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Brian Rafalski

#28 · Defence · Detroit Red Wings

Born Sep 28, 1973 in Dearborn, Michigan, USA · 5'10", 194 lb · Shoots right

Trophy case

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2010-11. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Brent Seabrook CHI · 48 P in 82 GP Shea Weber NSH · 48 P in 82 GP Tomas Kaberle BOS · 47 P in 82 GP Dan Boyle SJS · 50 P in 76 GP John-Michael Liles COL · 46 P in 76 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below.

020401999-00: 32 points3299-002000-01: 52 points5200-012001-02: 47 points4701-022002-03: 40 points4002-032003-04: 36 points3603-042005-06: 49 points4905-062006-07: 55 points5506-072007-08: 55 points5507-082008-09: 59 points5908-092009-10: 42 points4209-102010-11: 48 points4810-11

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
1999-00 NJD 75 5 27 32 21 28 128 102 0.43
2000-01 NJD 78 9 43 52 36 26 142 82 0.67
2001-02 NJD 76 7 40 47 15 18 125 61 0.62
2002-03 NJD 79 3 37 40 18 14 178 19 0.51
2003-04 NJD 69 6 30 36 6 24 130 28 0.52
2005-06 NJD 82 6 43 49 0 36 126 56 0.60
2006-07 NJD 82 8 47 55 4 34 148 60 0.67
2007-08 DET 73 13 42 55 27 34 175 38 0.75
2008-09 DET 78 10 49 59 17 20 141 33 0.76
2009-10 DET 78 8 34 42 23 26 134 39 0.54
2010-11 DET 63 4 44 48 11 22 106 49 0.76
11 seasons Career 833 79 436 515 178 282 1533 567 0.62

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
1999-00 NJD 23 2 6 8 5 8 31 34 0.35
2000-01 NJD 25 7 11 18 10 7 47 34 0.72
2001-02 NJD 6 3 2 5 -2 4 19 2 0.83
2002-03 NJD 23 2 9 11 7 8 36 19 0.48
2003-04 NJD 5 0 1 1 0 0 9 6 0.20
2005-06 NJD 9 1 8 9 3 2 9 11 1.00
2006-07 NJD 11 2 6 8 -1 8 11 12 0.73
2007-08 DET 22 4 10 14 6 12 58 14 0.64
2008-09 DET 18 3 9 12 11 11 24 12 0.67
2009-10 DET 12 3 8 11 4 2 23 10 0.92
2010-11 DET 11 2 1 3 -1 4 23 10 0.27
11 seasons Playoffs 165 29 71 100 42 66 290 164 0.61

2010-11 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
63 4 44 48 11 22 106 49 0.76 3.8 20:25

2010-11 analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

+4.3Goals above replacement233rd of 672 skaters, 55th of 233 defencemen
+0.7Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+0.0Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 233 ranked defencemen: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence+2.8 95th percentileEven-strength defence-1.2 28th percentilePower play-0.7 17th percentilePenalty kill+0.1 61st percentilePenalties-1.0 42nd percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among defencemen. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

57.0Corsi for %1038 attempts for, 782 against
+5.0CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
54.0Expected goals for %43.5 expected for, 37.1 against
+2.2xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
55.5Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
56.3Goals for %58 for, 45 against
100.3PDO9.7% shooting + 90.7% saves
123Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 569 skaters who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. PDO and attempts taken are left plain, since neither is good or bad on its own.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Brian Rafalski · Jonathan Ericsson58687:3756.652.535-29
Brian Rafalski · Jakub Kindl2082:3456.358.93-5
Nicklas Lidstrom · Brian Rafalski5180:3162.555.710-5
Brian Rafalski · Niklas Kronwall3952:4260.868.23-1

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

4Goalsnot counting empty-netters
4.7Expected goalsfrom 143 unblocked attempts
-0.7Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.22 expected goals per 60 minutes69th
Shot quality 3.3% chance per attempt53rd
Finishing -0.7 goals above expected41stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 232 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

01234Game 20Game 40Game 60Expected 4.7Goals 4

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. Darker red means more attempts from that spot, and each dot is a goal. "Show every shot" switches to a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Apr 10, 2011 @ CHI W 4-3 0 1 1 2 2 1 0 23:20
Apr 8, 2011 vs CHI L 2-4 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 22:43
Apr 6, 2011 @ CAR L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 0 3 1 22:02
Apr 3, 2011 vs MIN W 4-2 0 2 2 1 2 5 1 21:18
Apr 2, 2011 @ NSH W 4-3 (OT) 0 2 2 1 0 2 0 24:22
Mar 30, 2011 vs STL L 3-10 0 0 0 -3 0 0 0 15:35
Mar 28, 2011 vs CHI L 2-3 (OT) 0 2 2 0 0 2 0 18:45
Mar 26, 2011 vs TOR W 4-2 0 1 1 -1 0 1 0 16:31
Mar 23, 2011 vs VAN L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 22:55
Mar 21, 2011 vs PIT L 4-5 (SO) 0 0 0 -2 0 3 0 20:30
Mar 19, 2011 @ NSH L 1-3 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 21:23
Mar 17, 2011 @ CBJ W 2-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 14:49
Mar 16, 2011 vs WSH W 3-2 0 3 3 2 0 0 0 19:10
Feb 24, 2011 vs DAL L 1-4 0 0 0 -2 0 5 1 22:18
Feb 22, 2011 vs SJS L 3-4 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 22:02
Feb 20, 2011 @ MIN W 2-1 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 20:13
Feb 18, 2011 @ FLA W 4-3 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 19:25
Feb 17, 2011 @ TBL W 6-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 20:32
Feb 13, 2011 vs BOS W 4-2 0 1 1 3 2 3 2 21:55
Feb 11, 2011 @ BOS W 6-1 0 1 1 2 2 1 0 21:26
Feb 9, 2011 vs NSH L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 18:20
Feb 7, 2011 vs NYR W 3-2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 18:08
Feb 5, 2011 @ NSH L 0-3 0 0 0 -2 0 1 1 21:20
Feb 4, 2011 vs CBJ L 0-3 0 0 0 -2 0 1 0 20:06
Feb 2, 2011 @ OTT W 7-5 0 2 2 -1 0 2 0 21:02
Jan 26, 2011 vs NJD W 3-1 0 0 0 2 0 1 2 21:46
Jan 22, 2011 vs CHI L 1-4 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 20:49
Jan 20, 2011 @ STL W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 20:29
Jan 18, 2011 @ PIT L 1-4 0 0 0 -2 0 3 0 20:33
Jan 15, 2011 vs CBJ W 6-5 (OT) 1 0 1 2 0 1 1 21:07
Jan 14, 2011 @ CBJ L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 22:06
Jan 10, 2011 @ COL L 4-5 1 0 1 1 4 2 0 23:40
Jan 8, 2011 @ VAN W 2-1 (SO) 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 22:27
Jan 7, 2011 @ CGY W 5-4 (SO) 2 0 2 2 0 4 1 25:58
Jan 4, 2011 @ EDM W 5-3 0 1 1 1 2 2 1 19:15
Jan 2, 2011 vs PHI L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 2 0 24:11
Dec 31, 2010 vs NYI L 3-4 (OT) 0 1 1 1 0 1 3 20:47
Dec 29, 2010 @ DAL W 7-3 0 1 1 -1 2 1 1 16:17
Dec 26, 2010 @ MIN W 4-1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 16:42
Dec 23, 2010 @ STL L 3-4 0 2 2 1 0 2 2 20:54
Dec 22, 2010 vs VAN W 5-4 (OT) 0 3 3 2 2 2 1 22:24
Dec 19, 2010 vs DAL L 3-4 (OT) 0 1 1 -1 2 0 2 23:32
Dec 17, 2010 @ CHI L 1-4 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 21:17
Dec 15, 2010 vs STL W 5-2 0 1 1 -1 0 1 1 20:00
Dec 13, 2010 vs LAK L 0-5 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 19:43
Dec 11, 2010 @ NJD W 4-1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 16:12
Dec 10, 2010 vs MTL W 4-2 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 19:40
Dec 8, 2010 vs NSH L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 19:18
Dec 6, 2010 vs SJS L 2-5 0 2 2 -1 0 4 2 22:37
Dec 4, 2010 @ LAK L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 20:33
Dec 3, 2010 @ ANA W 4-0 0 1 1 3 0 2 2 19:45
Nov 30, 2010 @ SJS W 5-3 0 2 2 1 0 2 0 20:19
Nov 28, 2010 vs CBJ W 4-2 0 0 0 -1 0 2 1 16:21
Nov 26, 2010 @ CBJ W 2-1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 20:32
Nov 24, 2010 @ ATL L 1-5 0 0 0 -2 0 1 0 20:16
Nov 21, 2010 vs CGY W 5-4 (OT) 0 3 3 -2 0 3 0 23:31
Nov 19, 2010 vs MIN L 3-4 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 2 2 18:53
Nov 17, 2010 vs STL W 7-3 0 3 3 2 0 2 2 19:55
Nov 13, 2010 vs COL W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 18:37
Nov 11, 2010 vs EDM W 6-2 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 15:18
Nov 8, 2010 vs PHX W 3-2 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 2 3 15:18
Oct 9, 2010 @ CHI W 3-2 0 1 1 2 2 2 1 23:10
Oct 8, 2010 vs ANA W 4-0 0 1 1 3 0 0 1 22:16