Professional sport is marked by several stages, more or less entertaining, where the results of battles are influenced by external factors.
In baseball, for example, we have experienced the era of steroids from the late 1990s to the mid -2000s. There has also been, in recent times, the era of juicy balls, where the number of circuits jumped significantly. The NFL has had a sunken football scandal, but that only worries Tom Brady. F1, for its part, only returned to the ground effects that marked the beginning of the 1980s.
And in the 1990s, the NHL went through a period of defense called it the dead puck era.
In other words, you get the gist of the thing, like we said in the movie Slapshot.
Well, this year the statistics say that the Stanley Cup playoffs are becoming one of those times that leaves little mark in time. To the point that one can even baptize them helium series. Because, with easy and frequent lifting, it is likely to have loaded the officers ’arms.
Every night since the playoffs began this spring, fans watching the games have been amazed at the high number of penalties awarded by officials. And this, often for small things according to standards established over the years.
From time immemorial, hockey fans have lamented the existence of two NHL rule books: the season rule book, which is more strictly applied, and the playoff rule book, which almost has to be a lifetime. opponent in danger to finish. in the penalty box.
This year? One can say that we are witnessing the launch of the third book because the officers, unbelievably, are distributing more punishment than at the time!
After 39 games (before Thursday’s games), the 16 teams participating in the playoffs were satisfied with 3.99 power plays per game. For comparison, teams across the league averaged an equivalent 2.89 power play per game during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 season schedules.
That’s a big difference!
In the season, we have not seen officers handing out so many penalties since 2008-2009. So imagine the surprise of seeing them show so much enthusiasm in the heat of the playoffs.
Obviously, this is not coincidental. Someone fixed the faucet. Orders were placed on officers so that battles were more strictly refereed.
Who knows, the NHL and team leaders may be tired of seeing undead teams coming to the finals every year, pale-faced and all injured. Or maybe in starting a contract with new American broadcasters, someone thought it was a good idea to raise the level of the show.
Here, statistically, is what this year’s playoffs look like compared to the first rounds of previous years.
In the past seven years, the lowest number of penalty minutes recorded was in 2017, with only 14.09 minor penalty minutes per game.
In 2015, the average power play goal dropped to 1.02.
Obviously by providing more penalties, the NHL is stimulating offensive play. It should also be remembered that this season, the NHL’s power play units have performed best since the 1989-1990 season. This is not insignificant. And that partly explains why so much offensive exploitation has been committed.
By providing more penalties, referees are likely to inject a higher percentage of unpredictability into playoff game results, and they will likely open the door for more returns. These are valid assumptions.
However, the Florida Panthers, who have just finished two spectacular comebacks against the Washington Capitals, are unlikely to agree with this statement. Because incredible, their attack, the most productive in the last 25 years of the season, has yet to gain even a single numerical superiority despite the 16 opportunities it has taken so far.
The sample is thin, but as expected, the playoffs are exceptional this year.
On Thursday morning, the NHL communications department pointed out that this is only the fourth time in league history that seven of the eight first-round series require at least six games to be played to determine a winner.
The only years where the first round was intensely contested were the 2010 seasons (seven series requiring at least six assemblies) and 1991 and 1992 (eight series).
We don’t know who is holding the famous faucet. But it will be interesting to see if the real deluge of penalties slows down over time.
Source: Radio-Canada
