FunkyBlueFish203

Nice theory, but its Draper and Malty that called on to shut down Thornton, Iginla, etc.

Actually, had you done a little research, you would know that Maltby for the past 2 seasons has become a 4th line 10-12 minutes a game player. Draper is still pivotal for face-offs and penalty killing but neither guy plays the same role he did 5 years ago.

The Wings tend to maintain the same lines against most opponents:
Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Franzen-Filppula-Samuelsson
Hudler-Draper-Cleary
The fourth shuffles.

I suggest you try out the NHL.com Stats page. It's very nice in supporting a dialogue. I'll help you out in this one: Draper and Cleary led the Red Wings in SH TOI this season playing 2:43 and 2:21 minutes per game. Zetterberg played 2:09 minutes per game SH and Datsyuk 1:47. In reverse, TOI for PP per game was 4:35 for Zetterberg, 4:33 for Datsyuk, 2:39 for Cleary and 14 seconds for Draper. Total TOI per game was 22:04 for Zetterberg, 21:23 for Datsyuk, 17:23 for Dan Cleary and 15:37 for Kris Draper.

The Red Wings have the luxury of spreading time around when it comes to special teams because they carry more depth. But if Draper plays 15 minutes a game and Maltby 12, how can they be against Iginla and Thornton who play over 20 minutes? Hhmm. The number of goals a team gives up factors into this -- the Red Wings won the Jennings this season, so their defense and forwards did a good job holding leads as well as scoring goals.

Just for you, here are John Madden's stats: 19:26 total TOI per game, of which 3:35 is SH, 0:52 is PP.

Several comments here are very ignorant based on the simple fact that you do not watch enough west coast games. How many teams have two first line forwards who play over 20 minutes each night and excel at both, offensive and defensive abilities? Only 1 - Detroit. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are phenomenal shut down players who excel at both ends of the ice. They play on the 1st PK unit, on the 1st PP unit, in the first minute of the game, the last minute, or on 5-on-3 units when the team is up 2 men or down 2 men. All of this while putting up 90+ points. It didn't hurt Sergei Fedorov or Steve Yzerman in winning the Selke while putting up offensive numbers. There's a serious lack of recognition for these two guys out east because you're not watching them enough. They always go up against the first line of their opposition -- this includes guys like Thornton and Iginla and Nash, guys who are bigger than them, more physical than them. The east has Sidney Crosby but the west is no pauper. The west is more physical, more defensive, a tighter played conference and has several superstars of its own. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are going up against the opposition's first line, not Manny Malhotra or Steve Ott. Not to take anything away from John Madden or Jere Lehtinen -- they are excellent players. The Selke awards excellence in defense; if someone has offense to go along with it, it's a coach's dream, not a detterent.