Over the course of the 1983-84 season, Ray Bourque put up 96 points (30 goals, 65 assists). The Boston Bruins won their division, edging out the Buffalo Sabres for first place by a point. Named to the first all-star team, he was likely still unsatisfied with the season as a whole. His club lost in three straight games to the Montreal Canadiens, exiting the National Hockey League playoffs in the first round, and he was forced to watch Rod Langway capture his second straight Norris Trophy with only a third of his point total (33).
Bourque would go on to win five awards as the NHL's best defenseman over the balance of his career, so one can hope that Evan Bouchard, after a dynamite offensive season that included strong statistics in front of his own net, will be rewarded in the future for the ability and capability that fans of the Edmonton Oilers know he possesses. Bouchard's 95 point season is just outside the top twenty all-time point performances by a defenseman, and he deserved better.
Eastern bias is all too real
It isn't likely that a majority of PHWA voting members are crooked, compromised, or absolute homers. There are probably a few who are willing to conveniently blind themselves to the achievements of those outside their home markets in order to justify a vote for a player they know and like. But the woting pool is wide enough that the honest voters should hold the day. But Pacific division home games often start at 10pm on the east coast. This season, there are even 10:30pm starts, and so it is fair to say that the Oilers, VacnouverCanucks, LA Kings and the rest of the Pacific don't get the same level of viewership.
Conversely, western media folks DO watch eastern games, which start in the early evening out west, and often cause a few missed minutes of the home team's game when they go to overtime. So while an Oiler defender like Bouchard gets limited national eyes on his play, Eastern-based players get far more even viewing. And people vote with their eyes.
Player comparisons
It may be that Rod Langway was so defensively dominant in 1983-84 that voters couldn't give the award to anyone else. After all, Paul Coffey managed 126 points on the Oilers' blueline and finished second in the tally. But Bourque was a finalist, as he should have been. The true snub, and the reason that it suggests a lack of familiarity with Bouchard's actual performance, is that he wasn't even named to the short list of finalist. In spite of THIS:
Points:
- Evan Bouchard — 95
- Zach Werenski — 81
- Cale Makar — 79
Assists:
- Evan Bouchard — 74
- Quinn Hughes — 69
- Lane Hutson — 66
Points per game:
- Evan Bouchard — 1.16
- Zach Werenski — 1.08
- Cale Makar — 1.05
Even strength points:
- Evan Bouchard — 60
- Zach Werenski — 59
- Lane Hutson — 58
Bouchard seems to have jointly been tagged as "not doing enough to help the Oilers finish higher in the standings" and "point totals inflated by playing alongside Connor McDavid. One can only hope that while Bouchard has a similarly excellent 2026-27 season, the voters can shake off their tiredness long enough to take a look.
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