Duncan Keith

The Chicago Blackhawks finished the 2010-11 season with an upsetting first round playoff loss the the Presidents' Trophy winners in the Vancouver Canucks.

After winning the Stanley Cup, the team went 44-29-9 and reached the playoffs. This year, they look keep the same plan, but this time make it back to the finals.

For any pair of NHL defensemen, toughness is a mandate. These pairings do it better than any other.

Toughness is a difficult concept to quantify. For these rankings, I considered statistical measures such as fighting, shot blocking, penalty minutes, hitting and ice time in addition to more qualitative factors, like a players’ ability to play through pain or strike fear into the hearts of his opponents.

In the fourth installment of NHL Power Rankings by position, I'm taking a look at the 10 best defenseman in the NHL today.

But first, a few ground rules. In order to qualify as a "defenseman," the player must be listed on NHL.com's 2010-11 regular season statistics page as a D and have played a minimum of one full NHL season (80-plus career NHL games). 

Two possible elimination games are being played today that will help clear up a muddled Western Conference playoff picture. The Detroit Red Wings have already punched their ticket to the Western Conference semifinals with an impressive sweep of the Phoenix Coyotes. However, for the rest of the teams battling to advance, their future is not so bright.

On the heels of an impressive 5-0 victory over the Canucks in Vancouver, the Chicago Blackhawks return home with hope of winning a series that once saw them down 3-0 to the Western Conference's top seed.

In the last two games alone, the Blackhawks have scored 12 goals and have chased Roberto Luongo from net both times.

It may seem like Chicago fans have jumped into the Delorean, and put the pedal to 88 miles per hour. The Blackhawks have made the trip back in time (Back to the Future reference) to the past couple seasons, and took care of business in Vancouver in Game 5.

Written off for dead after Game 3, Chicago has come back in dramatic fashion with dominate victories of 7-2 in Game 4, and 5-0 in Game 5.

Hockey days are numbered for the Blackhawks in Chicago, and if something isn't done quickly, their right to call themselves the "Defending Champions" will be convincingly revoked.  

Third line production

The hockey gods certainly have a twisted sense of humor. There was only one scenario that would result in the Chicago Blackhawks playing the Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the playoffs.

And it was the most unlikely scenario because both Chicago and Dallas had to lose.

Most members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) including myself will vote on the best defenseman in the NHL for the 2010-11 campaign very soon.

This year’s race has been one of the more interesting ones.