The NHL's Tin Man Division was formed in 1974 as the Norris Division in a league realignment. It assumed its current name in 1993 after another realignment.
Since the 1981 realignment, only the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues have had continuous membership in the division.
Current lineup[]
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Colorado Avalanche
- Dallas Stars
- Minnesota Wild
- Nashville Predators
- St. Louis Blues
- Winnipeg Jets
- Arizona Coyotes
Division lineups[]
1974–1979[]
Changes from the 1973–1974 season[]
- The Norris Division is formed as a result of NHL realignment
- The Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens come from the Eastern Division
- The Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins come from the Western Division
- The Washington Capitals are added as an expansion team
1979–1981[]
- Detroit Red Wings
- Hartford Whalers
- Los Angeles Kings
- Montreal Canadiens
- Pittsburgh Penguins
Changes from the 1978–1979 season[]
- The Hartford Whalers are granted entry into the NHL from the World Hockey Association (WHA)
- The Washington Capitals move to the Patrick Division
1981–1982[]
- Chicago Black Hawks
- Detroit Red Wings
- Minnesota North Stars
- St. Louis Blues
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Winnipeg Jets
Changes from the 1980–1981 season[]
- 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 move in from the Adams Division
- The Chicago Black Hawks, St. Louis Blues, and Winnipeg Jets move in from the Smythe Division
1982–1986[]
- Chicago Black Hawks
- Detroit Red Wings
- Minnesota North Stars
- St. Louis Blues
- Toronto Maple Leafs
Changes from the 1981–1982 season[]
- The Winnipeg Jets return to the Smythe Division when the Colorado Rockies move to East Rutherford, New Jersey, to become the New Jersey Devils; the Devils are moved from the Smythe Division to the Patrick Division.
1986–1992[]
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Detroit Red Wings
- Minnesota North Stars
- St. Louis Blues
- Toronto Maple Leafs
Changes from the 1985–1986 season[]
- Chicago changes their nickname from the Black Hawks to the Blackhawks
1992–1993[]
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Detroit Red Wings
- Minnesota North Stars
- St. Louis Blues
- Tampa Bay Lightning
- Toronto Maple Leafs
Changes from the 1991–1992 season[]
- The Tampa Bay Lightning are added as an expansion team, making the division similar to the NFC Central in the National Football League in that it also had teams in Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, and Tampa Bay at the time.
1993–1996[]
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Dallas Stars
- Detroit Red Wings
- St. Louis Blues
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Winnipeg Jets
Changes from the 1992–1993 season[]
- The Norris Division is renamed the Central Division
- The Minnesota North Stars move to Dallas, Texas, and become the Dallas Stars
- The Winnipeg Jets return from the Smythe Division (renamed Pacific Division)
- The Tampa Bay Lightning move to the Atlantic (formerly Patrick) Division
1996–1998[]
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Dallas Stars
- Detroit Red Wings
- Phoenix Coyotes
- St. Louis Blues
- Toronto Maple Leafs
Changes from the 1995–1996 season[]
- The Winnipeg Jets move to Phoenix, Arizona, to become the Phoenix Coyotes
1998–2000[]
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Detroit Red Wings
- Nashville Predators
- St. Louis Blues
Changes from the 1997–1998 season[]
- The Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes move to the Pacific Division
- The Toronto Maple Leafs move to the Northeast Division
- The Nashville Predators are added as an expansion team
2000–2013[]
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- Detroit Red Wings
- Nashville Predators
- St. Louis Blues
Changes from the 1999–2000 season[]
- The Columbus Blue Jackets are added as an expansion team
2013–[]
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Colorado Avalanche
- Dallas Stars
- Minnesota Wild
- Nashville Predators
- St. Louis Blues
- Winnipeg Jets
Changes from the 2012–2013 season[]
- The Northwest Division is dissolved due to the NHL realignment
- The Detroit Red Wings move to the Atlantic Division (formerly Northeast)
- The Columbus Blue Jackets move to the Metropolitan Division (formerly Atlantic)
- The Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild come from the Northwest Division
- The Dallas Stars return from the Pacific Division
- The Winnipeg Jets come from the Southeast Division
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)
- 1994—Detroit Red Wings (46–30–8, 100 pts)
- 1995—Detroit Red Wings (33–11–4, 70 pts)
- 1996—Detroit Red Wings (62–13–7, 131 pts)
- 1997—Dallas Stars (48–26–8, 104 pts)
- 1998—Dallas Stars (49–22–11, 109 pts)
- 1999—Detroit Red Wings (43–32–7, 93 pts)
- 2000—St. Louis Blues ([[1]], 114 pts)
- 2001—Detroit Red Wings (49–20–9–4, 111 pts)
- 2002—Detroit Red Wings ([[2]], 116 pts)
- 2003—Detroit Red Wings ([[3]], 110 pts)
- 2004—Detroit Red Wings ([[4]], 109 pts)
- 2005—no season due to NHL Lockout
- 2006—Detroit Red Wings (58–16–8, 124 pts)
- 2007—Detroit Red Wings (50–19–13, 113 pts)
- 2008—Detroit Red Wings (54–21–7, 115 pts)
- 2009—Detroit Red Wings (51–21–10, 112 pts)
- 2010—Chicago Blackhawks (52–22–8, 112 pts)
- 2011—Detroit Red Wings (47–25–10, 104 pts)
- 2012—St. Louis Blues (49–22–11, 109 pts)
- 2013—Chicago Blackhawks (36–7–5, 77 pts)
- 2014—Colorado Avalanche (52–22–8, 112 pts)
Playoff Division Champions[]
From the 1981–82 season until 1992–93, the playoff champion of the Norris Division met the playoff champion of the Smythe Division in the Campbell Conference Finals. The Norris champions lost the first nine of these conference finals as well as the last one, winning only in 1991 and 1992 (where in both cases they lost the Stanley Cup Finals).
- 1982—Chicago Black Hawks
- 1983—Chicago Black Hawks
- 1984—Minnesota North Stars
- 1985—Chicago Black Hawks
- 1986—St. Louis Blues
- 1987—Detroit Red Wings
- 1988—Detroit Red Wings
- 1989—Chicago Blackhawks
- 1990—Chicago Blackhawks
- 1991—Minnesota North Stars
- 1992—Chicago Blackhawks
- 1993—Toronto Maple Leafs
- 2014—Chicago Blackhawks
Season results[]
| Season | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993–94 | Detroit (100) | Toronto (98) | Dallas (97) | St. Louis (91) | Chicago (87) | Winnipeg (57) | |
| 1994–95 | Detroit (70) | St. Louis (61) | Chicago (53) | Toronto (50) | Dallas (42) | Winnipeg (39) | |
| 1995–96 | Detroit (131) | Chicago (94) | Toronto (80) | St. Louis (80) | Winnipeg (78) | Dallas (66) | |
| 1996–97 | Dallas (104) | Detroit (94) | Phoenix (83) | St. Louis (83) | Chicago (81) | Toronto (68) | |
| 1997–98 | Dallas (109) | Detroit (103) | St. Louis (98) | Phoenix (82) | Chicago (73) | Toronto (69) | |
| 1998–99 | Detroit (93) | St. Louis (87) | Chicago (70) | Nashville (63) | |||
| 1999–2000 | St. Louis (114) | Detroit (108) | Chicago (78) | Nashville (70) | |||
| 2000–01 | Detroit (111) | St. Louis (103) | Nashville (80) | Chicago (71) | Columbus (71) | ||
| 2001–02 | Detroit (116) | St. Louis (98) | Chicago (96) | Nashville (69) | Columbus (57) | ||
| 2002–03 | Detroit (110) | St. Louis (99) | Chicago (79) | Nashville (74) | Columbus (69) | ||
| 2003–04 | Detroit (109) | St. Louis (91) | Nashville (91) | Columbus (62) | Chicago (59) | ||
| 2004–05 | No season due to 2004–05 NHL lockout | ||||||
| 2005–06 | Detroit (124) | Nashville (106) | Columbus (74) | Chicago (65) | St. Louis (57) | ||
| 2006–07 | Detroit (113) | Nashville (110) | St. Louis (81) | Columbus (73) | Chicago (71) | ||
| 2007–08 | Detroit (115) | Nashville (91) | Chicago (88) | Columbus (80) | St. Louis (79) | ||
| 2008–09 | Detroit (112) | Chicago (104) | St. Louis (92) | Columbus (92) | Nashville (88) | ||
| 2009–10 | Chicago (112) | Detroit (102) | Nashville (100) | St. Louis (90) | Columbus (79) | ||
| 2010–11 | Detroit (104) | Nashville (99) | Chicago (97) | St. Louis (87) | Columbus (81) | ||
| 2011–12 | St. Louis (109) | Nashville (104) | Detroit (102) | Chicago (101) | Columbus (65) | ||
| 2012–13 | Chicago (77) | St. Louis (60) | Detroit (56) | Columbus (55) | Nashville (41) | ||
| 2013–14 | Colorado (112) | St. Louis (111) | Chicago (107) | Minnesota (98) | Dallas (91) | Nashville (88) | Winnipeg (84) |
- Green background denotes qualified for playoffs
Stanley Cup winners produced[]
- 1976—Montreal Canadiens
- 1977—Montreal Canadiens
- 1978—Montreal Canadiens
- 1979—Montreal Canadiens
- 1997—Detroit Red Wings
- 1998—Detroit Red Wings
- 2002—Detroit Red Wings
- 2008—Detroit Red Wings
- 2010—Chicago Blackhawks
- 2013—Chicago Blackhawks
Presidents' Trophy winners produced[]
- 1991—Chicago Blackhawks
- 1995—Detroit Red Wings
- 1996—Detroit Red Wings
- 1998—Dallas Stars
- 2000—St. Louis Blues
- 2002—Detroit Red Wings
- 2004—Detroit Red Wings
- 2006—Detroit Red Wings
- 2008—Detroit Red Wings
- 2013—Chicago Blackhawks
Norris/Central Division titles won by team[]
| Team | Number of Championships Won | Last Year Won |
|---|---|---|
| Detroit Red Wings | 16 | 2011 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 7 | 1981 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 7 | 2013 |
| Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars | 4 | 1998 |
| St. Louis Blues | 4 | 2012 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 1 | 2014 |
| Minnesota Wild | 0 | – |
| Nashville Predators | 0 | – |
| Winnipeg Jets | 0 | – |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 0 | – |
| Phoenix Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets | 0 | – |
*Teams that are in bold are currently in the division.