The Puck Stops Here
The Playoffs And Penalty Minutes
by PuckStopsHere on 05/30/09 at 01:13 AM ET
Comments (0)
There is an often repeated hockey maxim that “If you can’t beat them in the alley, you can’t beat them on the ice.” King Clancy was famous for saying it. I do not believe that it is true. This season had a negative correlation between PIMs and points. There is even stronger evidence that avoiding penalties is a key to success in the playoffs. The two teams with the least penalty minutes per game in the playoffs are the teams that will meet ion the playoffs.
Pittsburgh leads the league with 11.1 penalty minutes per game and Detroit is a close second at 11.2. The next team in the league is Washington at 11.6. On the other end of the scale, the most penalized team is the Montreal Canadiens. They took 25.8 penalty minutes per game while getting swept in four games.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that it is hard to be a successful team if you are always killing penalties, but it seems to go against the common wisdom in hockey. Only two years ago, the Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup with a very tough and often penalized club. At the time it was a common theme that teams were following Anaheim’s lead in hopes of achieving the same success. Very quickly the tables have turned. Successful teams are avoiding penalties. They may still have tough players on their roster, but the instigation and agitation of penalties that came with establishing a physical edge in the 2007 model is now gone.
Toughness may be a valuable skill to winning in hockey, but if it comes with a high penalty minute total it can be a detriment. The two teams in the finals this year have the lowest penalty minute per game totals in the playoffs. Winning and taking penalties are negatively correlated. The NHL is often a copy-cat league. When a team wins, everyone copies parts of their games. The success of Detroit and Pittsburgh will lead to more emphasis on penalty avoidance in the future.
Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
Tags: Detroit+Red+Wings, Pittsburgh+Penguins,
Comments
Be the first to comment.
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Most Recent Blog Posts
New Jersey Devils Make The Finals
Los Angeles Kings Make The Stanley Cup Finals
Another Potentially Important Signing
World Hockey Championships: Medal Round
About The Puck Stops Here
The Puck Stops Here was founded during the 2004/05 lockout as a place to rant about hockey. The original site contains over 1000 posts, some of which were also published on FoxSports.com.
Who am I?
A diehard hockey fan.
Why am I blogging?
I want to.
Why are you reading it?
???
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Donate to Kukla’s Korner