About a week ago, shep commented on this post, pointin to some stats that don’t get as much attention as the duds in Vancouver’s recent history.

So I’ve reprinted his calculations here. (And thanks again, Shep!)

Far be it from me to suggest that the Canucks are better at anything than the Wings, but… Using the data at hockeydb.com, I totaled up a few NHL stats for skaters drafted over the ten years from ‘96 to ‘05. The results may surprise you.

First number is for Detroit, the second for Vancouver:

Players
25 - 28

Games Played
2442 - 4195

Goals
457 - 577

Assists
740 - 1057

Points
1197 - 1634

Obviously there are many factors that are not reflected here (number of low first round picks, mix of forwards/defense, ability to “season” players in the minors, what the prospects are like right now, etc), but taken at face value, I don’t think you can simply say that Detroit rules and Vancouver drools.

The time span I used was for players drafted those years. I didn’t bother with ‘06 and ‘07 because those prospects haven’t played much yet (the lone exception is Matthias—you can add another player, 4GP, 2G, 0A, 2PTS to the Wings’ ledger if you want).

The stats I used are NHL career totals (not just with DET/VAN), and appear to be current thru the 07-08 season. I say “appear” because I did not confirm all fifty-plus players. I spot checked the stats for Hank, Pavel, and the Sedins, and those are all up to date.