These awards are based purely on the statistics that reflect a particular pair's chemistry (or lack thereof). So now we'll start off with the less esteemed honors. There are only two -- and poor old Jonny Ericsson found himself winning both of them.
Firstly, we have the "Any Time Now" Award -- which goes to the pair that spent the most time on the ice together without appearing on the scoresheet together for a goal.
Yep, on the ice for over 327 minutes and no hook-ups. It's a little more acceptible considering they're defensemen. But still, Janik hooked-up with four different Red Wings in only 156 minutes of ice time total.
The "Bad Influence" Award goes to the pair with the lowest +/- of any other pairing in the team.
It's kinda surprising to see how bad Brad Stuart's plus/minus is this year. He hasn't been awful but the numbers suggest otherwise. Ericsson's stats on the other hand, not as surprising. This pair was on the ice for 12 more goals against than for -- ouch!
Now onto the good Awards. For some of these we'll have a little countdown...
The "Joined at the Hip" Award is for the pair with the most TOI together.
5th: Lidstrom & Zetterberg - 621.9 mins
4th: Datsyuk & Rafalski - 636.5 mins
3rd: Lidstrom & Datsyuk - 680.4 mins
2nd: Datsyuk & Holmstrom - 716.9 mins
Pretty obvious really. The only thing worth noting about this is Brad Stuart, who had the most 5-on-5 ice time of any skater on the the team, seemed to spend it with no-one in particular as he's doesn't partner with anyone enough to make even the top 7 in this category.
The "One For Me, One For You" Award is for the pair that most demonstrates that sharing is caring. It's for the duo that reciprocates the most goals and assists with each other. No countdown necessary.
That's right, there's a lot of love between these two. Four times Hank set up his man Bert for a goal and four times Bert returned the favor.
The "Giving Man" Award is an individual honor for the player which has been the most selfless in his relationship with his teammate. The Best Giving Man in Detroit is the one whose assists to his partner most outweighs his assists from him. Also, no countdown needed.
Pavel Datsyuk: the ultimate giving man. Well, for Homer anyway. It was a bit of a one-way relationship between the two this year -- Homer got 7 goals from Pasha, and only gave 2 in return. Selfish, selfish sod.
Following on from that...
The "Hook A Brother Up" Award is for the pair with the most hook-ups during the season.
Tied-4th: Zetterberg & Bertuzzi - 11
Tied-4th: Lidstrom & Zetterberg - 11
Tied-2nd: Eaves & Helm - 12
Tied-2nd: Datsyuk & Zetterberg -12
Datsyuk and Holmstrom's ability to click isn't too surprising. But one thing I'd like to highlight is Patrick Eaves and Darren Helm getting on the scoresheet together 12 times -- good for second in the team. That's quite impressive for two guys who aren't scorers. Great synergy, I hope they do it again next season.
The "Quickest Hook-Up" Award is for the pair with the best hook-up rate during the season. To be counted, a pair must've had at least 3 hook-ups to give the data some integrity.
5th: Miller & Draper - 36.08 mins/HU
4th: Franzen & Holmstrom - 35.70 mins/HU
3rd: Cleary & Miller - 33.80 mins/HU
2nd: Cleary & Filppula - 33.43 mins/HU
Hank and Homer get it done the most consistent and quick, hooking-up once every 32.76 minutes. Very impressive. Also impressive was Miller apprearing in the top 5 twice -- with Draper and Cleary. I hope we retain the Detroit-native for the 2010/11 season.
The "Net Gain" Award to me is about the best single indicator of a pair's effectiveness together. The duo with the highest plus/minus for the season get this award as the biggest "Net Gainers". This excludes goalies.
5th: Rafalski & Zetterberg - +12
Tied-3rd: Datsyuk & Holmstrom - +14
Tied-3rd: Lidstrom & Datsyuk - +14
2nd: Datsyuk & Rafalski - +16
It's not a particularly surprising revelation that the two players with the highest +/- on the team pair up for the best simultaneous +/- but again this season, this was a very effective pair. Ralf and Lids are still two of the best D-men in the league and provide Detroit with a first-class top pairing.
And now, the biggie...
The "I Love You, Man" Award is for the pair that share the truest, most undying love for each other. This is an award based on my own estimations factoring into it all the pair statistics, for the best overall Red Wings partnership of the 2009/2010 season.
5th: Zetterberg & Filppula - 5 Hook-Ups, 43.20 mins/HU, 216 mins, +5
4th: Franzen & Holmstrom - 8 Hook-Ups, 35.70 mins/HU, 285.6 mins, +1
3rd: Datsyuk & Zetterberg - 12 Hook-Ups, 36.13 mins/HU, 433.6 mins, +5
2nd: Lidstrom & Rafalski - 3 Hook-Ups, 349.17 mins/HU, 1047.5 mins, +17
Overall, the stats these two put up together couldn't be ignored. They were only tandem to combine a large hook-up total with a great +/- rating. The love between these two is strong. Every time they gaze into each others eyes there is an eternal flame that burns... burns the competition. Goalies hate them, but they don't care. They have each other and that's all they need.
Homer + Pasha 4eva.
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