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For the first time this year, I entered an online Yahoo! Hockey pool. Among the things that struck me most was that players were rewarded for penalty minutes. At first glimpse, I asked why? And truthfully, at second glance I also asked why?
Why on earth were penalty minutes being awarded as a category in the same vein as goals, assists and power play points? I am assuming that it is the rough and tough nature of certain players that is seen as a positive attribute; however, doesn’t that still seem flawed? Do NBA fantasy pools reward players for personal or flagrant fouls? Of course not.
Anyhow, this all got me thinking about penalty minutes in the NHL. Through the work of Gabe Desjardins, we are able to see which players draw the most penalties and, conversely, take the most penalties. Through these numbers, I wondered who had the best plus/minus when it came to drawing and taking penalties.
Let’s take a look at the numbers. Here are the 30 best plus/minus players when it comes to drawing and taking penalties:
NAME POS TEAM TAKEN DRAWN Plus/Minus
DUSTINBROWN RW L.A 9 41 32
ZACHPARISE LW N.J 9 29 20
NIKLASHAGMAN LW CGY 5 25 20
PAVELDATSYUK C DET 3 23 20
RYANKESLER C VAN 12 31 19
NIKOLAIKULEMIN RW TOR 1 19 18
DANIELCARCILLO LW PHI 15 32 17
CALCLUTTERBUCK RW MIN 6 23 17
PATRICKKANE RW CHI 6 23 17
PETRPRUCHA RW PHX 5 21 16
DARRENHELM C DET 6 21 15
MARTINST. LOUIS RW T.B 5 20 15
MIKERICHARDS C PHI 11 25 14
TOMWANDELL C DAL 7 21 14
BRANDONSUTTER C CAR 0 14 14
BOBBYRYAN RW ANA 7 20 13
BRYANLITTLE C ATL 3 16 13
JORDINTOOTOO RW NSH 2 15 13
EVANDERKANE C ATL 20 32 12
RICKNASH RW CBJ 11 23 12
DEVINSETOGUCHI RW S.J 4 16 12
MILANMICHALEK LW OTT 1 13 12
MASONRAYMOND LW VAN 10 21 11
JONSIM LW NYI 9 20 11
JAROMEIGINLA RW CGY 9 20 11
ROSTISLAVOLESZ C FLA 7 18 11
R.J.UMBERGER C CBJ 6 17 11
MATTDUCHENE C COL 5 16 11
ANDREWBRUNETTE LW MIN 5 16 11
**Numbers as of Saturday March 13th**
Not surprisingly, many players on this list are high-scoring players. Generally players that score have the puck on their sticks a lot of the time or are at least around scoring areas where the defense gets desperate and takes a penalty. What stands out though is the placement on this list of certain players like Nikolai Kulemin, Cal Clutterbuck, Matt Duchene and Evander Kane.
Nikolai Kulemin has really started to come on in Toronto and has far more skill than some fans realized. Cluterbuck is an interesting case in that he is arguably the most physical player in the NHL, yet he draws far more penalties than he takes. That is a difficult feat and one that is fairly impressive. The fact that rookies Matt Duchene and Evander Kane are on this list at such a young age is very encouraging. Not only have these two players adjusted seamlessly to NHL play, but they have played significant minutes and have benefitted their teams with more than just putting points on the board.
What about the worst plus/minus penalty ratios?
NAME POS TEAM TAKEN DRAWN Plus/Minus
JACKHILLEN D NYI 15 4 -11
ROBBLAKE D S.J 15 4 -11
CRAIGRIVET D BUF 15 4 -11
CORYSARICH D CGY 12 1 -11
OSKARSBARTULIS D PHI 12 1 -11
STEVESTAIOS D CGY 20 8 -12
BROOKSORPIK D PIT 19 7 -12
ANDYSUTTON D OTT 18 6 -12
IANWHITE D CGY 17 5 -12
MARCSTAAL D NYR 15 3 -12
CAMERONBARKER D MIN 14 2 -12
RYANO'BYRNE D MTL 14 2 -12
FILIPKUBA D OTT 13 1 -12
MIKECOMMODORE D CBJ 13 1 -12
RENEBOURQUE LW CGY 25 12 -13
TODDBERTUZZI LW DET 24 11 -13
RYANGETZLAF C ANA 23 10 -13
KENTHUSKINS D S.J 17 4 -13
ETHANMOREAU LW EDM 15 2 -13
SEANO'DONNELL D L.A 13 0 -13
SAMILEPISTO D PHX 22 7 -15
MATTGREENE D L.A 18 3 -15
ROMANHAMRLIK D MTL 17 2 -15
CHRISTOPHSCHUBERT D ATL 22 6 -16
NICKBOYNTON D ANA 18 2 -16
AARONWARD D ANA 23 6 -17
JONIPITKANEN D CAR 27 9 -18
SHANEO'BRIEN D VAN 20 2 -18
ROBYNREGEHR D CGY 22 3 -19
HALGILL D MTL 22 3 -19
PAVELKUBINA D ATL 19 0 -19
**Numbers as of Saturday March 13th**
The most common presence on this list is defensive defensemen. In fact, only four players on this entire list are not defensemen. Those players are: Ryan Getlzaf, Rene Bourque, Todd Bertuzzi and Ethan Moreau. Of the four, I think Getzlaf is the least surprising. He gets the most press of the four and is easily the most gifted. Unfortunately he also has a quick temper and is on a team that has been known for years for penalty taking. (Although, it should be noted that Getzlaf has been asked to take a more defensive role this season and this is reflected in the numbers listed below.) Ask Flames fans about Todd Bertuzzi and they will tell you he was known for taking a bad penalty or five. The same for Ethan Moreau who has become a hot-button topic in Edmonton for his offensive zone penalties and overall lack of discipline. The most surprising of the four players on this list is Rene Bourque. Bourque has become a very efficient scorer for the Flames and was just given a hefty contract extension. The part that is most surprising is that Bourque is arguably the Flames’ best skater at forward; he is fast and can get from one point to another very quickly. Most players on the above list, although not all, lack foot-speed (Hal Gill, Aaron Ward, Todd Bertuzzi just to name a few); however, last season Bourque was -5 in this category so he isn’t foreign to negative penalty taking territory. The fact that he is worse this season is probably disconcerting to some Flames fans but Bourque brings so many good attributes that it is not as much of an issue for Calgary fans as Moreau is for Oilers fans.
With respect to the point about the list being littered with defensive defensemen, let’s take a look at these players’ zone starts in respect to their plus/minus penalty totals (zone start percentage, meaning the percentage of face-offs taken in the offensive zone as compared to the defensive zone, is the last category):
NAME POS TEAM TAKEN DRAWN Plus/Minus Zone Starts
JACKHILLEN D NYI 15 4 -11 45.6
ROBBLAKE D S.J 15 4 -11 46.7
CRAIGRIVET D BUF 15 4 -11 48.8
CORYSARICH D CGY 12 1 -11 52.0
OSKARSBARTULIS D PHI 12 1 -11 44.7
STEVESTAIOS D CGY 20 8 -12 49.9
BROOKSORPIK D PIT 19 7 -12 54.4
ANDYSUTTON D OTT 18 6 -12 46.8
IANWHITE D CGY 17 5 -12 58.8
MARCSTAAL D NYR 15 3 -12 45.5
CAMERONBARKER D MIN 14 2 -12 59.9
RYANO'BYRNE D MTL 14 2 -12 47.2
FILIPKUBA D OTT 13 1 -12 54.6
MIKECOMMODORE D CBJ 13 1 -12 46.3
RENEBOURQUE LW CGY 25 12 -13 51.7
TODDBERTUZZI LW DET 24 11 -13 55.0
RYANGETZLAF C ANA 23 10 -13 47.4
KENTHUSKINS D S.J 17 4 -13 48.8
ETHANMOREAU LW EDM 15 2 -13 47.4
SEANO'DONNELL D L.A 13 0 -13 47.9
SAMILEPISTO D PHX 22 7 -15 57.0
MATTGREENE D L.A 18 3 -15 49.3
ROMANHAMRLIK D MTL 17 2 -15 45.4
CHRISTOPHSCHUBERT D ATL 22 6 -16 43.9
NICKBOYNTON D ANA 18 2 -16 49.1
AARONWARD D ANA 23 6 -17 49.1
JONIPITKANEN D CAR 27 9 -18 49.7
SHANEO'BRIEN D VAN 20 2 -18 47.0
ROBYNREGEHR D CGY 22 3 -19 51.9
HALGILL D MTL 22 3 -19 45.9
PAVELKUBINA D ATL 19 0 -19 44.3
**Numbers as of Saturday March 13th**
Zone start is an interesting stat but certain teams take far more offensive draws than defensive draws—such as this year’s Blackhawks which have only three players on the entire team taking less than 53.5% of their draws in the offensive zone (one of which is former Wild defenseman Kim Johnsson). So, to put the above numbers into even more context, let’s look at where each player stood in terms of zone starts on their own team (minimum 20 games played).
NAME POS TEAM TAKEN DRAWN Plus/Minus Zone Starts Tm_Rank
JACKHILLEN D NYI 15 4 -11 45.6 14th
ROBBLAKE D S.J 15 4 -11 46.7 17th
CRAIGRIVET D BUF 15 4 -11 48.8 17th
CORYSARICH D CGY 12 1 -11 52.0 9th
OSKARSBARTULIS D PHI 12 1 -11 44.7 19th
STEVESTAIOS D CGY 20 8 -12 49.9 16th
BROOKSORPIK D PIT 19 7 -12 54.4 8th
ANDYSUTTON D OTT 18 6 -12 46.8 23rd
IANWHITE D CGY 17 5 -12 58.8 2nd
MARCSTAAL D NYR 15 3 -12 45.5 18th
CAMERONBARKER D MIN 14 2 -12 59.9 1st
RYANO'BYRNE D MTL 14 2 -12 47.2 10th
FILIPKUBA D OTT 13 1 -12 54.6 12th
MIKECOMMODORE D CBJ 13 1 -12 46.3 13th
RENEBOURQUE LW CGY 25 12 -13 51.7 11th
TODDBERTUZZI LW DET 24 11 -13 55.0 7th
RYANGETZLAF C ANA 23 10 -13 47.4 16th
KENTHUSKINS D S.J 17 4 -13 48.8 10th
ETHANMOREAU LW EDM 15 2 -13 47.4 17th
SEANO'DONNELL D L.A 13 0 -13 47.9 18th
SAMILEPISTO D PHX 22 7 -15 57.0 4th
MATTGREENE D L.A 18 3 -15 49.3 16th
ROMANHAMRLIK D MTL 17 2 -15 45.4 14th
CHRISTOPHSCHUBERT D ATL 22 6 -16 43.9 17th
NICKBOYNTON D ANA 18 2 -16 49.1 14th
AARONWARD D ANA 23 6 -17 49.1 13th
JONIPITKANEN D CAR 27 9 -18 49.7 10th
SHANEO'BRIEN D VAN 20 2 -18 47.0 14th
ROBYNREGEHR D CGY 22 3 -19 51.9 10th
HALGILL D MTL 22 3 -19 45.9 13th
PAVELKUBINA D ATL 19 0 -19 44.3 14th
**Numbers as of Saturday March 13th**
First let’s point out that six of these players were traded just around the trade deadline (Steve Staios, Andy Sutton, Ian White, Cameron Barker, Nick Boynton and Aaron Ward). Steve Staios is 16th on the list above but would be seventh or eighth on the Oilers; Andy Sutton is 23rd on the list above but would be around 11th/12th on the Islanders; Ian White is second on the list above but would be fourth on the Maple Leafs; Cam Barker is first on the list above but would be about seventh or eighth on Chicago; Nick Boynton has not played for his new team so we can bypass him; and Aaron Ward ranks 13th on the list above and would be around the same on Carolina.
Overall, very few players who have the lowest plus/minus penalty ratings also have high offensive zone face-off ratios. That is why players like Todd Bertuzzi, Sami Lepisto, and Ian White really stand out when it comes to taking too many penalties. These players are utilized more in the offensive zone yet cannot seem to limit their minor penalties.
In today’s day and age where referees are looking to call everything and anything they see as a penalty, discipline may be far more of a skill than the casual observer realizes.
Richard Pollock is Editor for the hockey website Illegal Curve. | 
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