. Like I said, I'm not sold on the guy but everyone else seems to be. This is why I came up with "theories" to find out if I was wrong and, if so, how wrong was I?

Niklas
Perhaps we will find out in the years to come, perhaps we won’t. We will just have to agree to disagree on the Red Wings captain. I hope you’re not too bummed about the Bruins blowout against Toronto the other night, as we both know, Boston is still a team for the playoffs and the Leafs are not. Be good until next time, Phil.

Philip
Oh, don't even get me started on the Leafs, we'll do them next time. 'Til then, blog hard!