How Does This Year's Detroit Red Wings Defense Measure Against Previous Years'?

Grit has never been an adjective associated with the Red Wings.

Over the previous seasons, Ilitch has tried his best to augment this facet of a modern era NHL team, most notably with the signings of Darren McCarty and Brad Stuart. How does this year’s defense stack up against the powerhouse that practically waltzed to a Stanley Cup win this summer?

To assist in this, I have compiled several stats, comparing this year’s defense to the defense of the '07-08 team (Stanley Cup champions) and that of the '06-07 team (Western Conference Finalists). These stats are the ones that I feel best represent the overall worth and strength of a defense. The compiled stats are at the bottom of the article.

In terms of plus-minus rating, this team lags far behind previous iterations. Plus-25 separates this team from the Stanley Cup team, while Plus-45 is the difference for the Western Conference finalists.

What this means in real terms is that while on ice, defenders from the previous two seasons either scored at least 12 more times or got scored on 12 times less. Most likely, it is some combination of the two. Regardless, with eight of their 13 games thus far being decided by one goal, 12 goals can mean a lot in Detroit’s defense of their Cup.

While the plus-minus rating is a great indicator of a player’s and unit’s dominance on ice, it is far from being able to tell the whole story. With their plus-minus looking as dismal as it does, it is almost surprising that Detroit’s trademark stifling defense is still up to its old trick of denying shots on goal.

In the past, this, combined with excellent backstopping, has helped Detroit maintain its spot among the top in goals against. This year, however, while Detroit ranks third in shots on goal allowed, it ranks a staggering 16th in GAA.

A far amount of this discrepancy may be attributed to the retirement of hockey great, Dominik Hasek.  But it is more likely that Detroit is getting beaten on fast breaks and giving up quality shots. In fact, it is projected that this '08-09 team will give up only 110 goals less then the previous two seasons combined.

The single-most important stat (apart from wins), in my humble opinion, is goal differential. This measures how effective a team is. As some teams are built to score, and some built to stifle their opponents' defense, it is unfair to compare all teams using goal- and shot-against stats.

However, the goal differential takes both these into consideration and is a good (but not, by any means, a definitive) indicator of how dominant a team is.

Take, for instance, the Detroit team of last year. By all regards, it was very, very good.

Stifling defense, explosive offense, Hall-of-Fame goal tending, this team had it all. This was reflected in its astronomical .89-goal differential. The next closest team was Montreal, at a respectable .50. By contrast, this year’s team has a GDIF of .38, placing them sixth in the league.

While it is still too early in the season for these stats to have much meaning, they do indicate a trend that should be slightly troublesome for Wings fans around the nation. They show a team that is making mental mistakes, while still playing good hockey (as shown by the discrepancy between the shots on goal figures and the goals allowed figures).

They show a team that has yet to fully adjust to the presence of All-Star forward Marian Hossa. Whether or not the Wings can overcome these obstacles will be a measure of Babcock’s coaching ability, and will ultimately be the determining factor in Detroit’s quest to defend its Cup.

Plus-minus rating, defensemen only:

(Average change per game/season total)

'06-07: 1.40 / 115

'07-08: 1.16 / 95

'08-09: .85 / 11

Projected total for '08-09: 70

Shots against:

(Per game / Season total / NHL Rank)

'06-07: 24.5 / 2016 / No. 3

'07-08: 23 / 1926 / No. 1

'08-09: 29 / 376 / No. 3

Projected total for '08-09: 2378

Goals against:

(Per game/season total # NHL Rank)

'06-07: 2.28 / 187 / No. 2

'07-08: 2.13 / 175 / No. 1

'08-09: 3.08 / 40 / No. 16

Projected total for '08-09: 253

Goal Differential:

(Per game / NHL Rank)

'06-07: .74 / No. 2

'07-08: .89 / No. 1

'08-09: .38 / No. 6

Stats compiled from data gathered from ESPN.com and Yahoo! Sports.