Other Stats
Taking a look at hits, blocked shots, etc. Through the first four games.
| Player | Hits | Giveaways | Takeaways | G-T+/- | Blocked Shots |
|
Henrik Zetterberg |
1 | 7 | 3 | -4 | 0 |
|
Mikael Samuelsson |
3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 1 |
|
Pavel Datsyuk |
5 | 3 | 6 | +3 | 3 |
|
Tomas Holmstrom |
2 | 4 | 2 | -2 | 1 |
|
Jiri Hudler |
2 | 3 | 0 | -3 | 0 |
|
Johan Franzen |
4 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 0 |
|
Valtteri Filppula |
3 | 1 | 3 | +2 | 1 |
|
Kris Draper |
6 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
|
Dan Cleary |
5 | 3 | 1 | -2 | 1 |
|
Dallas Drake |
2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 3 |
|
Tomas Kopecky |
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|
Kirk Maltby |
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Player | Hits | Giveaways | Takeaways | G-T+/- | Blocked Shots |
|
Nick Lidstrom |
4 | 7 | 1 | -6 | 7 |
|
Brian Rafalski |
1 | 0 | 2 | +2 | 2 |
|
Niklas Kronvall |
8 | 4 | 1 | -3 | 7 |
|
Andreas Lilja |
8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
|
Chris Chelios |
3 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 2 |
|
Brett Lebda |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Some thoughts on these stats:
-Pavel Datsyuk doesn’t get nearly enough credit for being an execellent two-way player. I pointed out that Alan Ryder stated the case for Datsyuk winning the Selke trophy last season, and there hasn’t been a better defensive forward on the team. With Franzen being out of the lineup it will be interesting to see if Pavel plays on the PK. He played 1:32 short-handed last night so it looks like he will.
-The top defensive forwards on the team tend to stick out in terms of the number of takeaways they’ve generated. Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Val Filppula lead all forwards. The odd stat is that Homer has one more takeaway than Kris Draper.
-I can understand dumping on Lilja when he has a gaffe like he had in the Edmonton game that led to a goal. But he’s pretty decent for what he is: a big defenseman who can hit, penalty kill, and block shots. Lilja and Kronner provide the only real jam as far as physical play goes amongst the rearguards. With Lilja he just needs to be a little better about not holding onto the puck and instead passing it to a teammate. He also can’t get caught up ice as he has no ability to get back into a play once it gets past him.
-Brian Rafalski has been on the ice for three even-strength goals but he’s been great on the power play and he seems like he’ll do well at even-strength. He hasn’t had any bad giveaways and he’s registered a couple takeaways. Kronner lives up the nickname Nick Jr. when it comes to blocking shots as they’re tied for the team lead.
-This doesn’t really relate to the stats above, but it was very clear last night that Detroit is a much, much better team with Zetterberg and Datsyuk on the ice together. Did Jarome Iginla even play last night? I think Mike Babcock needs to keep his top two forwards together for a couple reasons: it will help the team win a lot of games, but he also needs to do so for entertainment value. If the Wings want to fill their barn the best way to do so is to feature two of the best athletes not only in the Detroit area but in professional sports. Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan obviously had tons of fans and that went a long way towards filling Joe Louis Arena and making the Wings the hottest ticket in town. The competition in terms of professional sports is much stiffer than it was in the mid-to-late 1990s but the Wings should be able to compete by showing off Datsyuk and Zetterberg’s dazzling play.
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