Who was the best on the blue line last season?
Even Strength Total Rating, Regular season 2008-9
| Rank | Name | Team | Pos | ESTR |
| 1 | Dennis Wideman | BOS | D | +0.90 |
| 2 | Mike Green | WSH | D | +0.84 |
| 3 | Chris Butler | BUF | D | +0.83 |
| 4 | Mike Mottau | NJD | D | +0.81 |
| 5 | Steve Montador | BOS | D | +0.80 |
| 6 | Jeff Woywitka | STL | D | +0.80 |
| 7 | Duncan Keith | CHI | D | +0.73 |
| 8 | Nicklas Lidstrom | DET | D | +0.69 |
| 9 | Mark Streit | NYI | D | +0.68 |
| 10 | Lubomir Visnovsky | EDM | D | +0.68 |
| 11 | Willie Mitchell | VAN | D | +0.65 |
| 12 | Alex Goligoski | PIT | D | +0.64 |
| 13 | Filip Kuba | OTT | D | +0.64 |
| 14 | Stephane Robidas | DAL | D | +0.61 |
| 15 | Andreas Lilja | DET | D | +0.61 |
| 16 | Ken Klee | PHX | D | +0.60 |
| 17 | Alexander Edler | VAN | D | +0.60 |
| 18 | Anton Babchuk | CAR | D | +0.58 |
| 19 | Denis Grebeshkov | EDM | D | +0.58 |
| 20 | Joni Pitkanen | CAR | D | +0.58 |
You expect to see Mike Green there, with his 31 Goals and 73 Points -great teammates or not- and Mark Streit, of the Norris Trophy-caliber season, but did you see Dennis Wideman coming?
Speaking of Boston defensemen…Wideman, Montador…Where’s Trophy winner Zdeno Chara? Clearly, the voters picked the worst candidate from amongst the finalists. You know, the usual.