Rob Scuderi
Registered User
- Sep 3, 2009
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D, Willie Mitchell
(thanks to Hedberg for the Hockey Writers article and TDMM for the hockey anaylsis article)
(thanks to Hedberg for the Hockey Writers article and TDMM for the hockey anaylsis article)
http://www.straight.com/news/willie-mitchell-crucial-part-canucks-crewThe singers can sing and the dancers can dance, and Willie Mitchell will be quite content with his role in the Vancouver Canucks’ production of winning hockey this season. Mitchell is a stagehand—a well-paid stagehand, mind you—happy to do the heavy lifting far from the spotlight but secure in the knowledge that the show can’t go on without him.
Through the Canucks’ first 52 games, Mitchell had one goal and three assists and was minus seven—hardly the type of numbers for Canucks fans to get excited about. But the affable Mitchell is able to laugh at his offensive output because he knows that’s not why the Canucks made such an effort to land him last summer.
“I have fun with it and I don’t care about it, to be honest,†he says of his defence-as-an-art philosophy during a dressing-room interview after a GM Place practice. “What I care about is stopping the other teams’ top players, and if I can do that, then I feel like that’s scoring goals—and really, it is. If they’re not scoring, it’s like scoring one, and for me that’s what I take pride in. That and the penalty kill. And if I can go out there and successfully keep the other teams’ best players off the scoresheet and successfully kill penalties, then I like our chances.â€
Mitchell brings a presence to the Canucks blueline that is clearly lacking when he’s not in uniform, and he is one of the reasons the Canucks penalty-killing is tops in the NHL. He also restores the natural order of things on the back end, allowing players like Kevin Bieksa and Mattias Ohlund to join the rush safe in the knowledge that Mitchell is ready to bail them out.
One of the most impressive things about Mitchell’s contribution has been his ability to play with an edge yet remain almost always under control.
“I think any time you’re running to hit someone, you’re exposing yourself. Any time you’re outwaiting your opponent and letting them come to you, they’re exposing the puck and you poke it and transition the other way. Ask Daniel and Henrik [Sedin] or anyone who’s really good down low—they want you to come into the corner after them. You’re leaning, and they roll out the other way and that’s when they’re effective and then they beat you,†Mitchell explains. “Obviously, you want to play physical when you can, but it’s a fine line of knowing when you can and when you’re not going to leave yourself exposed defensively.â€
http://thehockeywriters.com/overtime/hard-working-willie-mitchell/The Hockey Writers (Jeff Angus) - 6/17/2012 said:Willie Mitchell is one of the best defensive defensemen in hockey. All it took was 719 NHL regular season games, 71 NHL postseason games, and stops in New Jersey, Minnesota, Dallas, Vancouver, and Los Angeles for most people to find out. Wherever he has gone in his hockey career, he has brought with him an insatiable will to win, a quiet confidence in his abilities, a tenacity to defend his own goal, and a really long hockey stick.
To his teammates, he is a defensive rock and a calming presence on the ice. To the goaltenders that play behind him, he is a safety net. To his coaches, he is a player they can lean on in difficult situations. To the media, he is a breath of fresh air in a sport full of scripted answers and clichés. To opponents, he is a physical and formidable foe. And most importantly, he is now a Stanley Cup Champion.
He is finally receiving the credit he has so long deserved for being one of the elite shutdown defensemen in a sport that glorifies beautiful goals, hard hits, and dazzling saves. His stick positioning is as good as Steven Stamkos’s wrist shot, Pekka Rinne’s glove, or Sidney Crosby’s backhand, but you won’t find clips of his defensive abilities on the highlight reels.
Mitchell brought with him a focus on the defensive craft not seen in Vancouver in a long time. He quickly emerged as the top shutdown defenseman on the team. He logged heavy minutes on the penalty kill, and was matched up against the top opposing forwards each night. It wasn’t a coincidence that the team emerged as one of the best in the league during Mitchell’s four seasons.
Mitchell played almost five minutes per game on the penalty kill in 2006-07. Across the league, only Derian Hatcher (5:37 per game) and Adam Foote (4:58 per game) played more.
In the next three seasons, Mitchell’s role on the Canucks was very consistent. He logged an average of 4:15 per game on the PK, and 0:17 on the PP. He played the toughest minutes among any Canuck defensemen for those three seasons.
http://hockeyanalysis.com/2013/01/25/ilya-kovalchuks-power-play-ice-time/HockeyAnalysis.com said:On the other end of things, over the last 5 years Willie Mitchell has played a whopping 59.2% of his teams 4v5 PK ice time which is might actually be more impressive considering how much more demanding playing on the PK is.
Little study I spent three hours on...
- Determine the top-5 teams defensively each season from 1968-1979, the top-6 each season from 1980-2000, and the top-7 each season from 2001-2012. these are defined as elite defensive teams.
- create a new column in the TOI spreadsheet (1967-2006)that sums up only the total of ES and PK ice time, eliminating PP from the equation. Use NHL.com for 2007-2012
- count the number of times a player is either the leader in non-PP TOI on an elite defensive team, or 2nd place and within one minute.
What I'm left with is a list representing which players since expansion have tended to be the bulwark of a very strong defensive team.
177 players showed up at least once. These are the 85 that showed up at least twice.
Bourque | 15
Stevens | 14.5
Chelios | 11
Potvin | 9
Robinson | 8
Mitchell | 8
Lidstrom | 7
Desjardins | 6
D.Hatcher | 6
Chara | 6
Hajt | 5
Howe | 5
Ramsey | 5
Johnsson | 5
D.Smith | 4
Laperriere | 4
Orr | 4
White | 4
Savard | 4
Schoenfeld | 4
O'Connell | 4
Langway | 4
Macoun | 4
Leetch | 4
Zhitnik| 4
(undrafted 90s defenseman) | 4
(undrafted 90s defenseman) | 4
Foote | 4
Gibbs | 3.5
Park | 3.5
Zubov | 3.5
Jo.Watson | 3
Horton | 3
Neilson | 3
Stapleton | 3
Baun | 3
Seiling | 3
Lapointe | 3
McCrimmon | 3
U.Samuelsson | 3
(undrafted 90s defenseman)| 3
S.Smith | 3
Weinrich | 3
Pronger | 3
Niedermayer | 3
(undrafted 00s defenseman) | 3
(undrafted 00s defenseman) | 3
Hannan | 2.5
Tremblay | 2
Arbour | 2
A.Brown | 2
Harris | 2
(undrafted 70s defenseman) | 2
Harper | 2
Ji.Watson | 2
Salming | 2
Dupont | 2
Milbury | 2
Dailey | 2
D.Wilson | 2
Hartsburg | 2
Engblom | 2
Marois | 2
(undrafted 80s defenseman) | 2
Butcher | 2
K.Hatcher | 2
Konstantinov | 2
Cote | 2
(undrafted 90s defenseman) | 2
Ragnarsson | 2
(never drafted 00s defenseman) | 2
(undrafted 90s defenseman) | 2
Regehr | 2
(undrafted 00s defenseman) | 2
(undrafted 00s defenseman) | 2
(undrafted 00s defenseman) | 2
(undrafted 00s defenseman) | 2
Boyle | 2
Keith | 2
(undrafted 00s defenseman) | 2
(undrafted 00s defenseman) | 2
(never drafted 00s defenseman) | 2
(never drafted 00s defenseman) | 2
(undrafted 00s defenseman) | 2
Doughty | 2
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