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As the name implies, the primary responsibility of a hockey defenseman is to defend and prevent the other team from scoring goals. However, to be truly great, a defenseman must not only be highly proficient in his own end, but must also be a skilled quarterback for the offense, particularly on the power play. Throughout the NHL’s long and storied history, there have been many great defensemen, with most experts considering Bobby Orr to be the greatest blueliner of all time, though one thing he did not have was longevity. In terms of sustained brilliance, two of the greatest defensemen in NHL history are Ray Bourque and Nicklas Lidstrom, each of whom spent 20 years with one franchise and racked up numerous Norris Trophies and 1,000+ points in their Hall of Fame careers. In comparing their long and illustrious careers, the question arises:
Who was better – Ray Bourque or Nicklas Lidstrom?
The Beginning
Following elite junior careers, both Bourque and Lidstrom would immediately become important blueline stalwarts for their respective teams, though it would take Lidstrom longer to become one of the league’s truly elite defenders.
During his teenage years, Bourque was a standout in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and was twice named the league’s best defenseman (1978 and 1979). As a result, he was drafted eighth overall in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins (Boston allegedly wanted defenseman Keith Brown, but he was drafted seventh overall by the Chicago Blackhawks, so they had to “settle” for Bourque; Brown ultimately had a productive NHL career, but in hindsight, Boston was certainly happy with their selection). As a rookie, Bourque had an immediate impact for the Bruins, playing in 80 games and scoring 17 goals with 48 assists for 65 points; even more impressively, he had an incredible +52 +/- rating (which would be a career-best mark). This stellar rookie campaign resulted in the Calder Trophy for top rookie, the first of 19 All-Star nods, and a fourth-place finish in the Norris Trophy voting for top defenseman, a clear sign of things to come.
Like Bourque, Lidstrom spent his formative years playing in his native country, including a few seasons with VIK Vasteras HK of the Swedish Elite League – based on his strong play, he was drafted 53rd overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Detroit Red Wings, the team he would end up spending his entire career with. As a rookie in 1991-1992, Lidstrom had 11 goals and 49 assists for 60 points while also compiling an impressive +36 +/- rating – for his efforts, Lidstrom finished second in the Calder Trophy voting to Russian winger Pavel Bure and was part of the All-Rookie Team.
Career Comparison
Over the course of their respective 20+ year NHL careers, Bourque and Lidstrom would both display a level of consistency and excellence rarely seen not only by a defenseman, but by any hockey player regardless of position.
Armed with a deadly accurate shot and always among the league leaders in shots on goal, Bourque never amassed fewer than 56 points in a season throughout the high-scoring 1980s NHL era, with his highest scoring season coming in 1983-1984 when he had 31 goals and 65 assists for 96 points (he surpassed 90 points four times in his career) with a +51 +/- rating and finished third in the Norris Trophy voting. After starting off his career with seven straight top-five Norris finishes, Bourque finally broke through and won his first Norris in 1986-1987 on the strength of 23 goals and 72 assists for 95 points and a +44 +/- rating; in addition, he finished second in the Hart Trophy voting for league MVP to GOAT Wayne Gretzky. This would mark the beginning of a dominant five-year stretch in which Bourque would win the Norris four out of five years, including back-to-back twice with a fourth place finish sandwiched in-between (1988-1989):
- 1987-1988: 17 goals and 64 assists for 81 points with a +34 +/- rating
- 1989-1990: 19 goals and 65 assists for 84 points with a +31 +/- rating; again finished second for the Hart Trophy, this time to Mark Messier in the then-closest race ever
- 1990-1991: 21 goals and 73 assists for 94 points with a +33 +/- rating
At the age of 26 in 1985, Bourque became the Bruins’ co-captain with Rick Middleton, with Middleton assuming the captaincy for home games and Bourque wearing the “C” on his sweater for road games; upon Middleton’s retirement in 1988, Bourque became Boston’s sole captain and would remain so for the rest of his tenure with the Bruins, making him the longest-serving captain in NHL history at the time (later surpassed by Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings).
As he entered his 30s, Bourque remained an elite NHL blueliner and would win his fifth and final Norris Trophy in 1993-1994 with 20 goals and 71 assists for 91 points and a +26 +/- rating. Towards the end of the 1999-2000 season, as the Bruins were in rebuilding mode and Bourque was looking for a final shot at an elusive Stanley Cup, he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche along with future Hall of Fame left winger Dave Andreychuk for Brian Rolston, Martin Grenier, Samuel Pahlsson,and the 27th overall pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (which became Martin Samuelsson). Despite his advanced age, he still finished second in the Norris voting in his final season with 7 goals and 52 assists for 59 assists and a +25 +/- rating before retiring at age 40 as the career leader in goals, assists, and points for a defenseman and the NHL’s all-time leader in shots on goal. Moreover, throughout his career, Bourque never had fewer than 43 points in season (which was the strike-shortened 1994-1995 season in 46 games, so he still averaged nearly a point per game; his next lowest total was 48 points over a full season), only had a negative +/- rating three times in the late 1990s when the Bruins were rebuilding, and finished in the top 10 for Norris voting every single season, including top-three 15 times.
Meanwhile, as a young defenseman, Lidstrom was part of a loaded Red Wings defensive corps that included fellow Hall of Famers Paul Coffey and Viacheslav Fetisov, and was an excellent but not quite elite player in his early to mid-20s. Lidstrom’s first arguably great season came in 1997-1998, when he had 17 goals and 42 assists for 59 points with a +22 +/- rating and finished second for the Norris Trophy. This would be followed by two more second place finishes before he won his first Norris in 2000-2001 on the strength of 15 goals and 56 assists for 71 points and a +9 +/- rating; this marked the beginning of his first Norris three-peat, as Lidstrom would also take home the hardware in 2001-2002 (9 goals and 50 assists for 59 points with a +13 +/- rating) and 2002-2003 (18 goals and 44 assists for 62 points with a +40 +/- rating) ahead of the 2004-2005 NHL lockout.
Like a fine wine, Lidstrom seemingly got better with age and would cement his legacy as an all-time great in his 30s. Post the lockout, he returned to the NHL and did not miss a beat with another Norris Trophy three-peat:
- 2005-2006: 16 goals and 64 assists for 80 points with a +21 +/- rating
- 2006-2007: 13 goals and 49 assists for 62 points with a +40 +/- rating
- 2007-2008: 10 goals and 60 assists for 70 points with a +40 +/- rating
As a 40-year old in his penultimate season in 2010-2011, Lidstrom would win his seventh and final Norris Trophy with 16 goals and 46 points for 62 points despite a -2 +/- rating; this was the only season in his career with a negative +/- rating and only the third time in history a defenseman had won the Norris with a negative +/-. By the time he retired after the 2011-2012 season age 41, Lidstrom was tied for Doug Harvey for second most Norris Trophies (7), behind only the great Bobby Orr (8); remarkably, Lidstrom would win the Norris in seven of his last 10 NHL seasons, and finished top-six for each of the last 16 seasons.
When you stack up Bourque and Lidstrom next to each other, the former holds the edge in most statistics – over the course of two additional seasons (22 vs. 20), though only 48 more games played, Bourque has more goals, assists, and points, and a better +/- rating (as mentioned, Bourque is the top-scoring defenseman in NHL history); on a per-game basis, this translates into 0.98 points and +0.33 +/- per game for Bourque vs. 0.73 points and +0.29 +/- per game for Lidstrom. While this also led to more All-Star appearances (19 to 12), Lidstrom has the edge in most other awards, in particular Norris Trophies (7 to 5), Stanley Cups (4 to 1), and Conn Smythes (1 to none). Any way you slice it, these were two of the greatest players ever to step on the ice and first-ballot Hall of Famers – Bourque was elected in 2004 and Lidstrom in 2015.
Regular Season Statistics
| Ray Bourque | Player | Nicklas Lidstrom |
| 22 (1979-2001) | Seasons | 20 (1991-2012) |
| 1,612 | Games Played | 1,564 |
| 410 | Goals | 264 |
| 1,169 | Assists | 878 |
| 1,579 | Points | 1,142 |
| +527 | +/- | +450 |
| 19x | All-Star Games | 12x |
| 5x | Norris Trophies | 7x |
| 1x | Stanley Cups | 4x |
| – | Conn Smythes | 1x |
| 1x Clancy, ROY | Other Awards | – |
| 2004 | Hall of Fame Induction | 2015 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
As a function of their longevity and greatness, both Bourque and Lidstrom rank among the most tenured postseason players in NHL history and continued their stellar play in racking up goals and assists with a strong +/- rating while on the ice; each would win the coveted Stanley Cup at least once, though their journeys to the ultimate prize were very different.
While a member of the Bruins, Bourque made the playoffs in his first 17 seasons and in 19 of 20 seasons overall, and was a strong performer once he got there, three times scoring 20+ points and eight times having at least 10 points. However, in both of his Stanley Cup appearances with Boston, they would lose to the mighty Edmonton Oilers (swept in 1987-1988 and losing in five games in 1989-1990). As previously mentioned, as his career was winding down and the Bruins were in rebuilding mode, Bourque was traded to the Avalanche for one final Stanley Cup push. It turned out to be a storybook ending – in Bourque’s final season, Colorado was down 3-2 in the Stanley Cup Finals to the New Jersey Devils, but would come back behind Patrick Roy’s heroics and take home the title. Individually, Bourque had a strong postseason (4 goals and 6 assists for 10 points and a +9 +/- rating in 21 games) and on his designated day with Lord Stanley, would bring the Cup to Boston to celebrate his long-awaited victory with 20,000+ cheering fans.
Lidstrom was even better – other than the 2004-2005 lockout year, he made the playoffs for 20 straight seasons (tied with Hall of Fame defenseman Larry Robinson for most ever) and played in the second-most postseason games ever (behind only another Hall of Fame defenseman in Chris Chelios). But he was not just along for the ride – in nine of those seasons, Lidstrom scored double-digit points, with 1997-1998 being his most productive postseason (6 goals and 13 assists for 19 points and a +12 +/- rating). Overall, Lidstrom won four Stanley Cups, starting with back-to-back Finals sweeps in 1996-1997 (over the Philadelphia Flyers) and 1997-1998 (over the Washington Capitals). In 2001-2002, he became the first European-born Conn Smythe winner for postseason MVP with 5 goals and 11 assists for 16 points and a +6 +/- rating as the Red Wings beat the Carolina Hurricanes in five games; finally, in 2007-2008, Detroit would beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games, making Lidstrom the first European-born captain of a Stanley Cup-winning team.
In addition, both Bourque and Lidstrom were stalwarts on the international scene and achieved success for their countries. Bourque represented Canada in the Canada Cup (a predecessor to the World Cup of Hockey) throughout the 1980s, winning a silver medal in 1981 and golds in 1984 and 1987; he also played for his country at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, though Canada could only muster a disappointing fourth-place finish. Similarly, in addition to winning gold (1991), silver (2004), and bronze (1994) at the IIHF World Championships for his native Sweden, Lidstrom led a talented Swedish team that included the likes of the Sedin twins to gold at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and also captained the team at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Playoff Statistics
| Ray Bourque | Player | Nicklas Lidstrom |
| 214 | Games Played | 263 |
| 41 | Goals | 54 |
| 139 | Assists | 129 |
| 180 | Points | 183 |
| +27 | +/- | +61 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; Bourque and Lidstrom are actually the rare athletes who buck this trend, as they were pretty much excellent to elite throughout their entire careers. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete, though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Ray Bourque | Player | Nicklas Lidstrom |
| 1983-1985, 1986-1988, 1989-1994, 1995-1996 | Decade of Dominance | 1997-2003, 2005-2009 |
| 771 | Games Played | 798 |
| 211 | Goals | 148 |
| 661 | Assists | 504 |
| 872 | Points | 652 |
| +329 | +/- | +249 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
Given the consistent excellence of their long careers, you could actually take any 10 years of either player’s career and consider it a decade of dominance. Thus, it was actually a bit difficult to pick only 10 seasons for each player, but based on the years I selected, Bourque has the edge in all of the major statistical categories.
My Thoughts
If you asked a group of hockey fans who was the second greatest defenseman in NHL history (behind Bobby Orr, of course), I would guess a large percentage of them would say either Ray Bourque or Nicklas Lidstrom. On one hand, Bourque has the greatest career numbers for any defenseman, buoyed by playing his prime in the run-and-shoot 1980s era that saw players like Gretzky and Lemieux rack up 200-point seasons; on the other hand, however, Lidstrom has more Norris Trophies to his name and led the Red Wings to four Stanley Cup titles, so which do you pick? As difficult as the decision is, I ultimately lean towards Bourque because of his more consistent greatness, i.e. he was essentially an All-Star caliber player since his rookie year; I acknowledge Lidstrom’s greater “success”, but think that Stanley Cups are much more a function of the overall team (for those who do not remember, Detroit was a powerhouse in the late 1990s/early 2000s) and Norris Trophies are also dependent on your peers – as mentioned, Bourque finished top-three 15 times and easily could have won more than five Norris Trophies, but played in the same era as other great Hall of Fame and Norris Trophy-winning defenseman like Paul Coffey (3x), Chris Chelios (3x), Brian Leetch (2x), Chris Pronger (1x), Al MacInnis (1x), and Rob Blake (1x).
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Ray Bourque
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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