Red Wings Valtteri Filppula and Niklas Kronwall combine for 38 of the teams penalty minutes this season. Photo Credit Julian H. Gonzalez / DFP
Penalty minutes.
Depending on the statistics database you visit, penalty minutes can be ranked in ascending or descending order
Is the team with the fewest penalty minutes the most self-disciplined? Does a high ranking in this category show toughness?
Unlike other obvious categories, penalty minute rankings lead to varying opinions.
The Detroit Red Wings are ranked 29th in PIM this season (8.4 per game), with only the Phoenix Coyotes recording less (7.9 per game).
Jonathan Ericsson leads Detroit with 43 penalty minutes in 50 games. Despite leading the team in minutes in the sin bin, he ranks 91st in the NHL.
Forward Todd Bertuzzi, known for his brutal hitting in the past, ranks 114th in the league with 39 minutes.
While Detroit has had success and sits in first place in the Western Conference at the All-Star break, some of the worst offenders in penalties are also the best NHL teams this season.
The Boston Bruins average the most penalty minutes per game (15.9), followed by Philadelphia (15.5), Ottawa (14.2), Vancouver (13.9), New York Rangers (13.7) and the St. Louis Blues (13.3).
These six teams most commonly killing penalties are ranked in the best nine in the league, while Phoenix, on the other hand, is ranked 20th in the league, despite recording the fewest penalty minutes (397).
