One part of the "new" NHL that is not working out

[LabattBlue]

The thought was that once the players got used to the fact(during the preseason and first few games of the regular season) that the referees were going to call everything, that the number of penalties would go down.

 

I don't have numbers to back this up, but the number of power plays in every game still seems to be fairly high, which in turn means that the players don't get it and are still committing infractions left and right.

 

Teams with a deadly power play will continue to have a distinct advantage until players realize that they have to be more careful.

[Taro T]

The thought was that once the players got used to the fact(during the preseason and first few games of the regular season) that the referees were going to call everything, that the number of penalties would go down. 

 

I don't have numbers to back this up, but the number of power plays in every game still seems to be fairly high, which in turn means that the players don't get it and are still committing infractions left and right.

 

Teams with a deadly power play will continue to have a distinct advantage until players realize that they have to be more careful.

I didn't have data for league-wide penalties. But this year the Sabres averaged 7.2 pp opportunities through their 1st 5 games and 6.0 through the next 5. Way too little data to claim that a trend has been established, but it's there for whatever it's worth.

 

I'd say the players are getting the hang of it, watch a guy like McKee ride a player out of the play without grabbing onto him. But because they can't waterski behind someone or blatently cross check someone who is standing in front of the net, they are getting themselves into a position where they either have to hook a guy or give him a solid scoring chance. I expect, if the officials keep calling obstruction type penalties, that the number of powerplays will stay up overall this year vs. last season. Faster play forces situations where someone is out of position.

 

Just for comparison, Sabres averaged 4.9 powerplays last season through the 1st 10 games and are averaging 6.9 through the 1st 10 this year.

 

Sabres pp was hitting at 18.4% last year for 9 goals through 10 games. This year it was at 15.9% with 11 goals. On the surface it looks worse than last year, but if you take away the 4 game ppg-less streak, the team is hitting on 25% of it's powerplays.

[deluca67]

but if you take away the 4 game ppg-less streak, the team is hitting on 25% of it's powerplays.

Isn't that like saying "if you took away the goals Biron let it, he had a shutout?"

;)

 

Just Wondering :blink:

[Guest Guest]

Isn't that like saying "if you took away the goals Biron let it, he had a shutout?"

;)

 

Just Wondering :blink:

It's more like saying if you take away Zhitnik and replace him with better players, the team made a bad decision.

[DrunkenSabre]

i think it'll take time for players to learn, its almost instict to hook someone to slow them down, gotta fight that. of course players like hatcher will permanently struggle as thats basically their main form of defense.

[Knightrider]

Isn't that like saying "if you took away the goals Biron let it, he had a shutout?"

;)

 

Just Wondering :blink:

I suspect it had more to do with who we played in that 4 game pp drought as opposed to who we played two years ago. That four minute increase on the pp though vs. two years ago is encouraging though.

[blugold43]

The thought was that once the players got used to the fact(during the preseason and first few games of the regular season) that the referees were going to call everything, that the number of penalties would go down.

 

I don't have numbers to back this up, but the number of power plays in every game still seems to be fairly high, which in turn means that the players don't get it and are still committing infractions left and right.

 

Teams with a deadly power play will continue to have a distinct advantage until players realize that they have to be more careful.

i don't think a dozen games is long enough to judge. i'd say by christmas you'll see a difference. but i've been wrong before.

[Taro T]

Isn't that like saying "if you took away the goals Biron let it, he had a shutout?"

;)

 

Just Wondering :blink:

To a degree it is.

 

As I had mentioned at the beginning of my post, 10 games is WAY too little data to provide a meaningful analysis, but I was throwing the statistic out there for reference. (I am actually surprised it took 4 hours for someone to call me on it. :P ) In another thread there was a post about the Sabres powerplay being poor, I was merely pointing out that it was more of a case of being hot and cold.

 

IF the team can keep the consistancy it has shown on the powerplay the last 5 games, they will be one of the better pp teams in the league. Tonight's game against Ottawa will be a good test (regardless of goalie used by Ottawa), as Ottawa is where the dry spell started.