neksys

I more or less agree with your assessment. For once the rose coloured glasses are off But two points: 1) Guys like Burrows DO win you Cups. They're all part of the whole. You need the skill in front of you, but without a solid checking line, you're done. Think Craig MacTavish - similar +/- numbers, a few more points, a damn fine checker and 4 rings to his name. The problem is, Burrows in particular won't win you a cup - just guys like Burrows. 2) haha WTF is up with his hands? The guy suddenly turns into Alex Ovechkin on a shorthanded breakaway, but can't stuff away an easy pass into a gaping net the rest of the year?

I agree in general. Its a junk stat. However, PIM becomes relevant stat when there are like, 200+ of them. Even the hook-iest, board-iest, interference-iest players in the league would be hard pressed to get 100 penalties, 2 minutes at a time. But when you've got a whole whack of 5 for fightings thrown in there, it adds up. If you see a player with 200 PIM and 30 points, you know at a glance he drops the mitts and puts a few away as well. *shrug*