NHL Notebook
by
Ben Burns
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After
recently losing a game in which the team I selected dominated play and
doubled it's opponent's total number of shots, I received an email asking me
what is the most important ingredient necessary to win in today's
NHL. I
responded by saying that I didn't have a definitive answer. Obviously, the
key to winning is outscoring the opposition. However, pinpointing a single
specific factor which enables a team to score more goals than it's opponent
is not so obvious. Is it more important to score the most goals or to allow
the fewest??
Is it more important to have the best penalty-killing or to
have the best power-play? How relevant are shots on goal?
Let's take a
closer look at the top 10 teams in a number of statistical categories and
see if we can answer some of the above questions and determine the 'secret
formula' for success.
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GOALS
Team???????????? Goals Per Game??? League Ranking (Total Points)?
Ottawa??????????? 4.7?????????????????????? 2??
Philadelphia????4.4?????????????????????? 9
Colorado????????? 4.0????????????????????? 13
Los
Angeles??? 3.8????????????????????? 4
Toronto?????????? 3.7?????? ???????????????11
Detroit??????????? 3.6????????????????????? 1
Carolina????????? 3.6????????????????????? 3
Dallas???????????? 3.6????????????????????? 10
Atlanta??????????? 3.6???????????????????? 26
Buffalo???????????
3.4????????????????????
17
*Note that the Senators
would have the most points but have played fewer games than most teams
GOALS AGAINST
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Team???????????? Goals Allowed Per Game??? League Ranking (Total Points)
Ottawa??????????? 2.1?????????????????????????????????? 2
Minnesota?????? 2.4?????????????????????????????????? 19
Detroit??????????? 2.5??????????????????????????????????? 1
NY
Rangers???? 2.5?????????????????????????????????? 6
Phoenix????????? 2.6?????????????????????????????????? 14
Calgary?????????? 2.6?????????????????????????????????? 12
Nashville???????? 2.7??????????????????????????????????? 8
Los
Angeles??? 2.9?????????????????????????????????? 4
Carolina????????? 2.9??????????????????????????????????? 3
Vancouver?????? 2.9?????????????????????????????????? 7
Anaheim???????? 2.9?????????????????????????????????? 24
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SHOTS ON GOAL
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Team???????
????????Shots On Goal???? League Ranking (Total Points)?
Ottawa????????????? 36.1?????????????????? 2
Philadelphia?????? 33.8?????????????????? 9
San
Jose?????????? 32.8?????????????????? 21
Boston????????????? 32.7?????????????????? 22
Atlanta????????? ????32.6?????????????????? 26
Montreal?????????? 32.0??????????????????? 5
Anaheim?????????? 32.0?????????????????? 24
Detroit????????????? 31.9?????????????????? 1
Tampa
Bay?????? 31.8?????????????????? 16??
Buffalo????????????? 31.7?????????????????? 17
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SHOTS ALLOWED
Team??????????????? Shots On Goal???? League Ranking (Total Points)???
San
Jose????????? 25.1?????????????????? 21
Tampa
Bay?????? 25.6?????????????????? 16
Calgary???????????? 26???????????????????? 12
Detroit????????????? 26.1?????????????????? 1
Montreal?????????? 26.9?????????????????? 5
NY
Rangers????? 27.5?????????????????? 6
Colorado?????????? 27.8?????????????????? 13
Dallas????????????? 27.8?????????????????? 10
Edmonton??????? 28.2????????????? ??????15
Vancouver??????? 28.7??????????????????? 7
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POWER-PLAY
GOALS MADE
Team??????????????? P.P. G.P.G.???????? League Ranking (Total Points)???
Atlanta???????????? 1.75?????????????????? 26
Toronto??????????? 1.57?????????????????? 11?????????????? ?????
Philadelphia????? 1.47?????????????????? 9
Detroit????????????? 1.41?????????????????? 1
Buffalo????????????? 1.35????????????????? 17
Colorado?????????? 1.35????????????????? 13
Ottawa???????????? 1.28?????????????????? 2
New
Jersey?????? 1.25????? ????????????20
Vancouver???????? 1.24????????????????? 7
Montreal??????????? 1.24???????????????? 5
Pittsburgh???????? 1.24????????????????? 25
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POWER-PLAY
GOALS ALLOWED
Team??????????????? P.P. G.A.P.G???????? League Ranking (Total Points)???
Minnesota
????????0.65???????????????????? 19
New
Jersey?????? 0.80????????????????????? 20
Tampa
Bay?????? 0.82????????????????????? 16
NY
Rangers????? 0.87????????????????????? 6
Buffalo????????????? 0.90????????????????????? 17
Colorado?????????? 0.90????????????????????? 13
Los
Angeles????? 0.90????????????????????? 4
Detroit????????????? 0.91?????????????????????? 1
Nashville?????????? 0.94?????????????????????? 8
San
Jose????????? 1.00????????????????????? 21
Ottawa?????????? ??1.00?????????????????????? 2
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CONCLUSION
There are
many other statistics that I could have analyzed, including goal-tending,
power-play conversion percentage, the percentage of shots and/or power-plays
converted, and the percentage of penalties killed, to name just a few.
Still, I feel that those results would have demonstrated the same
conclusion. There isn't necessarily a single factor which has the biggest
impact on success in the
NHL. One dimensional teams, like the
defensive-minded Minnesota Wild or the offensive-minded Atlanta Thrashers,
can be competitive. However, the best teams in the league, like the Ottawa
Senators and the Detroit Red Wings, are extremely balanced and peform well
in virtually all facets of the game.
Handicappers
