What Is A Front-line Defenseman?

A "front-line defenseman" is a term that is regularly used to describe superior defensemen in the sport of ice hockey. There is no specific definition of a front-line defenseman. Determining who is a front-line defenseman in hockey is as subjective as determining who is a good hitter in baseball. Some sportswriters who cover the National Hockey League use the term to describe defensemen who are among the best players in the league, while some of their colleagues report that some teams have four or five front-line defensemen.

Background

Each hockey team has six players on the ice at the same time unless one or more players are in the penalty box for violating a rule. Two of the players are defensemen. The other four are a goalie, a center, a left wing and a right wing. A defenseman's primary objective is to help the goalie prevent the other team from scoring goals. One is a left defenseman who guards the area in front of and to the left of the goalie. The other is a right defenseman. The center and wings, also called forwards, are on a "line." During a game, each team switches lines and defensemen regularly: The line skates to the bench every minute or two and the defensemen are replaced less often. Teams typically use four to six defensemen and nine to 12 forwards during games.

Assessing Defensemen

For decades, front-line defensemen in the National Hockey League were defensemen who excelled only at defense. They rarely scored goals. "Hockey for Dummies" notes that these older standards for front-line defensemen required players to be good at blocking shots, taking the puck away from the forwards on the other team, and hitting or checking them, thus preventing them from shooting the puck or moving it closer to the goal. Front-line defensemen were also expected to prevent opponents from scoring on a power play, which occurs when the defensive team has one or more players in the penalty box.

Changing Standards

The standards for a front-line defenseman changed in the 1960s when Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins became a scoring star while playing defense. Since then, there have been at least three kinds of front-line defensemen, according to "Hockey for Dummies." There have been defensemen focused on defense, defensemen who excel at passing the puck to teammates who score or who sometimes score themselves, and defensemen who are good at defense and offense. These changes have led to more specific descriptions of these players, such as a "physical front-line defenseman" and a "creative front-line defenseman."

Best Defensemen

Since the 1953-1954 season, the Professional Hockey Writers' Association has annually chosen the best defenseman in the National Hockey League. The winner is awarded the James Norris Memorial Trophy. Four players have won half the Norris trophies. Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins won the Norris Trophy eight straight seasons from 1968 to 1975. Doug Harvey won the Norris Trophy seven times while playing for Montreal and the New York Rangers in the 1950s and 1960s. Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom won six Norris trophies in the 2000s, and Boston's Ray Bourque won five Norris trophies in the 1980s and 1990s.