Who plays the more physical game, Ducks or Wings?

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

I made the mistake of visiting allducks.com today. Wow, that ranks right up there with some of the biggest mistakes i've ever made, even during my college days. Anyway, a common theme over there seems to be that the Ducks can hit the Wings right out of the arena. That notion is so prevalent that it had me thinking perhaps we're having another WMD moment here, you know, like if you say it enough it becomes true or enough people will finally believe it, whether its true or not.

So I did some checking on this and maybe there's merit to the Duck fan's claims, maybe not.

So far in this series the Ducks are averaging 26 hits per game. The Wings are averaging 20. They doubled the hits on us I think last game which should be an aberration b/c you don't hit a whole lot when you spend the majority of the game on the powerplay, knocking pucks past Anaheim goalies

Interesting tidbits of the 1st 2 rounds:

Hits per game

Ducks = 204 hits over 10 games or 20.4

Wings = 334 hits over 12 games or 27.8

In the 1st 2 rounds the Ducks threw 30 or more hits in only 1 game, whereas the Wings hit the 30 or more mark 6 times.

Also, the Ducks failed to throw at least 20 hits in 4 games, whereas the Wings did not hit at least 20 only once, in the final game of the Sharks series.

Maybe there's something to be said for the amount of impact a particular hit makes and for who is doing the hitting. I myself am a believer that the Wings never really had great hitter, or at least the ones that make you weary of getting hit by them. But after watching these playoffs i've found myself to be shocked and thrilled to see that it isn't so much whether you can plaster a guy or if you weigh 220 lbs, its how effective your hits are at taking guys out of plays, at turning over pucks and collectively as a team if you can do it consistently game in and game out.

With that being said, does anybody believe that the Ducks are so significantly better than us at playing a physical game? On paper they would seem to be but with through a little over 9 periods of play the Ducks are averaging somewhere around 1.7 hits per period more than us. Is that superiority? Or is it negligible?

Yes, I am bored. Want game to start. Want beer. Want chips. Want wife to zip it and leave me alone.

[regwinguofmfan 0]

Err, I believe Vladdy made opposing forwards knees weak as they came to the blue line.

[norrisnick 1]

The Ducks have the potential to be a lot more physical than the Wings, but they aren't putting in the same effort we are.

[Jwo 7]

Yes, I am bored. Want game to start. Want beer. Want chips. Want wife to zip it and leave me alone.

Just give your wife money and tell her to go shopping for shoes.

Edited May 18, 2007 by Jwo

[Mudvayneowns91 0]

The Ducks have the potential to be a lot more physical than the Wings, but they aren't putting in the same effort we are.

I think a lot of that has to do with Babs

[wingsfan40 0]

Over the first 2 rounds we might of hit more often but I think they hit a bit harder then we did...They've got some big boys on that team

Edited May 18, 2007 by wingsfan40

[Guest nutz2u]

Over the first 2 rounds we might of hit more often but I think they hit a bit harder then we did...They've got some big boys on that team

Really BIG

[OpenLane 10]

like everyone else is saying, the ducks have a bigger propensity to bring a more physical game than we do. However, i feel we take the hits better than most clubs. I mean look at Lebda, that little guy gets hit harder and more often than anyone...and he's still in there banging away. Gritty, we're being more gritty. And that's something you really can't put a stat to, so as long as we keep hustlin' we'll get there.

i hope 'the wing' win tonight...might actually allow me to stop thinking about what pronger did to us last post-season.

[TEX-WING 0]

if you controll the puck the whole game you don't need to out hit anyone because they are spending most of there time chasing you.

[Guest bullocks]

Ducks play the more physical game. Red Wings play the smarter game.

[OsGOD 3]

Can't really tell you about physical play.... however, I can tell you which team plays more dirty

[YoungGuns1340 1]

The Ducks SHOULD be the more physical team. But they arent playing like it.

[stevie 4 president 0]

Wow I also went to AllDucks.com and you have got to be kidding me with some of these idiots. You can really tell that half of these morons don't know the first thing about hockey. I really think it is just the "cool" thing to do in socal right now. "Hey let's go to the ice rink and see what clebs we can run into. That will be fun." Give me a fu%$ing break.

I will say it wasn't all of them but better than half were idiots.

[Wing Nut 0]

I think the ducks showed their true colors last game. They are just a bunch of goons with size and speed. If things aren't going there way they have a mental melt down just like Cow-galry did. They can hit very hard.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

This is a great thread!

While hits are great, disciplined hits are what make the difference, as you hinted at. The Wings are hitting, not only more, but smarter as well. They aren't and haven't been all season a hitting team, but they've revved it up in the playoffs. It shows that they are willing to give those hits and do the dirty work to get the puck back (especially in the offensive zone - forecheck). When the Wings do this, no team thus far has had an answer for it.

The Wings' hitting is necessary to keep the opposition in check (no pun intended), and make them realize that this isn't the same team that got pushed around in playoff years past (even though most seem to already understand that). As far as I'm concerned the Wings don't need to outhit an opponent, just be comparable to what their dishing. As I said before, when the Wings match other teams physical play, it gets the opposition on their heals and allows the Wings to play their pretty passing game, which leads to goals.

As others have said, the Ducks absolutely should be the more physical team, but they aren't putting forth the effort that the Wings are.

Edit: Spelling

Edited May 18, 2007 by Never Forget Mac #25

[lets go pavel 2]

I think the ducks rely more on hitting ... they have size, and it's part of their game. We don't have the size and don't need the physical element as much, we play more puck control. So in this sense, yes, they are more physical ...

BUT ... from what I've seen, when the ducks run into a team that can take a hit and return a hit - like us - they have trouble. They're great when they are the physical team, but when both teams bring it and they lose that physically dominating presence/intimidation they don't seem to have much rhythm. This year we've done a great job adjusting to a physical game without letting it disrupt our style ... so in this sense we seem better suited to a 2-sided physical game.

Edited May 18, 2007 by lets go pavel

[Seraph 240]

Multiply those hitting averages by the number of pounds behind them. Then we're definitely behind.

[drwscc 212]

Don't forget that Pronger is 6'6"!! He's a monster and hits like a Mack Truck.

-oh wait...not too much hitting going on in the press box.

[HockeyCrazy3033 168]

Ducks play the more physical game. Red Wings play the smarter game.

Bingo.

Regardless of who's more physical, I am so damn proud of the Wings. The fact that each and everyone on them has stepped up their physical game is just amazing. Take for instance the last game. Look how agressive they came out from the drop of the puck till the last buzzer. The fact that Hank and Dats are throwing their body around says enough. Dats slammed one of the Ducks into the board in game three, twice, and I was just shocked and joyed.

Ducks can come at the Wings all they what, and the Wings will take it right back to 'em and be smart about it as well. It's not even that the Wings are hitting, but sometimes they'll TAKE the hit when they know it's coming just to make a play happen. For instance Cleary saw a hit coming in Game 3 and right next to him was Drapes. Right as he's being slammed into the boards he gives the puck to Drapes. It's plays like that and just sacrificing yourself is going to make all the difference in the world. We haven't seen this from the Wings in YEARS and I think it all goes back to Babcock. He's done a wondeful job with this Wings team.

Oh and by the way..Lilja ROCKS. 53 hits that leads the league baby!

[Defenseman13 0]

I think the rep of the Ducks being physical comes from the fact that they led the league in fighting majors, and have a dude like Ron Jeremy---er, George Parros leading the way.

But when it comes to laying smart checks that result in puck control and just plain smart hitting, the Wings lead.

[Dabura 12,207]

I think the ducks rely more on hitting ... they have size, and it's part of their game. We don't have the size and don't need the physical element as much, we play more puck control. So in this sense, yes, they are more physical ...

Agreed. The Ducks are more physical in the sense that that's a big part of their game that they can't really do without. The Wings can certainly dish it out, but it's not an absolutely essential part of their plan of attack most nights, IMO.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Ducks should come to mind first, but the Wings are deceptive with the physical game. No, they're still not going to overpower or strike fear into opponets with hitting 24-7, but they don't back down, they don't quit, and they dish just as many hits out when it is necessary.

[Gordie Howe hat trick 110]

This is a little off the topic but it relates...so Dan Celary had a goal, an assist, and would we call that punch to the face he gave to the Duck a fight...I think Cleary got a Gordie Howe hat trick. Thoughts?