Taking and Drawing Penalties

Dirk Hoag of On the Forecheck has a great post up detailing which players have the best +/- when it comes to drawing/taking penalties:

As we near the final days of the NHL regular season, the Penalty Plus/Minus rankings are seeing not just one, but two players separate themselves from the rest of the pack. Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown has been leading the way all along, and his +59 is guaranteed at this point to lock up his second-consecutive championship in this measure.

Behind him, however, another captain, Jarome Iginla of Calgary, has put some distance between himself (+35) and his closest competition; Carolina’s Erik Cole and Buffalo’s Patrick Kaleta, both with +25.

See the entire post and the chart Dirk has put together here.

Dirk does great work and I encourage you to bookmark his site.  As for the post itself (which he has updated throughout the year), it sure makes Dustin Brown look more valuable doesn’t it? You think Team USA notices these things? I bet they do.  What is amazing to me is how few penalties a player like Martin St. Louis has taken, considering his ice-time and the poor Tampa defense.  I am also surprised by Malkin’s 38 penalties this season.  If that number comes down, I bet his points go up.

Let us know which numbers stand out for you.