97-98 NHL PLAYOFFS PIM LEADERS

Playoff PIM stats are often
misleading for several reasons:
1) There is less fighting
2) Players don't all play the
same number of games
(see playoff PIM/Game leaders
for a more useful ranking)
3) Defensemen get more holding,
hooking and tripping penalties,
due to the defensive style of hockey
played in the playoffs
(defensemen account for 5 of the
top 10 playoff PIM leaders,
but only 2 of the top 10 season leaders)
Here are the leaders anyway:

Player

Team

GPI

PIM

Grant MARSHALL

DAL

17

47

Mark TINORDI

WAS

21

42

Derian HATCHER

DAL

17

39

Sean O'DONNELL

LA

4

36

Alexei ZHITNIK

BUF

15

36

Darren McCARTY

DET

22

34

Joey KOCUR

DET

18

30

Sergei GONCHAR

WAS

21

30

Dale HUNTER

WAS

21

30

Kirk MALTBY

DET

22

30

Grant Marshall