Red Wings grade well on report cards

November 25, 1:27 AMDetroit Red Wings ExaminerMike Mouat

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Mikael Samuelsson and the Red Wings celebrate their good grades (CP)

I checked our family calendar on the fridge today and saw that today is my kids’ report card day at school. By incredible coincidence today also marks the quarter-pole mark of the Detroit Red Wings schedule and it's time to assign grades to the individual players. 

Overall the team has raced out to a 14-2-4 record for 32 of a total 40 points available. I checked with my kids and that works out to winning percentage of 0.800 and an “A” on the letter grading scale at their school. What makes the record more impressive is they have played 13 of their 20 games away from Joe Louis Arena.

The Wings lead the league in goals per game (3.74) and power play efficiency (32.9%), and are tops in faceoff winning percentage (54.2%). They are second in the Western Conference behind the San Jose Sharks.

Marian Hossa  'A+' - Brought in for his offense he leads or shares the team lead in goals (11), assists (13), points (24), and shots (82). And to top it off he leads the team in plus/minus rating at +9. 

Henrik Zetterberg  'A+' - While centering line 1B he is displaying MVP form. He leads the Wings forwards in ice time per game, is second in goals with 10, tied for the lead in power play goals with 5, despite missing two games. He has been held without a point in just four games so far.

Pavel Dastyuk  'A' – Datsyuk ranks in the top 20 in league scoring with 21 points, and continues to display the form that allowed him to win the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the league. His 23 takeaways rank fifth in the league. His brilliance is his consistency as he has scored at least one point in 16 of 20 games this season.

Johan Franzen  'A' – Has started the season just as hot as he finished last season. His nine goals in 15 games played is a 50-goal season pace. Scores big goals too as four of his nine goals have been game winners.

Jiri Hudler  'B+' - Struggled early in the year on the second line but has been hot recently and is providing more offense than expected from a third line winger. Shares the team lead in power play points with 10.

Tomas Holmstrom 'B+' - His hot start, six goals in six games, carried the team at the start of season, but has slowed recently and is now injured. He remains a menace in front of the other team’s net and the best at tipping pucks.

Kirk Maltby, Tomas Kopecky, Darren McCarty, Kris Draper  'B+' - The fourth line has done exactly what is expected. Maltby leads the way with two goals and remains effective killing penalties, McCarty has provided toughness, Kopecky has been physical and Draper has been excellent on faceoffs and on the penalty kill. The entire group has been difficult to play against and they have provided energy the rest of the team feeds off of.

Valtteri Filpulla  'B' – Has been very effective as the third line pivot. Provides a responsible 16 minutes per game defensively while flashing enough offensive potential to cause concern for the opponents, especially as chemistry develops with Hudler.

Mikael Samuelsson  'B-' - Has scored near a point a game pace with nearly half his points coming on the power play. Scores points in clusters, as a second line winger he needs to be more consistent and effective 5-on-5.

Dan Cleary  'C' – Vision issues may have contributed to his difficulties prior to coming out of the lineup. After last year’s success more was expected than 2 goals in 13 games and minus 3 rating.

DEFENSE

Nicklas Lidstrom  'B+' - Difficult to grade because he is so good, but earns a B+ because he has not played his best hockey yet. In fact all the defenseman have not played as well as they can as a unit and individually. I am reserving the A mark for Lidstrom for later in the season.

Brian Rafalski  'B' – His play on offense deserves an A. He set a team record for a defenseman by recording at least one point in seven consecutive games to start a season, and leads all Wings defenseman in scoring. Defensively his play has been a C. His 15 giveaways is tops among defenseman and his plus/minus is even through 20 games.