12 NHL Players That Do More Than Score

There isn't a fan in the NHL that doesn't like goals. If they didn't, why watch the sport?

We often find ourselves putting way too much credit into those lofty goal totals though. While it's great to have a player that can score 40, 50, or even 60 goals year-in and year-out, there are guys that don't come anywhere near those totals that play big roles for our favorite clubs.

So why not show a little love? Here are 12 guys that score next to nothing, but mean a little something anyways.

Raitis Ivanans, Calgary Flames

Games Played in 2009-10: 61
Goals Scored: 0
What else did he do: 136 penalty minutes, 14 fighting majors

It seems typical to start this list off with a bruiser, but there's no disguising why the Calgary Flames brought in the 31-year-old Latvian this offseason.

He averaged 4:53 minutes per game last season, so not only is it not surprising that he had no points, but he also had "only" 77 hits. We say only because that total would undoubtedly be higher if he wasn't raking in the fewest minutes-per-game of any King last year.

Maybe Calgary will get lucky though: Ivanans did have two goals the year before, and a career-high six in 2007-08. Maybe he's due.

Rob Scuderi, Los Angeles Kings

Games Played in 2009-10: 73
Goals: 0
What else did he do: Play defense.

Interesting that the Kings were able to score the fourth most goals in the Western Conference last year with two players making the list: What do the opposite of goal-scorers do?

Rob Scuderi was one of the prized possessions of the 2009 Free Agent Class, which is kind of surprising seeing as he signed for just $3.4 million.

Scuderi logged the third highest minutes amongst Kings defenders last season at just over 19, but it was the specialty minutes that really turned heads. Along with Sean O'Donnell and Matt Greene, Scuderi averaged over 2:33 minutes killing penalties per game.

With the departure of O'Donnell that number will be on the rise, probably back into the neighborhood of 3:47 minutes (per game) he spent on the ice shorthanded the year the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup. With Pittsburgh, he was also a team-best plus-23, while this year his plus-16 fell behind just Wayne Simmonds and Drew Doughty on the Kings.

He's alternated his goal-scoring throughout his NHL career (He would score one during one season, followed by zero the next) and with last year's zero, he's already on pace for a goal in 2010/11.

Scott Nichol, San Jose Sharks

Games Played in 2009-10: 79
Goals Scored: 4
What else did he do: Win face-offs

If you can win face-offs and play a good two-way game, there will always be a place for you in the league.

Not only did the hard-nosed Scott Nichol lead the league in face-off winning percentage (60.6 percent), but he also brought a gritty presence to the San Jose Sharks and was one of their top penalty-killing forwards. He allowed the fewest shorthanded goals-against of any top-four San Jose forward in shorthanded ice time.

Maybe he'll score 10 again one day like he did for the Nashville Predators in 2007-08.

Zenon Konopka, New York Islanders

Games Played in 2009-10: 74
Goals Scored: 2
What else did he do: Fight

The penalty-minutes leader in the NHL for 2009-10 also led the league's heavyweights in fighting majors with 33—a whole eight more than second place Brandon Prust and Ian Laperriere.

He's also surprisingly good at face-offs, winning 62.3 percent of last year's draws, but he didn't take enough to qualify for the title.

He was a scorer in Juniors and in the AHL too, so don't be surprised if he puts home more than a couple next season. Although at one point he went three NHL seasons between goals (he only played 16 games in that time).

Brooks Orpik, Pittsburgh Penguins

Games played in 2009-10: 73
Goals scored: 2
What else did he do: Hit people

Brooks Orpik is one of the heaviest hitters in the NHL. If in doubt, ask the Detroit Red Wings during the Stanley Cup Finals in 2008 (Youtube it). Erik Cole may have something to say about the legality of his hits though.

Either way, "Free Candy" (I don't get the nickname either) is one of the most punishing defensemen in the league. He may also be one of the most confusing too: after listening to him talk you'd think he was originally from Eastern Canada rather than San Francisco.

Nate Thompson, Tampa Bay Lightning

Games played in 2009-10: 72
Goals Scored: 2
What else did he do: Block shots

This is probably the most difficult trivia question to answer as far as last season goes: Name the top two forwards in shots-blocked during the regular season. The answer would be Chris Drury and Nate Thompson.

You have to make your way through over 100 defensemen before you get to their names.

Thompson split the season between the New York Islanders and the Tampa Bay Lightning last year, scoring a goal with both teams. The former Boston Bruin was earning himself some solid ice time though, averaging between 12 and 15 minutes to close out the year.

After two straight years of two goal seasons, maybe Thompson is finally due for a three goal campaign.

Tobias Enstrom, Atlanta Thrashers

Games played in 2009-10: 82
Goals scored: 6
What else did he do: Stay healthy and pass the puck

Enstrom probably has the highest ceiling in terms of goal scoring ability on this list. It normally takes defensemen a little while to generate large goal totals, but Enstrom's are nothing to overlook with 16 over three seasons.

What may be most impressive about him though is the fact that he's played in all 82 games in each of his three NHL seasons, and set a career high with 44 assists last year. In fact, he was the highest ranking player in the assists race to finish with single-digits in goals (31st in the league in helpers).

A stalwart to build Atlanta's defense around, the 25-year-old took a big leap in his development last year and should be a top-rated puck mover for years to come.

Vernon Fiddler, Phoenix Coyotes

Games played in 2009-10: 76
Goals scored: 8
What else did he do: Provide underrated depth

I broke a rule of mine when I added Fiddler to this list: I didn't want anyone who had "established" themselves as a goal scorer. That means no one with a history of hitting double-digits.

Fiddler had scored 11 goals in each of the three seasons leading to his most recent one with the Coyotes where he tailed off a little.

But for Fiddler I can make an exception. He's one of the best low-liners in the NHL, and would be worth any team's $1.1-million. He also finished in a massive tie for fifth in the NHL in shorthanded goals this year with three (both first and third were two-way ties).

If there is a shortcoming, it's that with a name like "Vernon Fiddler", he's not playing in Nashville anymore.

This star of the under-10(ish) club deserves a spot on this list.

Richard Park, New York Islanders

Games played in 2009-10: 81
Goals scored: 9
What else did he do: Win games

I knew that if I broke my rule once that I'd do it again. And yet again it's for a player that I wish I could talk more about.

Richard Park has never been a household name, but you'll come across an NHL fan every so often that has heard Park's name.(Stats Canada tells me it's one-in-five.)

He's been up and down in the goal scoring category throughout his career, but this year was special. Despite scoring just nine goals, Park set a career-high with four game winners.

The only other player to score game winners that frequently was Mathieu Darche, but with only 29 games, his three game winners in five goals is discounted by the imaginary rules (that I keep breaking) that state he didn't play enough games.

Tom Wandell's 50 games played (He had three GWG in five games as well) wasn't enough either. We're looking for about 60+. I have to have SOME standards.

Kyle Brodziak, Minnesota Wild

Games played in 2009-10: 82
Goals scored: 9
What else did he do: Score in the extra session

Ok, so we're still in quasi-legal mode as Kyle Brodziak (who does have double-digit seasons in goals to his credit....darn) had an overtime winner this year. In meeting the games-played standard (seemingly the only hard and fast rule here), Brodziak has the highest OT-winner percentage of goals scored by players playing in 60+ games with nine or fewer goals.

NHL.com will be making that a statistic starting in 2014. No word yet on who will be adorning the trophy.

Chris Higgins, Florida Panthers

Games played in 2009-10: 67
Goals scored: 8
What else did he do: Uh...he shot a lot?

This one is just plain unfortunate, but needs to be mentioned. While Higgins scored more goals than Jonathan Cheechoo, out of 165 shots he scored eight times. That's a 4.8 percent shooting percentage.

There were forwards after him scoring 15, 20, and even 30 goals as Higgins took nearly 20 more shots than the next single-digit goal scorer Richard Park, who had one more goal than him.

Here's hoping for a better year in Florida for the former Hab.

By the way, that's him on top of Henrik Lundqvist so....Tomas Vokoun better watch out. I can't tell if that would end up better or worse than Keith Ballard playing T-ball.

Lauri Korpikoski, Phoenix Coyotes

Games played in 2009-10: 72
Goals scored: 5
What else did he do: Shootouts

Many feel it takes a special player to excel in the shootout. They have to have that blessing of speed, skill, and nerves to be able to succeed one-on-one with the goalie.

While names like Crosby, Toews, Kopitar, Vrbata, Boyes, Nielson, and Datsyuk had double-digits in goals this year, Korpikoski proved that he was on par with them all—at least when it came down to the extra, extra fun.

Korpikoski was one of four players to tie for second in the league with seven shootout winners, one behind the top four who had eight.

You may also be interested to know, that only teammate Radim Vrbata was entered into more shootouts than Korpikoski amongst players in the top two. Lauri shot 17 times. Radim? 18.