Stalwart Defensemen of the NHL

Today we will take a look at the best defensive players in the NHL. To do that, we will add the number of blocks each player has to their amount of takeaways. Here is the list:

Alex Pietrangelo

1. Alex Pietrangelo- Defense- St. Louis 15+2=17 The first line defensemen has played stellar defense as the Blues have started the season off with a 4-1 record. He also contributed on the offensive side of things scoring 1 goal and dishing out 4 assists. Has only spent two minutes in the box and currently has a +3 rating.

2. Brent Seabrook- Defense- Chicago 15+1=16 Playing on the Blacks second defensive pair and averaging just over 22 minutes a game Seabrook helped the Blackhawks to a 5-0 record. He hasn't  been the hottest overall as he has -3 rating and has two points. He did score one goal on only 4 shots so the low offensive production is not surprising from the defensive defensemen.

3. Dan Girardi- Defense- NY Rangers 14+2=16 Similar to Seabrook in that he has a negative rating with -2 and only has two points, both being assists. He has pounded the net with shots putting 12 on net as the Rangers struggled to start with a 2-3 record including a loss against the lowly Flyers.

Zbynek Michalek

4. Erik Johnson- Defense- Colorado 14+2=16 Almost no offensive production for the first liner with only 1 assist and 5 shots on net. The 2-2 Avalanche do player better when he is on the ice as he currently has a +2 rating.

5. Zbynek Michalek- Defense- Phoenix 15+0=15 The Coyotes' defender with an almost impossible name to pronounce has been an absolute defense only player this year. He has not recorded a point yet this season and only has 4 shots. He is one of only a few Coyotes(1-4) with a positive rating (+1).

6. Niklas Hjalmarsson- Defense- Chicago 12+3= 15 On Chicago's third defensive pair and has been one of their most solid players so far this year. Currently has a +6 rating which is second only to Johnny Oduya. Only has 4 shots on net this year while averaging just 20 minutes a game of ice time.

7. Jordie Benn- Defense- Dallas 11+4=15 The Stars are off to a mediocre start but Benn has been the core of their defense. He a -2 rating but that can be attributed to some porous goaltending and a week offense that only has 11 in 5 games. He has only put 4 shots on net this year in limited playing time as he is on the 3rd line.

 
All-NBA

Guard- Deron Williams- Brooklyn 74 Although the Nets lost 119-106 to the Rockets Williams played a strong game getting the double-double. His 27 points came from a 10-15 night from the field including a solid 5-9 from 3 pt land. He added in two free throws as well and 11 assists.
Guard- Kemba Walker- Charlotte 72 In a rare win for the Bobcats against Minnesota Walker scored 25 points while grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 8 assists. He also played strong on the defensive end getting 3 steals and blocking two shots. He was efficient at the stripe going a perfect six-for-six and had his jumper going with a three-for-five night from behind the arc.
Guard- Ty Lawson- Denver 62 A very solid shooting performance for the former Longhorn going 11-15 from the field for 26 points. He hit 4 of his 4 3 pt attempts and had 4 steals in the Nugget's 121-93 victory over the Kings.

Triple-Double Man

Forward- Nicolas Batum- Portland 74 As the Blazers edged out the Griffin led Clippers 101-100 in Portland, Batum played one hell of a game. He recorded a triple double with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. He did commit a hasty 5 turnovers but that was not enough to destroy Portland.
Forward- Joakim Noah- Chicago 58 Noah shown the brightest last night in the very low scoring 86-73 Bullets Wizards win over the Bulls. Noah put up a double double featuring 17 rebounds and 10 assists. He only scored 9 points but his domination of the boards was enough to earn a spot on this list.

Other Notable Stats
Ramon Sessions committed 6 turnovers as his Bobcats beat the Timberwolves.
Omer Asik, Noah's former backup recorded a league high six offensive rebounds.

All- NHL
Forward- Marian Gaborik- NY Rangers 18 Had an incredible offensive night with 4 points coming from 2 goals and 2 assists. Played incredible in every inch of the rink finishing with a +4 rating and a hit, a block, and  a takeaway that was canceled out by his one turnover.
Forward- Rich Nash- NY Rangers 17 The second Ranger on this list after the team defeated the Maple Leafs 5-2 in New York. He assisted on goals in both the second and third period to finish wiht a +4 rating. Continued his aggressive playing style recording three hits.
Forward- Jonathan Toews- Chicago 16 Toews had a pretty good nigh in the faceoff circle going 13-6 in addition to his one goal that proved to be the gamewinner. He also added in a hit, block, and takeaway in Chicago's 3-2 win over Columbus.
Forward- Jarret Stoll- LA Kings 16 Squeezed his way onto the list playing at the grinding third liner dominated the faceoff dot winning 16 of 22 draws and knocking down 4 Coyotes in the Kings' 4-2 victory.

Played Like Not a Douche for once

Defense- Luke Schenn- Philadelphia 21 It is odd to see a Flyer on this list but Schenn had a great game in the Flyers' 7-1 win over Florida. On offense, the elder Schenn scored a goal while assisting Matt Read's second of three goals. Defensively the aggressive checker had 11 hits (hopefully he doesn't end up suspended again) and one takeaway. He finished the game with a +2 rating.
Defense- Braydon Coburn- Philadelphia 15 Only one of two Flyers' skaters on the list which is surprising considering they won 7-1 last night. Finished with a +3 rating in 22.5 minutes of play. His two assists complemented his defensive play nicely as he blocked 4 shots in addition to knocking down 3 Panthers.
Defense- Jake Muzzin- LA Kings 15 The second King on the list played a very nice all around game last night. Had one goal and one assist on offense while making two hits, blocking a shot, and stealing one puck. He finished the game with a +4 rating.

Bryzgalov

Goalie- Ilya Bryzgalov- Philadelphia 9 You would think that when a team wins 7-1 that their goalie wouldn't have to do much but that was not the case for Bryzgalov. His Flyers were actually outshot 31-26 by the Panthers and Ilya made 30 saves for .968 SV%. As an added bonus he picked up an assist.
Goalie- Thomas Greiss- San Jose 7 Had a pretty easy night finishing with a shutout on only 24 shots as the Sharks beat the Avalanche 4-0. This tells us that there was not much solid goaltending last night as there was an average of 6.125 goals a a game compared to the average 4 to 5.

Other Notable Stats
James Reiner of the Maple Leafs faced 41 shots last night but only saved 37 in their loss to the Rangers.

Has also been arrested
for Grand Theft Auto

Colorado's Ryan O'Byrne accumulated 19 Penalty Minutes. The best part about it was that it took him just one play. With 4:20 left in the first period he got into a fight with Brad Stuart of the Sharks to get the frist 5 minutes. He also got two instigator penalites (wearing a face shield while instigating adds another 2 minutes) and along with that came the 10 minute miscounduct adding up to the 19 minutes.