And the top defensive forward would be...

Using the same formula I used in the previous post on defensive defencemen, here's a look at what the numbers say about who are the best defensive forwards so far this season:

	NAME	POS	TEAM	GP	QUAL COMP	5-on-5 GAON/60	4-on-5 GAON/60
1	TRAVIS MOEN	LW	ANA	56	0.20	1.27	5.08
2	PAVEL DATSYUK	C	DET	59	0.09	1.61	5.06
3	STEPHANE VEILLEUX	LW	MIN	55	0.12	2.43	4.77
4	CRAIG CONROY	C	CGY	57	0.09	2.34	4.83
5	ROB NIEDERMAYER	C	ANA	57	0.20	1.45	6.89
6	DANIEL CLEARY	RW	DET	57	0.04	1.85	4.70
7	HENRIK ZETTERBERG	LW	DET	52	0.12	1.87	6.17
8	JASON POMINVILLE	LW	BUF	57	0.13	2.41	5.36
9	KRIS DRAPER	RW	DET	50	0.03	1.86	3.51
10	JEFF HALPERN	C	DAL	61	0.13	2.32	5.96
11	TORREY MITCHELL	LW	S.J	57	0.06	1.99	5.44
12	DAVID LEGWAND	C	NSH	55	0.04	2.44	3.21
13	P.J. AXELSSON	C	BOS	50	0.07	1.89	6.17
14	PATRICK SHARP	RW	CHI	55	0.07	2.61	3.80
15	SERGEI BRYLIN	C	N.J	57	0.04	1.94	5.31
16	STEVE OTT	C	DAL	55	0.11	2.03	6.69
17	MARCO STURM	LW	BOS	55	0.08	1.77	7.10
18	JOHN MADDEN	C	N.J	55	0.17	2.49	6.43
19	ALEX BURROWS	RW	VAN	57	0.09	1.93	6.90
20	MICHAEL GRIER	RW	S.J	55	0.04	2.50	4.11

There's an awful lot of Detroit in there at the top, which is to be expected given the season the Red Wings have had (up until recently, I suppose).

Players had to put in a certain amount of minutes per game on the penalty kill, which leaves us with quite a few unheralded defensive players. I'd also give a lot of credence to the quality of competition numbers, as forwards used in a shutdown role obviously have a tougher task when matched up against the best snipers in the league.

Anaheim's defensive crew apparently hasn't missed a beat even with Sami Pahlsson missing considerable time due to injury.
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