Mid- season stats offer no surprises
On- ice product gets players approval
Eager to reward long-deprived fans, eager to appease high- profile employees, the National Hockey League had sought change.
No one wanted to extend the dead- puck era, during which offence had evaporated, during which holding up and pulling down had been winked at ( but not whistled at).
So the NHL, after wasting the 2004- 05 season with labour squabbles, had been keen to repackage its on- ice product. Desperate for an uptempo brand of hockey, the league’s competition committee initiated a plan to showcase the stars:
The shootout would be introduced. Two- line passes would be legalized. Obstruction would not be tolerated. Puck- handling by goalies would be minimized. Additionally, size of goalie pads was reduced, nets were moved closer to the end boards, neutral zones were shrunk, tag- up offsides were reinstated.
There you had it, the goal-friendly framework for what years to come would be referred to as the “new NHL.” The scheme worked, immediately.
The following season, goals came at a clip not seen since 1995- 96. Power- play opportunities per game, nearly a dozen on average, went to the highest levels since, well, ever.
It was considered a success, particularly by top- flight skaters for whom the adjustment was smooth.
Fast- forward to the NHL’s latest lockout, which effectively snipped the 2012 from the 2012- 13 season, leaving a 48- game schedule. Players returned, keen to compete. Fans returned, keen to watch. And, peeling back the wrapper from another post- lockout winter, this version of hockey is — drum roll, please . . . .
“Same as it was last year,” Calgary Flames forward Michael Cammalleri says with a shrug.
Adds teammate Alex Tanguay: “Nothing’s changed. Things for us, as players, are very, very similar to what they were before.”
Updated statistics appear to back that assessment. Goals are up, but down from 200910. Power- play goals are up, but down from 2008- 09. Shots are up, but down from 2010- 11. Fights are up, but down from 2009- 10.
So anyone hunting for grand revelations about trends at this season’s midpoint is in for disappointment.
“Certainly, it’s good hockey,” says Tanguay. “Entertaining. It’s been fun for me to watch.”
Currently, output for a team is 2.80 goals. In 2003- 04 — the final winter of the deadpuck era — that average was 2.57, the lowest since 1955- 56. During the NHL’s freewheeling years — 1972- 94 — teams averaged 3.20 goals per game. It peaked at 4.01 in 1981- 82.
Selanne insists he wouldn’t touch today’s product.
“I think it’s pretty good right now,” he says.