Norris Tracker: Byfuglien in conversation
Saturday, 01.08.2011 / 11:52 AM / Trophy Tracker
By Shawn P. Roarke - NHL.com Senior Managing Editor
Atlanta Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay raised a lot of eyebrows when he decided to move newly acquired Dustin Byfuglien from forward back to defense. Three months later, Ramsay's move looks like a stroke of genius.
All Byfuglien has done is lead all defensemen in goals and points as the season reaches the halfway mark, moving him to the top of the heap among candidates for the Norris Trophy as the NHL best defenseman.
Byfuglien's 16 goals in half a season are just one less than he scored all last season while playing forward with Chicago. His 41 points are a career high, and his six game-winning goals lead the NHL, as do his three OT goals. He's one of the biggest reasons (figuratively and literally) that the Thrashers have jumped into the top eight in the Eastern Conference and seem likely to make the playoffs for just the second time in franchise history.
"I watched him handle the puck," Ramsay said of his decision. "I didn't realize he could be that good -- but I saw him handle the puck and shoot it, so I knew of that. But when you're trying to make a forward into a defenseman – even if he has been a defenseman – it's a very difficult process."
One that Byfuglien has mastered with flying colors thus far.
Byfugly seems to be a pest over at the east as well
