SB Nation - Niklas Kronwall

Cleary out for up to four weeks...great

MrNorrisTrophy — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:43:05 -0000

7 months ago: Detroit Red Wings' Dan Cleary celebrates his goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the first period of a first-round NHL hockey playoff game Thursday, April 23, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

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As if those players already sitting in the stands weren't enough, add forward Dan Cleary to that group. Cleary will join Johan Franzen, Niklas Kronwall, Jason Williams, Valtteri Filppula, and Andreas Lilja on the injured list. Cleary separated his shoulder in last night's 1-0 loss to the Blues and is expected to miss a month at the most of the season.

Here's pretty much what this will mean for the Red Wings until either Cleary or Filppula returns:

1. No call ups will be made (according to Babcock) so everyone available will play
1a. An injury to a forward within that time span will likely result in a call up but don't expect one for insurance
1b. If there is another injury not only will I assuredly curse, we could POSSIBLY see Tomas Tatar called up. Unlikely but he has shown in a short amount of time that he is an explosive scorer. Don't bank on it but don't be surprised either.

2. Dan Cleary is invaluable to this team. Sure he doesn't put up the offensive numbers to warrant the same respect of a Marian Gaborik or Evgeni Malkin but he's a huge part of this offense by positioning himself very well, passing at the right times, and having a pretty good shot. Along with the offense, he is a crucial defender and is probably the third best defending forward that the Wings have.

3. Cleary's 7 goals and 16 points will surely be missed but it may mean that Ville Leino will have to produce in the absence and can improve his game while playing on the second line in Cleary's spot.

Hopefully Cleary will be back sooner rather than later but that void is going to be hard to fill with the lack of production from a lot of guys that were expected to be big time secondary players on this team.

[Game Thread] Thrashers @ Wings

MrNorrisTrophy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:54:17 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

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Well, it happened again. I got caught up in traveling and realized I had not prepared a game thread. Here's the thread for tonight's game against the Atlanta Thrashers. Sorry again guys, when this week is over things will be back to normal (I hope).

As I write this, Nik Antropov has just scored to make it 1-0 Atlanta but this one is far from over. Detroit will need to get the offense going against Ondrej Pavelec who shows sheer brilliance at times in net.

What to look for: How the defense deals with Atlanta's attack following the loss of Niklas Kronwall. The defense looked pretty shaky at times against Nashville and will need to be better for the team to win. Look for Pavel Datsyuk to play a big role tonight with his speed and puck handling skills.

The game is airing on FS-Detroit + and SPSO. As always, GO WINGS!

Bird Watchers Anonymous is the SBN Thrasher's blog.

Predators Game Day Preview: Detroit @ Nashville

Dirk Hoag — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:03:52 -0000

More photos » by NIKLAS LARSSON - AP

The Detroit Red Wings have dominated the Central Division for almost two decades. Is this the year that Nashville can climb past them?

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REMINDER: Tonight's game has a special 6:00 Central start time, due to the national Versus broadcast (well, national except for those of us with DirecTV).

Well folks, the Nashville Predators (12-8-1) have played well over the last few weeks, winning 9 of their last 11 to reverse a woeful start to this 2009-10 season. Tonight, however, in front of a national audience, they face the biggest test of the season so far, their arch-nemesis from Detroit.

The Red Wings have always been the measuring stick for the Predators franchise, but this season, with an 11-6-4 record so far, Detroit has come back to the pack in the Western Conference. Is this a case of a team working the kinks out before tearing up the league in the second half, or is Detroit finally going to finish lower than 1st or 2nd in their division for the first time since the 1990-91 season?

Before diving into the preview after the jump, take a few moments to relive one of the greatest moments in Predators history - the "2 goals in 9 seconds" during the 2008 playoffs, when the Preds quickly took the lead late in Game 3 of the first round, and sent Dominik Hasek into retirement:

Are you ready, Predators fans?

Meet the Enemy

This year's edition of the Red Wings isn't exactly the same as in recent years. Free agent departures like Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson and Jiri Hudler have definitely shortened the talent pool up front, and injuries (most recently to Niklas Kronwall) have hurt as well. The goaltending has been sub-par for the second consecutive regular season.

But it's still Detroit, and thanks to a healthy Shots For & Against margin (34.1 to 27.8 per game) and the #7 offense in the NHL, they're still a very dangerous team. I asked MrNorrisTrophy from Winging It In Motown about how the Big Red Machine is rolling these days:

Detroit's level of play has been anything but consistent so far this season. In large part I chalk that up to the injuries and changes on the roster from the team last year. Originally many felt the team would be fine despite the loss of Hossa, Hudler, Samuelsson, Conklin but as the injuries have piled up to crucial guys like Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula and now Niklas Kronwall things might be even harder down the stretch.

The team has had monumental contributions from Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk and the most surprising success is Tomas Holmstrom. Holmstrom at one point looked as if his game was fading but he's found some sort of second wind at this point in his career and is scoring goals left and right. The defense was shaky at best early in the season but has started to gel more-until the Kronwall injury that is-and they're more aware of their responsibilities for rebounds and the like. Jimmy Howard has come on strong despite his slow start and has played a few truly incredible games. Chris Osgood has looked horrible at points this year and with the success of Howard we might be seeing a changing of the guard before the season is done.

The team has found a way to win, mainly with clutch performances and a tightened defensive game. Going forward, I think this team will only get better once Filppula, Franzen, Kronwall, and Williams (if he's able to) return to the line up.

Meet the Good Guys

The Predators are on fire, due mostly to a few key factors - excellent goaltending from Pekka Rinne, steady work by the defense corps to limit dangerous scoring chances, and a power play that has finally woken up. After his senseless "hooking" call against the Blue Jackets, I'm going to guess that Wade Belak goes back to the press box for tonight's game (update: confirmed), leaving the lines as follows:

Forwards

Sullivan - Arnott - Dumont

Erat - Santorelli - Hornqvist

Ward - Legwand - Smithson

Thuresson - Goc - Tootoo

Defense

Suter - Weber

Bouillon - Klein

Hamhuis - Franson

There is a question as to how the Goc and Santorelli lines will shake out; there's been considerable shuffling of the wingers alongside them.

Even Strength Play

	5-on-5 Team Data from Behind the Net
Team	GP	GF	GA	GF/60	Shots For/60	Sht %	GA/60	Shots Ag/60	Save %	+/- per 60
Detroit	21	41	39	2.5	32.2	7.8	2.4	27.4	.913	+0.1
Nashville	21	29	36	1.7	29.4	5.9	2.2	28.5	.924	-0.4

This is as big an indication as any that Detroit's dominance has slipped this season - typically they've been one of the best even-strength teams in the NHL. The Predators continue to be hamstrung by the lowest 5-on-5 shooting percentage in the league; if they had a more typical shooting percentage (around 8%), they'd have about 10 more goals this season, and probably be nipping at Chicago's heels atop the Central Division.

There is a bright side here, however, as Detroit's goaltending in this situation is among the worst in the league, so perhaps the Nashville shooters can break through.

Detroit PP vs. Nashville PK

With guys like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Lidstrom and Rafalski on the job, the Red Wings are enjoying their usual success on the power play (5th in the NHL at 23.9%), while the Predators have been steadily climbing through the ranks this month, having reached 16th in penalty killing at 79.7% (they were 30th for a while in the early going). The Red Wings draw a fair number of penalties, too, so discipline will be key for Nashville, which has done an excellent job staying out of the box so far.

Nashville PP vs. Detroit PK

With 2 power play goals against Columbus Saturday night, the Preds have continued a recent hot streak that has provided a badly-needed boost to their overall offensive performance. Having languished under 10% throughout October, the PP has now climbed to 15.7% - only good for 25th in the league, but a fair step higher than just a few weeks ago. Detroit's penalty kill has been a sore point, 26th in the NHL as they've had to rotate a number of forwards through that group.

Goaltending

~~Jimmy Howard has been getting much of the work lately and is expected to get the start tonight for Detroit~~ According to the Detroit Free Press, Chris Osgood will start tonight for the Red Wings:

Chris Osgood

#30 / Goalie / Detroit Red Wings

Height: 5-10

Weight: 180

Born: Nov 26, 1972

	GP	MIN	W	L			GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Chris Osgood	13	710	6	3			32	2.70	327	295	.902	1

For Nashville, Pekka Rinne has been outstanding, with 5 straight victories and 9 in his last 10 decisions. John Glennon confirms this afternoon that Rinne gets the start tonight:

Pekka Rinne

#35 / Goalie / Nashville Predators

Height: 6-5

Weight: 206

Born: Nov 03, 1982

	GP	MIN	W	L			GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Pekka Rinne	14	780	9	4			31	2.38	361	330	.914	2

Summary

Can the Predators keep their momentum going and claw past the Red Wings into 3rd place in the Central in front of a national television audience? With Kronwall out of the lineup for Detroit, the key will be to aggressively challenge the Red Wings defense, while watching out for the elite players who will surely carry the burden of extra ice time.

And hey, we can always hope for a repeat of that rollicking good time from February 28 of last season...

Niklas Kronwall out 4-8 weeks

MrNorrisTrophy — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:27:40 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Following a leg to leg collision with Georges Laraque, a Montreal enforcer, Niklas Kronwall is expected to be out of the line up anywhere from four to eight weeks. The official word is that it is a strained ligament in his left knee. Detroit has already seen two leg injuries this year as Johan Franzen tore his ACL and Jason Williams broke his fibula.

The injury likely means that Derek Meech will come into the line up and play alongside Brett Lebda, with Jonathan Ericsson moving to Brad Stuart's side. My guess is Doug Janik will be called up again to serve as a 7th defenseman.

Kronwall, who usually dishes out the pain, went to the ice immediately following the collision. Earlier in the shift Laraque had high-sticked Darren Helm on a careless swing of his stick and then continued to play recklessly at the other end of the ice when he stuck his leg out in front of Kronwall.

To me, this is a dirty play by Laraque and he should be punished by the league for it. Before others argue that Kronwall constantly has questionable hits, his hits are legal and aren't with the intention of injuring another player. Laraque, however, has a history of gooning it up on the ice and hitting players high, high-sticking, or just flat out playing dirty. What makes this a dirty play in my mind is that Laraque makes NO ATTEMPT at using his stick to play the puck but just goes for a knee on knee.

I've posted the video below for your own viewing in case you missed it

Poll

Was Laraque's hit on Kronwall dirty and does he deserve a suspension?

Definitely! He deserves a suspension!

193 votes

Yes, but that's just hockey-no suspension

19 votes

No, a hockey play and that's it

5 votes

On the fence

4 votes

221 votes | Poll has closed

Wings down Habs 3-2 in SO

MrNorrisTrophy — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:26:31 -0000

More photos » by Graham Hughes - AP

25 days ago: Montreal Canadiens' goaltender Carey Price, right, is scored on by Detroit Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk, of Russia, during an overtime shootout during an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Graham Hughes)

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Detroit got back in the win column after a loss to Dallas and an overtime loss to Florida as they beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in a shoot-out.

Brad Stuart started the scoring for both teams on a power-play goal at 12:41 of the first period. Stuart put what seemed to be a rather innocent shot past Montreal netminder Carey Price for a 1-0 Detroit lead. Price was screened by Todd Bertuzzi and his own defender, leaving little chance to find the puck until it was already in the net. Dan Cleary and Brett Lebda assisted on Stuart's second goal of the season. The powerplay resulted after Montreal's George Laraque took six penalty minutes on one shift, including a tripping call that put Niklas Kronwall for the remainder of the game and possibly a long stretch afterwards.

"You know it's something that shouldn't happen in hockey," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "A guy shouldn't hang his leg out there and hurt another guy. It's unacceptable and it's disappointing, obviously. We just lost a good player for a period of time. Our doctors will look at him, but he's out for a chunk for sure."

Pavel Datsyuk would add another Red Wings power-play goal as he tipped a Brian Rafalski shot past Price for a 2-0 Detroit lead, only 2 minutes after the first goal by Stuart. Datsyuk scored his sixth goal of the season as he was camped out to Price's right before Rafalski's shot from the blue line. Datsyuk's goal came on a five-on-three as Laraque was still in the box, now joined by Paul Mara.

Jimmy Howard, starting his 5th game in the past 6 stopped numerous quality chances from Montreal during the second period en route to his 4th win of the year. Howard stopped 16 shots in all as Detroit out-shot Montreal 35-18, making Price work all night and leaving Howard with a much more manageable work load.

Mike Cammalleri scored his tenth and eleventh goals of the season as he lead the Canadiens back to a tie in the third period. Cammalleri's first goal came just nine seconds into the 3rd period as he fired a drop pass from Andrei Kostitsyn into the net behind Jimmy Howard. Cammelleri's second goal was the result of a beautiful pass from Kostitsyn, who blazed the puck across the goal mouth from the sideboards to the tape of Cammelleri's stick; tying the game at 2 with under 9 minutes gone in the 3rd period. Howard has little hope of stopping the shot and the pass was near perfect as the Canadiens capitalized on a rare miscue from Nicklas Lidstrom.

Overtime ended with out any goals being scored so the teams prepared for the shoot-out. Cammelleri was stopped by Howard on the first attempt of the shoot-out. Pavel Datsyuk did one of his patented "Datsyukian dekes" to beat Price and ultimately win the game. Henrik Zetterberg sealed the win with a pretty special move of his own as the team departs Montreal with a 3-2 win and 2 more points in the standings.

Detroit's next game is on Monday against Nashville, a game that will be seen on Versus.

MrNorrisTrophy's Wing of the Game: Pavel Datsyuk. Pavel scored the second goal of the game and had an incredible move to beat Carey Price and win the game. He added 6 shots to his 20:35 of ice time and 81% success rate in the faceoff dot.

Canucks-Red Wings Preview

Sean Zandberg — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:46:39 -0000

"ATTACK!"

Canucks (10-9-0)

Red Wings: (8-5-3)

GAME TIME: 4:30 PM PST

TV: Canucks PPV

THE ENEMY: Winging It In Motown

UPDATE: 3:22 PM: I forgot to mention that Mathieu Schneider is in and O'Brien is out. C'mon Schneider! Burn your old team! Do it!

UPDATE: 11:12 AM: We told you the top 2 lines, and now the bottom 2 lines:

Glass-Johnson-Bernier

Pettinger-Rypien Hansen

UPDATE: 11:05 AM PST: Chris Osgood and Kirk Maltby are ill and will not play tonight. The newest Wing, Drew Miller, who was plucked off the waiver wire by Detroit earlier this week, will play. Jimmy Howard, who has a 2-2-1 record and a .893 save percentage, will start in goal.

**********************

Detroit had a few days to think about their 5-1 loss to the lowly Leafs on November 7. On Wednesday they took all that aggression out on Steve Mason and the Blue Jackets, destroying them 9-1. Concerning if you are a Canucks fan who just watched Vancouver lay a rotten egg in St. Louis on Tuesday.

Niklas Kronwall scored 2 goal and 1 assist in the win. Justin Abdelkader scored twice. Pavel Datsyuk, Todd Bertuzzi, Daniel Cleary and Henrik Zetterberg all had 2 points each. Despite the loss to the Leafs, the Wings have won 4 of their last 5. They now return home, where they have a stellar record of 5-1-1. The Canucks, as Mike pointed out in terrific, terrifying and in-depth fashion below, are lousy on the road with a 3-7 record. They have not found a consistency in their game at all away from GM Place. Slow starts are killing them.

On October 27, the Wingnuts beat the Canucks 5-4 in Vancouver. It was a great game despite the loss, from an entertainment perspective. AV's boys blew 2-0 and 3-2 leads. They were outshot 42-26. Generally, the Canucks 'get up' for games against Detroit, and we should see a much better effort from them tonight.

Roberto Luongo returns! Let's see if he has any rust on him after missing several games with a rib injury. The biggest factor is the team. They have a style of play that works. Now they have to, to a man, go out there and play that game.

We'll keep you updated on any roster adjustments. It looks like Darcy Hordichuk will serve his 1-game suspension tonight, even though he feels he is innocent, saying Cam Janssen dropped the gloves first. We could very well see Jannik Hansen make his regular season debut tonight.

The Province reported yesterday that AV was employing the following top 2 lines in practice:

Mason Raymond-Henrik Sedin-Ryan Kesler

Alex Burrows-Kyle Wellwood-Mikael Samuelsson

Burrows and Wellwood are being given a chance to shake their offensive futility. They had better get it going and quick.

Datsyuk: "I gotta...I gotta stop and go to the bathroom!"

Zetterberg: "Just go, man!"

Red Wings blow out Blue Jackets 9-1

joehass — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:36:02 -0000

More photos » by Jay LaPrete - AP

Justin Abdelkader celebrates his second goal of the night with Brad May.

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Ken Hitchcock entered the league in January, 1996. In his first game with the Dallas Stars, he lost 4-0 to the Detroit Red Wings. For Ken Hitchcock's 1,000th game as an NHL coach, that was the score at the end of the first period.

Seven different Red Wings scored Wednesday night as Detroit beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 8-1 in Columbus.Jimmy Howard made 25 saves to help the Red Wings get their three-games-in-four-nights run off to a flying start.

Detroit jumped out quickly on goals from Dan Cleary and Pavel Datsuyk in the first four minutes, both from bad Columbus clearing attempts. When Kris Draper made it 3-0 on yet another Blue Jacket turnover, Hitchcock pulled starting goaltender Steve Mason, seemingly ready to give his starter the rest of the night off having faced only six shots.

The Red Wings would add the first-period capper from Niklas Kronwall on a screen by Todd Bertuzzi to go to the locker room up 4-0. But when Columbus came out for the second period, Mason was back in net. And it seemed to be a reasonable decision, as Rick Nash took advantage of a sloppy touch by Nicklas Lidstrom to put the Columbus on the board.

But Detroit came back with two goals in 33 seconds from two players that desperately needed to light the lamp. First Bertuzzi took a Datsuyk pass and put it past Moore so fast that no one except Bertuzzi responded. Then Ville Leino was set up nicely by Henrik Zetterberg to get his first goal since October 10 against Washington. The Red Wings went to the locker room up 6-1, which already set their high-water mark for goals in a game this year.

But they weren't done yet. With Anton Stralman in the penalty box, Kronwall got his second of the night by putting it in the top corner. Then Justin Abdelkader got into the action with back-to-back goals, his first goals since October 17.

Interestingly, every Red Wing goal scorer netted his third goal of the season tonight.

The Red Wings will head back to Joe Louis Arena for tomorrow night's matchup with Vancouver.

Player of the game: Niklas Kronwall's three points helped lead the Wings.

Catch the highlights below.

Back on the grind...

MrNorrisTrophy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:14:02 -0000

More photos » by Larry MacDougal - AP

Appropriate players for the title...(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Larry MacDougal)

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Hey folks, sorry for the lack of content over the past few days. Halloween weekend takes more out of you than you'd expect I guess. Add on some surgery for me and various other things, I just wasn't able to get my mind in that mode. But after a brief break, we're ready to continue bringing you the Red Wings coverage and insight you've come to expect.

With that said, here are a few things for you to peruse prior to tonight's game against the Boston Bruins:

We've got a new layout! You may have noticed the subtle but good changes to the layout and design of the site. This is a SBN wide change and I personally think it looks great.
NESN (the FS-D of New England) did a Q&A with us and the link to that can be found here. Give it a read through.
The Wings went 2-1-2 over the West Coast road trip, earning 4 much needed points and now sit four points behind Chicago in the Central Division. Maybe this wasn't needed quite yet?
More than just four potential points were lost over the road trip as the Wings lost a crucial part of this year's offense with Valtteri Filppula being injured for 6-8 weeks following a broken wrist.
To add to the injury/inactive woes, three defensemen have come down with the flu. Niklas Kronwall, Brian Rafalski, and Jonathan Ericsson. We probably won't see until later in the day which players actually are fit enough to dress for the game tonight.
Don't look now but Pavel Datsyuk is starting to roll. Six points in his last three games as he finally starts to gain some momentum with his play heading into tonight's game against a banged up Bruins team. Speaking of those injuries, the Wings will get to go the whole night without having to think about Milan Lucic and Marc Savard.

Check back later for an abbreviated--and I mean abbreviated--look at the Bruins stats for the season.

Time for Some Encouraging Numbers (and a few depressing ones...)

mpetrella — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:23:42 -0000

More photos » by Jerry S. Mendoza - AP

2 months ago: Detroit Red Wings' Valtteri Filppula, right, from Finland, scores against the Colorado Avalanche during the third period of their NHL hockey game on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009 in Detroit. The Avalanche won 4-3 in overtime. (AP Photo/Jerry S. Mendoza)

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So what if the Red Wings have "3" in the loss column?! So what if Loss #3 didn't come until November 26th last season?! There's some encouraging trends to take note of despite the grim outlook. For one, the Red Wings also started 06-07 with a record of 3-3-1, and all they did was finish with 50 wins and the top spot in the Western Conference.

Some other numbers (warning: many are difficult to stomach) for your Tuesday hangover:

There's a grand total of three Red Wings on the plus side of +/- with Nicklas Lidstrom and Kirk Maltby co-leaders at +3. Brian Rafalski follows with +2. Niklas Kronwall is the low man at -4.

Thirteen different players have taken faceoffs for the Red Wings - and super-stud Kirk Maltby is dialing in at 100% (2-for-2). Valtteri Filppula has taken the most draws (107), while Pavel Datsyuk has the top percentage among actual, full-time centers (58.1%).

Filppula and Henrik Zetterberg are the only skaters to have played in all seven games who have not yet taken a penalty. Brett Lebda (4 GP), Darren Helm (3), and Patrick Eaves (3) have also stayed away from the sin bin. I'll be happy to start the WINGING IT IN MOTOWN PENALTY POOL, taking bets on who will be the last Red Wing to take a penalty. Take a look at the nifty little poll below...feel free to chime in your thoughts in the comments, as well.

Todd Bertuzzi, Val Filppula, and Hank Zetterberg are the blocked shots leader among forwards (4 each), which is a good clip behind the team leader (Kronwall - 13).

Speaking of Bertuzzi, he's the front-runner for the new MIKAEL SAMUELSSON AWARD (given to the player with the most shots missing the net altogether) with eight, including one that was fired about 50 feet over the net from no more than six feet away. Which might take skill. Maybe.

If the current trends continue (and, of course, they won't), Derek Meech and Patrick Eaves will each finish the season with 36 games in the press box as a healthy scratch. By comparison, Meech had 35 last season (which led the team), followed by Chris Chelios (28), Brett Lebda (9), Tomas Kopecky (3), Ville Leino (3), Kirk Maltby (3), Darren McCarty (2), and Kyle Quincey (the first two games of the season, prior to his being waived).

Of the 23 players currently on the roster (which excludes LTIR dwellers Andreas Lilja and Johan Franzen), the average salary is $2,343,193. Chump change.

On Saturday, the Red Wings lost in the shootout to the Avalanche - with only Jason Williams scoring in the post-game circus. Last season, the Wings took part in 10 shootouts, with Pavel Datsyuk converting five times (to lead the team in that category). The only other players to score during the shootout in 2008-09 were Jiri Hudler (3 times), Henrik Zetterberg (3), and Marian Hossa (twice).

Much has been made of Pavel Datsyuk's slow start, thanks to zero goals through seven games (two of which he didn't play in, due to injury), but it mirrors last season's start. His first goal in '08 came in Game #8, which was a 5-4 shootout victory against Chicago. Pasha also scored one of his aforementioned shootout goals.

Mikael Samuelsson is tied for 35th in league scoring. Kyle Quincey is 10th among defensemen. Jiri Hudler is 8th in KHL scoring (with 15 points in 16 games). Much of the rest of the KHL Top Ten reads like the rosters from the 1995 NHL All-Star Game: Alexei Yashin (2nd), Jozef Stumpel (3rd), Jaromir Jagr (6th), and Josef Vasicek (8th). Oh, and former irrelevant New York Islander Mattias Weinhandl (who actually leads the league with 19 points).

Poll

Who will be the final Red Wing to be called for a penalty (minor OR major)?

Brett Lebda

36 votes

Darren Helm

42 votes

Patrick Eaves

70 votes

Henrik Zetterberg

50 votes

Valtteri Filppula

75 votes

273 votes | Poll has closed

Open-Ice Hits

Hawerchuk — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:45:56 -0000

More photos » by FRED CHARTRAND - AP

2 months ago: Ottawa Senators' Daniel Alfredsson, of Sweden, is hit by Atlanta Thrashers' Zack Bogosian (4) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Fred Chartrand)

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Most hits occur along the boards. No big surprise there. But how many hits is "most"? I classified any hit inside the red area below as an open-ice hit:

Approximately 75% of all hits occur within 10 feet of the net or the boards, while less than 5% happen in "open-ice." After the jump, the league leaders in open-ice hits...

This table includes both 2007-08 and 2008-09. There isn't much overlap between the two lists - the hitters are big defensemen and aggressive forwards; the guys who get hit include a lot more playmakers and scorers. I was surprised to see both Darcy Tucker and Sean Avery in the top 12 for taking hits - perhaps there are a lot of players in the league who are gunning for them in open ice.

Hit For	#	Hit Against	#
Dustin Brown	47	Alexander Ovechkin	46
Douglas Murray	39	Evgeni Malkin	37
Keith Ballard	33	Sidney Crosby	31
Alexander Ovechkin	30	Dustin Brown	26
Garnet Exelby	28	Derek Roy	22
Brooks Orpik	27	Ales Hemsky	21
Dion Phaneuf	27	Ryan Kesler	21
Cory Sarich	26	Tuomo Ruutu	21
James Wisniewski	25	Alexander Semin	20
David Backes	25	Valtteri Filppula	20
Toni Lydman	24	Darcy Tucker	19
Ed Jovanovski	23	Sean Avery	19
Niklas Kronwall	23	Scottie Upshall	19
Ruslan Salei	22	Matt Stajan	19
Chris Phillips	21	Brooks Laich	19
Dan Girardi	21	Loui Eriksson	19
Martin Hanzal	21	Chad LaRose	18
Dan Hamhuis	20	Mike Richards	18
Freddy Meyer	20	Devin Setoguchi	18
Ryan Malone	20	Alex Kovalev	17
Brent Seabrook	20	Corey Perry	17
Anton Volchenkov	19	Mikhail Grabovski	17
Shane Doan	18	Mike Ribeiro	16
Hal Gill	18	Erik Cole	16
Brendan Witt	18	Patrick O'Sullivan	16
Andreas Lilja	18	Maxime Talbot	16
Colton Orr	18
Steve Ott	18
Tuomo Ruutu	18