The art of getting yourself in the way
Shot-blocking necessary evil in penalty killing
Maple Leafs defenceman Ron Hainsey seemed taken aback when asked if blocking shots — a key component to any NHL penalty kill — was a skill.
“If you count standing in the way between the shooter and the goalie a skill set, then I guess it is,” said the defenceman who leads the Leafs in both blocked shots (135) and dry humour. “At least on the penalty kill, how it works, if the other team makes enough plays, there’s usually a defenceman standing close to the net, in between the shooter and the goalie and sometimes it hits them.
“It’s one of the great joys of how the game has developed over the past 10 years.”
Does it hurt? Doesn’t matter, according to Hainsey.
“They tell me where to stand and I stand there. If it hits me, that’s where it’s at.”
Hainsey is a workhorse on the Leafs’ blue line, and one of the reasons Toronto’s special teams are so successful this season. He has played almost 272 short- handed minutes — tops in the NHL — averaging 4:03 a game. He often plays the full two minutes and is second on the team in blocked shots during the penalty kill with 31.
“Staying out of the penalty box is a big key, but when you do have to go out there (to kill a penalty), the better off you do not letting them get off a shot the better off you are.” Heading into Wednesday night’s game against Dallas, the Leafs’ penalty kill had allowed only 34 goals in196 times shorthanded. That’s a kill rate of 82.7 per cent, sixth best in the league.
Assistant coach D.J. Smith has earned praise for his work with the penalty killers, but the credit is widely shared.
“D.J. does a good job with it,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “We have real committed peo- ple up front and on the back end who do a good job. In Hainsey, in (Nikita Zaitsev), in (Roman Polak), you have as good penalty killers as you can have on the back end, for sure.
“The other guys support it, but they’re the main guys. Up front, (Zach) Hyman and Leo (Komarov), they’re unbelievable, (Connor) Brown, now we’ve got (Kasperi) Kapanen who has done a real nice job for us there. We’ve got guys that can do it. Good penalty killers. We’ve got a good scheme and get prepared.
“Oh, and (goaltender) Freddie (Andersen).”
The players take a great deal of pride killing penalties.
“We’re a committed group,” said Brown. “We take it personally when teams score against us. We want to be one of the best in the league. I think we feel there’s a bit of a ways to go and we can get better.”
Blocking shots just comes with the territory.
“It’s not a fun part of the job, but there’s a kind of gratification to it,” said Brown, fourth among Leafs forwards with 27 blocked shots.
“It’s like running a race. The running portion isn’t that fun, but it’s nice when you finish. You put your body on the line. You’re going to get that good feeling going in your teammates.”
Stickwork, positioning, preparation and anticipation also help the penalty killers, said Brown. Komarov, third on the team in terms of shorthanded time on ice at 179 minutes, said there’s a consistency with the same players being trusted all year long.
“But … it’s not just about the defence or forwards, it’s the goalies,” Komarov said, adding, “Nowadays you have to block the puck) …
“If it doesn’t hit you, you hope it doesn’t hit the net. Sometimes it hits you bad and you think maybe you shouldn’t have done it.
“But usually the boys get fired up because of it.”