Music: {allcanada} Norris Nod Caps Karlsson's Solid Year

Thursday, June 28, 2012

{allcanada} Norris Nod Caps Karlsson's Solid Year

Easiest last minute gift- Buy Gift Cards Online

In a year where wasn't much was expected from the Ottawa Senators, the team in Canada's capital city managed to make others take notice with their play, including the stellar efforts of a rising young star defenceman that recently skated off with a well-deserved award.

For a team many had pegged to languish in the lower confines of the East, the Senators, who secured eighth position and a playoff berth in 2011-12, showed they were plenty capable of keeping pace with their rivals.

So, too, was Erik Karlsson, the Sens' smooth-skating blueliner who led all defencemen in scoring.

And while he might have seemed genuinely surprised to win the James Norris Memorial Trophy, as the league's top defender, it was by no means a shock to anyone in the hockey world.

Still, it was a humbling moment for Karlsson.

"I think both those guys have had had terrific years," said Karlsson, of Zdeno Chara and Shea Weber, his fellow Norris finalists. "They've been good players for a number of years, and they have many more to come. And just to be nominated with those guys is something that's very rare. And I respect them a lot as players and as persons as well. I still watch them on TV like I did a couple of years ago, and it's something that I know is very rare and special, and I am very humble and it's very special to me."

What a special year it was for Karlsson, the first Senator to win the Norris, who received 1,069 overall points, in a close vote for the honour.

Karlsson, who was the 15th overall selection of the Senators in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, was the NHL's leading vote-getter in All-Star balloting, receiving 939,951 fan votes, one of four Senators selected to be in the 59th All-Star Game. On top of that, Karlsson finished the season as the leading scorer among NHL defencemen, leading Dustin Byfuglien and Brian Campbell by 25 points.

The offensive defenceman who missed just one regular season contest, scored 19 goals and had 78 points, adding a goal in seven playoff games.

It all added up to a very rewarding campaign for the motivated 22-year-old.

"I think the hardest part is I really have to work very hard on improving my game and I want to be a player that plays for a number of years and play really well," said Karlsson, who scored his first NHL goal against Minnesota in a 4–1 win for Ottawa on December 19, 2009. "I want to be up there, and I'm going to do everything I can to be able to do that for a lot of years, hopefully."

Despite his obvious comfort level on the ice, the native of Landsbro, Sweden, where fellow NHLPA member Johan Franzen (Detroit Red Wings) also hails from, still had a difficult time processing the enormity of his accomplishments in 2011-12.

"It's very special, and I don't really think I understood everything that was going on, and probably didn't give the best speech in the world or anything like that," offered Karlsson. "But obviously I'm very happy and appreciate everything. When I got nominated, I don't really think I understood how it works and how big it was. Once I sat down and saw that the first prize was mine, I didn't really know what to do and I'm probably going to have to look at the tape a couple times to really figure out what really happened. It's just a lot of fun."

There could be plenty more good things in store for both Karlsson and his Ottawa teammates.

Despite losing in seven games to the No. 1 seeded New York Rangers in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Northeast Division squad appears to have the pieces in place to build on their solid 2011-12 season.

Although there is plenty of reason for optimism, in terms of his own goals, Karlsson is resisting the temptation to get too far ahead of himself.

Instead, one of hockey's new generation of skilled defencemen will focus his energies on getting the Senators further than they did this year.

When he looked at his Norris Trophy, it was a welcome reminder to never yield to complacency.

"I don't like to look too far ahead either," he admitted. It's a great feeling and it's something that I know I want to be a part of again. And I'm going to work hard to try and do that."