THE MAKINGS OF

ELITE HOCKEY TEAMS

 

 

By Glenn Guzzo

 

A record 10 National Hockey League teams achieved 100-point seasons in 2003-04, with just nine points separating Presidents Trophy winner and the tenth best team.

 

            Examination of the pre-release top-of-the-card skater ratings shows what these elite teams have in common: The combination of firepower and top defenders, plus a little something special that sets them apart from the also-rans.

 

            All 10 were in the league’s top 15 in goals for and in the top 15 in fewest goals allowed.

 

            Here’s how that shapes up for each team’s carded skaters – those in the regular set and in the extra players.

 

            Firepower: Nine of these ten teams have at least six players rated Offense-4. All of them have at least a half dozen rated Breakaway-4. And nine have at least six players who produce Inside Shots all the way through Passing L.

 

            Defense: Of the 18 players who are rated “5” defensively, 14 are on these 10 teams. Nine of these teams have at least three players who are 4s or better and five of these teams have at least four. Calgary (which played in the Stanley Cup finals), Dallas and Anaheim are the only other teams with at least four 4s.

 

            In addition, nine of these teams have at least seven players who have Skating ratings of 1-10 or better for penalty-killing. Eight of these teams have at least five skaters who can get shorthanded breakaways while Skating.

 

            Something special: This varies by team (see below), but lineup stability and versatility, face-off dominance, penalty discipline, elite penalty-killing and heavy hitting (intimidation ratings) can produce an extra goal a game in a low-scoring league where the difference between the highest-scoring team (Ottawa, 3.2 goals per game) and the lowest (Carolina, 2.10) is 1.1 goals per game. Half of the six skaters rated +3 on face-offs are on these 10 teams.

 

Detroit (109 points): The Red Wings counter lineup instability (only eight skaters played in at least 70 games) with lineup depth. Among the elite teams, no one has as many forwards who can play the point (six), no one has more top-notch face-off men (three rated +2 or +3), no one has as many skaters good at avoiding penalties (20 rated C or D), no one has as many penalty-killers who are at least 1-10 Skaters (11!), no one has more skaters with shorthanded breakaway ratings (eight). The Red Wings also have nine players with Passing L, second only to Toronto. In Kris Draper (who is also a 5 defender), they have one of the six +3 face-off men in the set. And the Red Wings, who ranked No. 1 in the NHL in penalty-killing efficiency, can put out a shorthanded unit that has three players with the maximum 1-14 Skating rating (with the fourth man 1-12). Weakness: Although the Wings have plenty of finesse, they are not physical. Only seven Wings have Intimidation ratings of 7 or higher

 

Tampa Bay (106 points): The Stanley Cup champions are special in several ways, but mostly for their lineup stability. The Lightning has only 20 carded skaters (most others have 22-25) because they have 15 who played in at least 90 percent of the games. Eighteen of those 20 have penalty ratings of C or D, as only New Jersey was shorthanded fewer times in ’03-04. Tampa has one of the +3 face-off men (Dave Andreychuk) and two 5 defenders (RW Martin St. Louis and D Jason Cullimore). Weakness: Offensive depth. The Lightning has two potent scoring lines, but the next six forwards had only 29 even-strength goals between them. There is one sharp-shooting defenseman (Pavel Kubina) and only one Passing L defenseman (Dan Boyle).

 

Boston (104) points): The Bruins will intimidate more and with less fear of penalty, than anyone. Of their 22 skaters, only five have penalty ratings worse than C, but they have 12 players with Intimidation ratings 7 and higher. When they are shorthanded, Ted Donato is one of only five skaters in the set with the best breakaway rating (1-3). Offensively, the Bruins will get more Inside Shots than most teams. They have eight Passing L skaters and four more at Passing K. That includes four defensemen – two Ls and two Ks. Weakness: Back-checking forwards. The Bruins have only one 4 defender and one 3 defender among their forwards and they are without a 5 defender anywhere. Although most of the forwards’ defensive ratings go up when shorthanded, the team has only five players with at least 1-10 Skating, easily the fewest among the elite teams.

 

San Jose (104 points): One of only four teams with two 5 defenders (C Alyn McAuley and D Scott Hannan), the Sharks defend and kill penalties well. Weakness: Selflessness. Only five Sharks are Offense-4, fewest in this group. Meanwhile, 16 skaters are either Passing L (six) or Passing K.

 

Toronto (103 points): With late acquisitions Brian Leetch and Ron Francis carded as Leafs, Toronto is the richest of all in Passing L players (11) and +3 face-off men (Francis and Joe Nieuwendyk). None of these teams intimidates more – the Leafs have 11 players with ratings 7 or higher, and five in double-digits. Only Ottawa has more skaters rated Breakaway-4 than Toronto’s eight. No team has more than the eight Leafs who can get breakaways while shorthanded. Only Detroit has more players with Skating ratings of 1-10 or better. Weakness: The thugs. Tie Domi (Intimidation 13), Wade Belak (14) and Nathan Perrot (13) are AA-rated penalty men who combined for 9 goals and 25 points. Although the Leafs Skate brilliantly shorthanded, they do not have a single defender rated 5 or 4 on the penalty-kill. That’s a big reason why the Leafs were No. 15 in the NHL in goals allowed, worst in this group.

 

Ottawa (102 points): The NHL’s highest scoring team has the most players rated Breakaway-4 (nine), the second most rated Offense-4 (eight) and the second most rated Passing L (nine). The Senators also are singularly and doubly blessed as the only team with two 5-rated defenders on the blue line, Wade Redden and Zdeno Chara. Weakness: Penalty-killing. No one, not even Redden or Chara, is a 5 or 4 defender shorthanded. Meanwhile, all that offensive firepower translates into only five skaters who can break away short handed (only Boston and Vancouver in this group have fewer) and only seven high Skating ratings (only Boston has fewer with 1-10 ratings or better).  The Senators also are the only team in this group with no face-off man better than +1, another factor in their penalty-killing inefficiency.

 

Philadelphia (101 points): The Flyers can play the finesse game (their nine Offense-4 players are the most; their eight Breakaway-4 players are second most) or the physical game (their 11 intimidators rank them just below Colorado and Boston). Weakness: The frustration factor. Without Keith Primeau, who missed 28 games, the Flyers don’t have a 5 defender or a face-off man better than +1. Like Toronto and Ottawa, this penalty-killing unit, ranked 21^st in the NHL, does not have a 5 or 4 defender shorthanded, even with Primeau.

 

Vancouver (101 points): The high-flying Canucks are tied with Philadelphia for most Offense-4 players (nine) and tied with Detroit and Colorado for most +2 or better face-off men (three). Although they can stand up to any team physically (four 120-plus penalty-minute men), they kill penalties very well (No. 3 in the NHL). Although defense is otherwise a shortcoming, Vancouver is one of the fortunate ones with two stellar blue-line defenders, Mattias Ohlund (5) and Ed Jovanovski (4). Weakness: Forwards defense. Ohlund and Jovanovski are the only 4-or-better defenders on the team, worst among the elite teams. Only three of the top 12 forwards (and four of 16 overall) are even 3s. There is also the question of where the goals will come from when RW Todd Bertuzzi is out – elsewhere, only sniper Markus Naslund (35 goals) and his center man, Brendan Morrison (22) scored more than 16 goals.

 

Colorado (100 points): On a team that was supposed to explode offensively, the very best part of the team is its defensemen, with 5-rated defender Adam Foote and 4-rated defenders Rob Blake and Ossi Vaananen. The Avalanche excelled at face-offs (three +2 men) and they have the most skaters with Intimidation ratings of 7 or higher (13). But they were supposed to do much more. Weakness: Injuries to forwards. The Avs have only six Passing L players and they combined to sit out 95 games (the five forwards in this group missed 87). On a team with Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Milan Hejduk, Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya, Alex Tanguay and Rob Blake, journeyman checking forward Steve Konowalchuk was fourth on the team in goals.

 

New Jersey (100) points: The NHL’s stingiest defense (2.00 goals against) has the defense to show for it: The most 5s (C John Madden, LW Jay Pandolfo, D Scott Niedermayer) and the most 5s and 4s (six). The team that was shorthanded fewer times than any NHL team (266 – Tampa Bay was the only other team with fewer than 316) has only three players with a penalty rating worse than C. The Devils then can kill their few penalties with four forwards who are 4-rated defenders and six players who have 1-14 or 1-12 Skating ratings. Surprise – the Devils also have plenty of Offense-4 and Breakaway-4 skaters (eight each). Weakness: Passing. The five Passing L players are the fewest among the elite teams. Six of the 22 Devils skaters have no Inside Shot results at all in their passing columns. Four players – C Scott Gomez, LW Patrik Elias and Ds Niedermayer and Brian Rafalski – accounted for 43 percent of the carded skaters’ assists.

 

Skaters Offense 4 Bwy 4 Pass L Point *, ** FO+(+2/3) Def 4+ Skate 10+ Skate-bwy Pen C,D Int 7+ Boston   22 7 6 8 2 7(2) 3 5 4 17 12 Colorado   25 6 7 6 2 5(3) 4 9 6 19 13 Detroit   23 7 7 9 6 6(3) 4 11 8 20 7 New Jersey 22 8 8 5 3 5(1) 6 9 5 19 8 Ottawa   23 8 9 9 2 6(0) 4 7 5 16 8 Philadelphia 22 9 8 7 2 6(1) 3 8 8 15 11 San Jose   23 5 7 6 2 6(1) 3 7 6 18 8 Tampa Bay 20 6 6 6 5 4(2) 3 8 7 18 7 Toronto   25 7 8 11 1 6(2) 3 9 8 18 11 Vancouver 24 9 7 7 3 6(3) 2 8 4 18 9