The National Hockey League 's Norris Division was formed in 1974 as part of the Prince of Wales Conference . When the NHL realigned into geographic divisions in 1981, the division moved to the Clarence Campbell Conference , where it comprised the league's Great Lakes and Midwest teams, with the Detroit Red Wings being the only member to remain from the previous season. The division existed for 19 seasons until 1993. The division was named in honour of James E. Norris , longtime owner of the Red Wings. It is the forerunner of the NHL's Central Division . Intense rivalries developed between its constituent teams, which through the 1980s were noted for enforcer -heavy squads that had poor performances – qualifying for the playoffs with .500 points percentages, and achieving no Stanley Cup titles or appearances in the finals – but great local popularity.[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] St. Louis Blues made an impressive cinderella run by reaching the Conference Finals where it took the Calgary Flames 7 games to dispatch them following The Monday Night Miracle , and the 1990–91 Minnesota North Stars reached the Stanley Cup finals.
As part of his shtick , ESPN 's Chris Berman often refers to the National Football League 's NFC North division (previously the NFC Central division) as the Norris Division or "NFC Norris" since the two divisions included teams from three of the same cities: Chicago , Detroit , and Minneapolis–St. Paul . The Tampa Bay Area was also briefly represented in both divisions simultaneously, during the 1992–93 NHL season .
Division lineups
1974–79 Norris Division Teams
The Norris Division is formed as a result of NHL realignment
The Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens come from the East Division
The Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins come from the West Division
The Washington Capitals are added as an expansion team
1979–81 Norris Division Teams
Detroit Red Wings
Hartford Whalers Los Angeles Kings
Montreal Canadiens
Pittsburgh Penguins
1981–82 Norris Division Teams
The Norris Division switches from the Prince of Wales Conference to the Clarence Campbell Conference
The Hartford Whalers and Montreal Canadiens move to the Adams Division
The Pittsburgh Penguins move to the Patrick Division
The Los Angeles Kings move to the Smythe Division
The Minnesota North Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs come from the Adams Division
The Chicago Black Hawks, St. Louis Blues, and Winnipeg Jets come from the Smythe Division
1982–86 Norris Division Teams
Chicago Black Hawks
Detroit Red Wings
Minnesota North Stars
St. Louis Blues
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Winnipeg Jets move back to the Smythe Division
1986–92 Norris Division Teams
Chicago Blackhawks
Detroit Red Wings
Minnesota North Stars
St. Louis Blues
Toronto Maple Leafs
Chicago changes their team name from the Black Hawks to the Blackhawks
1992–93 Norris Division Teams
Chicago Blackhawks
Detroit Red Wings
Minnesota North Stars
St. Louis Blues
Tampa Bay Lightning Toronto Maple Leafs
The Tampa Bay Lightning are added as an expansion team
The league was reformatted into two conferences with two divisions each:
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Regular season Division champions
1975 – Montreal Canadiens (47–14–19, 113 pts)
1976 – Montreal Canadiens (58–11–11, 127 pts)
1977 – Montreal Canadiens (60–8–12, 132 pts)
1978 – Montreal Canadiens (59–10–11, 129 pts)
1979 – Montreal Canadiens (52–17–11, 115 pts)
1980 – Montreal Canadiens (47–20–13, 107 pts)
1981 – Montreal Canadiens (45–22–13, 103 pts)
1982 – Minnesota North Stars (37–23–20, 94 pts)
1983 – Chicago Black Hawks (47–23–10, 104 pts)
1984 – Minnesota North Stars (39–31–10, 88 pts)
1985 – St. Louis Blues (37–31–12, 86 pts)
1986 – Chicago Black Hawks (39–33–8, 86 pts)
1987 – St. Louis Blues (32–33–15, 79 pts)
1988 – Detroit Red Wings (41–28–11, 93 pts)
1989 – Detroit Red Wings (34–34–12, 80 pts)
1990 – Chicago Blackhawks (41–33–6, 88 pts)
1991 – Chicago Blackhawks (49–23–8, 106 pts)
1992 – Detroit Red Wings (43–25–12, 98 pts)
1993 – Chicago Blackhawks (47–25–12, 106 pts)
Season results
Season
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
1974–75 (DC) Montreal (113)(1) Los Angeles (105)(3) Pittsburgh (89)Detroit (58)
Washington (21)
1975–76 (DC) Montreal (127)‡ (3) Los Angeles (85)(5) Pittsburgh (82)Detroit (62)
Washington (32)
1976–77 (DC) Montreal (132)‡ (3) Los Angeles (83)(4) Pittsburgh (81)Washington (62)
Detroit (41)
1977–78 (DC) Montreal (129)‡ (5) Detroit (78)(6) Los Angeles (77)Pittsburgh (68)
Washington (48)
1978–79 (DC) Montreal (115)(5) Pittsburgh (85)(7) Los Angeles (80)Washington (63)
Detroit (62)
1979–80 (3) Montreal (107)(12) Los Angeles (74)(13) Pittsburgh (73)(14) Hartford (73)Detroit (63)
1980–81 (3) Montreal (103)(4) Los Angeles (99)(15) Pittsburgh (73)Hartford (60)
Detroit (56)
1981–82 Minnesota (94)
Winnipeg (80)
St. Louis (72)
Chicago (72)
Toronto (56)
Detroit (54)
1982–83 Chicago (104)
Minnesota (96)
Toronto (68)
St. Louis (65)
Detroit (57)
1983–84 Minnesota (88)
St. Louis (71)
Detroit (69)
Chicago (68)
Toronto (61)
1984–85 St. Louis (86)
Chicago (83)
Detroit (66)
Minnesota (62)
Toronto (48)
1985–86 Chicago (86)
Minnesota (85)
St. Louis (83)
Toronto (57)
Detroit (40)
1986–87 St. Louis (79)
Detroit (78)
Chicago (72)
Toronto (70)
Minnesota (70)
1987–88 Detroit (93)
St. Louis (76)
Chicago (69)
Toronto (52)
Minnesota (51)
1988–89 Detroit (80)
St. Louis (78)
Minnesota (70)
Chicago (66)
Toronto (62)
1989–90 Chicago (88)
St. Louis (83)
Toronto (80)
Minnesota (76)
Detroit (70)
1990–91 Chicago (106)‡
St. Louis (105)
Detroit (76)
Minnesota (68)
Toronto (57)
1991–92 Detroit (98)
Chicago (87)
St. Louis (83)
Minnesota (70)
Toronto (67)
1992–93 Chicago (106)
Detroit (103)
Toronto (99)
St. Louis (85)
Minnesota (82)
Tampa Bay (53)
Playoff Division champions
Stanley Cup winners produced
Norris Division titles won by team
References
Current Historic
1926–1938 1967–1974 1974–1981 1981–1993 1993–1998 1998–2013 2020–21
