Last night I was looking at which defensemen in the league play the toughest minutes and then of that group, who handles it the best. I have done this a few times this year and tend to get names like Chara, Weber, Lidstrom and Burns.

Of the top 30 Dmen in Corsi Rel QoC (who have played at least 30 games), a few are noticeable for having high OZone% numbers like Lidstrom/White and Keith/Seabrook. This means they are playing tough players but getting favorable starts when they do it. It waters down their case a little. But, most of this group have OZone% numbers in the low to mid 40s as you would expect.

Looking at possession numbers, the highest Corsi Rel in this group is Shea Weber at 12.9. Not shocking. Rounding the top 5 is a few more surprising names; Fedor Tyutin, Nikita Nikitin, Kimmo Timonen, and Ryan Suter. Some other big names in this group w/ solidly positive Corsi Rel numbers were Dion Phaneuf, PK Subban and Drew Doughty.

Then I looked at the bottom of the group in Corsi Rel and the loser was Rostislav Klesla of Phoenix at -12.4. Unfortunately, my eyes then quickly went to a familiar name, Karl Alzner at -8.4, 28th out of 30 and very close by, his twin John Carlson at -3.9 25th out of 30.

So, I think what we’re looking at here is the DMen who play the toughest minutes in the league. The team with the worst performance from this group is Phoenix with Klesla at -12.4 and Schlemko at -7. The second worst is Washington w/ Carlzner.

It appears that the pairing we are using to play against the toughest competition is doing that job worse than anyone in the league except Phoenix. I have been a huge Carlzner fan (and hope to remain so) but these numbers are very upsetting. I can't see a team whose top pairing gives up so many more shots than they take going deep in the playoffs. I guess add it to the list of things to be unhappy about these days.