Interesting stat on PP chances/game

[Axeman33]

https://twitter.com/JasonGregor/stat...16222363328514

Top five teams in PP chances/game in 2006.
LA and PHO: 6.60
CAR: 6.48
ATL: 6.44
VAN: 6.41
30th...FLO: 5.01

Top five in PP/game in 2021
COL: 3.70
FLO: 3.39
TB: 3.21
NYR: 3.20
ARI: 3.18

31st...CBJ: 2.09 (lowest all time).

Call the rule book FFS.

Then someone asked him about the playoffs from 2016 compared to 2021.

https://twitter.com/JasonGregor/stat...30561308778499

In 2006...there was 166 playoff games. Teams averaged 5.8 PP/game per team.
In 2021...there was 168 games and teams averaged 2.74/team.

Pretty clear there's a problem with the way they are calling the game today.

[rataylor22]

Imagine a "professional" sports league not enforcing it's own rule book lol.

[Feenom]

Don’t worry, the NHL brass are on it.

[Pengwin7]

Hmmm... IDK, what's the problem here.

I mean, the biggest complaint I often here is "Let them play."
I'd rather see less PPO... and more games won by best team at 5-on-5.
I kind of like the lesser PP opps that we saw in 2021. (Call me crazy... or shirley... as long as you call me.)

One of the things I know pisses people off is when a penalty, then PP, results in one team scoring a critical goal or multiple goals on a ticky-tack call.

Personally, I think the ol clutch-and-grab and stickwork has been nicely decreased/eliminated from the game.
The flow of the game is a lot smoother and there is less need for penalties.

Fans typically rag about it in playoffs when their team gets eliminated... and remember one side.
For me, it's one of those "more things change, the more they stay the same".
Fans have NEVER stopped complaining about the officiating and penalties.
Too many... too few... let 'em play... call the penalty. That's the "FFS", IMO.
It's the same as politics. People are split on the right amount of penalties and rag when it's not going their way.
Bah.

The game is good.
Officiating is good.
I like it and support it in its current state.
My 2 cents.

[Axeman33]

Hmmm... IDK, what's the problem here.

I mean, the biggest complaint I often here is "Let them play."
I'd rather see less PPO... and more games won by best team at 5-on-5.
I kind of like the lesser PP opps that we saw in 2021. (Call me crazy... or shirley... as long as you call me.)

One of the things I know pisses people off is when a penalty, then PP, results in one team scoring a critical goal or multiple goals on a ticky-tack call.

Personally, I think the ol clutch-and-grab and stickwork has been nicely decreased/eliminated from the game.
The flow of the game is a lot smoother and there is less need for penalties.

Fans typically rag about it in playoffs when their team gets eliminated... and remember one side.
For me, it's one of those "more things change, the more they stay the same".
Fans have NEVER stopped complaining about the officiating and penalties.
Too many... too few... let 'em play... call the penalty. That's the "FFS", IMO.
It's the same as politics. People are split on the right amount of penalties and rag when it's not going their way.
Bah.

The game is good.
Officiating is good.
I like it and support it in its current state.
My 2 cents.

I disagree with you, which doesnt happen often LOL! I think the officiating is horrible and has been for a while now. There is WAY too much not called that should be clear penalties. The fact that a puck over the glass penalty is a penalty every time but you can cross-check and slash the crap out of someone and gets let go more times than not; that is a major problem to me. They don't call obvious infractions anymore, and it shows in the stats above. The reffing has changed over the years and the officiating is not good.

[2014olympicgold]

I think the issue is game 82 is officiated differently than game 83. A team can have their whole strategy as get to the PP and win off of special teams in the regular season but have that strategy be useless in the playoffs. Which I think is unfair.

Think Capitals when they won the Presidents Trophy. They demo'd teams off the PP, which opened up their 5on5. Remove penalties and it tightens up the 5on5 and it totally changes how they should be playing, even tho the league praised their play for 82 games.

That's always been my stance. I don't really care how you call the games, just make games 82 and 83 the same.

[Axeman33]

I think the issue is game 82 is officiated differently than game 83. A team can have their whole strategy as get to the PP and win off of special teams in the regular season but have that strategy be useless in the playoffs. Which I think is unfair.

Think Capitals when they won the Presidents Trophy. They demo'd teams off the PP, which opened up their 5on5. Remove penalties and it tightens up the 5on5 and it totally changes how they should be playing, even tho the league praised their play for 82 games.

That's always been my stance. I don't really care how you call the games, just make games 82 and 83 the same.

At the stats show in the OP, it's both the regular season and the playoffs that have changed.

[Pengwin7]

For me, NHL referees are solid, they are constantly getting better in the same fashion as NHL hockey players.
If there is a pattern of things being called... or not called... it's very likely a trickle-down from what is instructed to them by the league or the head of officiating.

The NHL has, in past, made efforts to tighten up the game... it it shows up immediately with new season penalties.
I remember they did this 5-10 years ago and it hiked up scoring quite significantly when scoring was low. (in tandem, IIRC, with a goalie pad skinny-ing)
But with shots per game rising, so has scoring.

And as long as scoring is up, penalty calling (to increase scoring) need not be raised just to promote scoring (and with scoring comes fan-base and revenue).

So... as long as games are getting 6+ goals per game...
I don't know if we'll see a change in officiating.

Again... #1 beef, I feel/hear from hockey players is when TOO MANY penalties are called.
"I wish they'd just let us play..." - this seems to be more of a NHL player gripe than "I wish they'd call more penalties". (!!!)

Again - there's always fans criticizing officiating. Al.ways.
Micro-managing the officiating. Al.ways.
Missed calls, calls that shouldn't maybe be made. Al.ways. Every year.

With 4 officials and tons of cameras, players aren't getting away with anything egregious in their games.
Also - pattern recognition of dangerous players is very clearly established.

We'll have to disagree hard on this one.
I like where the NHL is at currently with officiating and levels of penalty-calls.

For me... the tweet above is somebody that has noticed a difference in levels of penalties... somebody decided to compare past to present as if something is wrong.
But... maybe... nothing is wrong. Maybe it was just a "that was then", "this is now"... and there's reasons (as stated above) to the why... if somebody cares to dig.

[2014olympicgold]

At the stats show in the OP, it's both the regular season and the playoffs that have changed.

It's even almost impossible to get a good gauge on the change between the games because it's not the amount of calls, it's the non-calls. Which I haven't seen a stat on ever made (because who has that time lol).

Gary Bettman pointed out that the number of penalties called hasn't really changed between regular season and playoffs, but that's not the issue. The infractions def increase in the playoffs, just not called because the refs have a weird thing where they need to call 4-6 penalties a game. So of course that stat will look like nothing has changed.

Refs have a hard job, but they are managing the game to me. I would like the refs to be more accountable for stuff. If you're asking a player or coach about what they think about the reffing, then fining them if they criticize them is odd especially when the other side doesn't need to be asked about things. There's a ton of things I question about the NHL reffing, but there's a couple of things I would like adjusted:

- Why are the PPs in games so often within 1 or tied (3-2, 2-1, 2-2)? I think over like 30 games over the weekend there was 26 of them within 1 pp. Those things just don't happen
- Crosschecking. Enough said
- Call games the same from minute 1 to minute 60, and games 1-stanley cup final. If a player gets sloppy and gets a trip in the final minute of a game 7, call it. Their fault.



What will happen. Refs mics will be adjusted. Crosschecks will be called. Something won't be called anymore to offset the new penalties instead of just calling it and making the players adjust. Fans will yell, but nothing will change when it comes to the overall calling. Just like when slashing was ramped up couple of yrs ago. Other stuff just got let go to offset the new penalties being called.

[Axeman33]

It's even almost impossible to get a good gauge on the change between the games because it's not the amount of calls, it's the non-calls. Which I haven't seen a stat on ever made (because who has that time lol).

Gary Bettman pointed out that the number of penalties called hasn't really changed between regular season and playoffs, but that's not the issue. The infractions def increase in the playoffs, just not called because the refs have a weird thing where they need to call 4-6 penalties a game. So of course that stat will look like nothing has changed.

Refs have a hard job, but they are managing the game to me. I would like the refs to be more accountable for stuff. If you're asking a player or coach about what they think about the reffing, then fining them if they criticize them is odd especially when the other side doesn't need to be asked about things. There's a ton of things I question about the NHL reffing, but there's a couple of things I would like adjusted:

- Why are the PPs in games so often within 1 or tied (3-2, 2-1, 2-2)? I think over like 30 games over the weekend there was 26 of them within 1 pp. Those things just don't happen
- Crosschecking. Enough said
- Call games the same from minute 1 to minute 60, and games 1-stanley cup final. If a player gets sloppy and gets a trip in the final minute of a game 7, call it. Their fault.



What will happen. Refs mics will be adjusted. Crosschecks will be called. Something won't be called anymore to offset the new penalties instead of just calling it and making the players adjust. Fans will yell, but nothing will change when it comes to the overall calling. Just like when slashing was ramped up couple of yrs ago. Other stuff just got let go to offset the new penalties being called.

Anyone who watches the games knows that the statement from Gary Bettman is crap. There's a definite change in the way the game is called in the playoffs vs the regular season. Hockey is the only major sport that changes the way the game is called in the playoffs and it drives me crazy. They dont call the Super Bowl different from the regular season. A pass interference call in the Super Bowl is the same call in the regular season. A charge in the NBA is the same in the regular season as it is in the playoffs. Why the hell the refs feel the need to put their whistles away at any point in the game is just asinine to me.

I agree with your post from "why are the PP in games...." from there on through.

[Blues_fan1000]

It's even almost impossible to get a good gauge on the change between the games because it's not the amount of calls, it's the non-calls. Which I haven't seen a stat on ever made (because who has that time lol).

Gary Bettman pointed out that the number of penalties called hasn't really changed between regular season and playoffs, but that's not the issue. The infractions def increase in the playoffs, just not called because the refs have a weird thing where they need to call 4-6 penalties a game. So of course that stat will look like nothing has changed.

Refs have a hard job, but they are managing the game to me. I would like the refs to be more accountable for stuff. If you're asking a player or coach about what they think about the reffing, then fining them if they criticize them is odd especially when the other side doesn't need to be asked about things. There's a ton of things I question about the NHL reffing, but there's a couple of things I would like adjusted:

- Why are the PPs in games so often within 1 or tied (3-2, 2-1, 2-2)? I think over like 30 games over the weekend there was 26 of them within 1 pp. Those things just don't happen
- Crosschecking. Enough said
- Call games the same from minute 1 to minute 60, and games 1-stanley cup final. If a player gets sloppy and gets a trip in the final minute of a game 7, call it. Their fault.



What will happen. Refs mics will be adjusted. Crosschecks will be called. Something won't be called anymore to offset the new penalties instead of just calling it and making the players adjust. Fans will yell, but nothing will change when it comes to the overall calling. Just like when slashing was ramped up couple of yrs ago. Other stuff just got let go to offset the new penalties being called.

didnt that one ref get fired for his hot mic comment saying he was going to call a penalty in order to manage the game?

[2014olympicgold]

Anyone who watches the games knows that the statement from Gary Bettman is crap. There's a definite change in the way the game is called in the playoffs vs the regular season. Hockey is the only major sport that changes the way the game is called in the playoffs and it drives me crazy. They dont call the Super Bowl different from the regular season. A pass interference call in the Super Bowl is the same call in the regular season. A charge in the NBA is the same in the regular season as it is in the playoffs. Why the hell the refs feel the need to put their whistles away at any point in the game is just asinine to me.

100% agree with this. I think a lot of people minimize their complaining if that happens. People might complain about "refs want to be too involved in the game", but if it's a penalty it's a penalty. Expanding the game in bringing in new fans also makes it harder if a penalty is called then the same thing happens and nothing is called.

I just hope that the NHL takes a hard look at this this yr. It's something that needs to be properly addressed and I think that Nashville vs Detroit game really pulled the drapes back on an issue that's always happened in the NHL.

Would be curious to know what 16-25 yr olds want. Just a guess but I think that age group would want penalties to be penalties. 26-35 yr olds would be split, and 36+ yr olds want the the playoff intensity. Would be interesting knowing the age groups of the people in this debate.

[tweetdrivr]

Call the book. You make an egregious non-call (like Marchechault’s high stick on Perry in the playoffs) you get benched for a game. Enough of those and you’re out. Bring back the full 2 min penalty regardless of goals scored. And yes, please call the regular season and the playoffs with the same criteria.

[Pengwin7]

Further - reading this guy's article, he says the following:
Hello NHL, help me understand how despite the game being faster than ever, we are seeing fewer powerplays? It doesn’t make sense.


I mean...
(ugh... some people)

Notes:
1. In any idealistic sports world, you want fouls and infractions to go away. Just like raising kids, or having a penal system, you institute rules so that "bad behaviour" stops... or lessens. (If you don't have rules & governing authorities then you get raping & pillaging... right... I mean, c'mon). Fighting and brawling and a lot of the shit goonery of hockey has gone away. If powerplays - and hence penalties PER game are going DOWN... then isn't the NHL trending in the right direction?!?

2. What does SPEED of the game have to do with penalties? The current kids coming into the NHL are fantastic skaters. Fantastic skaters are both i) More skillful and ii) Therefore, less goon-y than past players. Hence, if player skill is improving... and goons are lessening... then penalties in a league with more skilled players should... um... go down. (How is this not effing clear to this guy?!?)

3. Playoff hockey typically, I believe... year-to-year has less penalties. Why? (Some say "call the book"). But the overlaying word among players is to "let them play" - don't let the refs determine the outcome by awarding a PP (which has 20% goal likelihood). If one does a google search - or have watched enough hockey - there are many, many, MANY players over the years more annoyed by refs calling shit that resulted in opposition PP and then opposition PPG... and THAT... lost the game for one team.

4. Regular season games matter less. Players will try to get away with more shit. They are less under the microscope, playing for their spot on the team, willing to "take risks" to avoid being scored on during their shift. Players are MORE likely to take a regular season penalty. You get caught, might cost your team a PPG against... but the fan-base won't throw you under the bus for a stupid penalty in regular season. Fan bases have and WILL throw a player under the bus for a playoff exiting penalty. So players are less likely to take those penalties... and referees know this too.


For me... these numbers... make sense.
We should WANT to see less penalties year-to-year.
We should WANT and expect less penalties to be called in the playoffs (when teams are more careful).

And still, we should also expect that EVERY year, 15 teams will be eliminated at some point and fans of those 15 teams are going to twist up their panties about the officiating.
I think if we polled the people on this forum that are showing supreme annoyance... their team was probably eliminated in the playoffs and they'd love to point a finger at the officiating.
(FWIW - I would say officiating in this year's playoffs had enough bad games, bad misses... that people decided to harp on it more than some years. OK, agree with that. I also know that if you flip 100 pennies, you are eventually going to have a round where you get 60 heads... or 60 tails. You don't start questioning the penny at that point... but some people might, do, and will. Bah.)

[2014olympicgold]

We should want less penalties. Let the refs call penalties that are penalties and the players will adjust, resulting in less penalties and less non-calls in my head.