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Brendan Shanahan hit the 80-point plateau for the first time since the 1996-97 season.
Ales Hemsky improved his career-best from 34 points in 2003-04 to 77 points in 2005-06.
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Forwards - The Red Wings boast one of the deepest attacks in the league. Eight different Detroit forwards scored at least 20 goals, and eight had at least 50 points. It's little wonder that the Wings were also the league's most effective team with the man advantage. The old guard still contributes, Brendan Shanahan in particular, but it's really the youngsters that are carrying Detroit's offence. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg have become the focal point of the Red Wings' top line and will be for years to come. Despite all the offensive flair, the Red Wings also have a couple of the league's top checking forwards in Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby, although the latter's plus/minus rating sticks out like a sore thumb on this team. Captain Steve Yzerman is the wildcard. His playing time has gone up as the playoffs approached, and his play has picked up with the increased ice-time. He can still make a huge impact in the post-season. The Oilers have a decent offence with good depth and balance, but struggles for consistency at times. Ryan Smyth is still the go-to guy when it comes to goal-scoring, and he led the team by a wide margin with 36 tallies. Raffi Torres was next with 27 goals. While that drop is significant, the Oilers have a lot of players in double-digits when it comes to goals. Ales Hemsky has become the team's top point-getter and table-setter, while Shawn Horcoff and Jarrett Stoll are key scorers and face-off men. The Oilers need to get more production out of veterans Radek Dvorak, Sergei Samsonov and Michael Peca. Despite occasional flashes, they have been mild disappointments. Peca at least plays a part on a good checking line with Fernando Pisani and Ethan Moreau.
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Defence - Age and the injury to Jiri Fischer were supposed to decimate this unit, but the Red Wings have really responded to the challenge. Nicklas Lidstrom and ageless Mathieu Schneider still lead the way, leading all Detroit defenders in goals, assists, points, and ice-time. Veteran Chris Chelios is no longer an offensive threat, but remains a rock in his own zone and ranks among the team leaders in plus/minus. Niklas Kronwall has returned from injury to log important minutes, as has Andreas Lilja. The Oilers are pretty good in this department led by Chris Pronger, who was very solid in his first season with Edmonton. Pronger was all the Oilers hoped for in terms of scoring, defensive grit and leadership. Rookie Marc-Andre Bergeron was better than expected, contributing major minutes and helping out on the powerplay. Jaroslav Spacek was another offensive force and led Oilers defencemen in plus/minus rating. Veterans Jason Smith, Dick Tarnstrom provide quality depth.
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Goaltending - Manny Legace finally took over as Detroit's number one guy and had a great season. He finished among the league leaders in wins, goals against average and save percentage. Detroit also has the luxury of an experienced player in Chris Osgood. He was very good as Legace's number two during the regular season and has won Stanley Cups as a starter. Detroit is in good shape in goal. The Oilers are among the best teams in the league in limited shots on goal, and that's a good thing when you consider their netminding options. Dwayne Roloson has put up rather pedestrian numbers since being acquired from Minnesota, but he's still better than Jussi Markkanen and Ty Conklin. Roloson's big problem has been soft goals. Some great efforts by Roloson have been derailed by one or two momentary lapses. He will have to eliminate that in the post-season if the Oilers are to have any hope of advancing.
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