By Brian Maehl
In the 1981–82 season, Wayne Gretzky scored 92 goals. For reference, in the 2014–15 season, the NHL points leader had 87, and Gretzky’s 92 is more than half of the Buffalo Sabres’ total goals this past entire season (161). The NHL seems to ride streaks of high and low scoring for years at a time, and it is not much of a secret that we’re in the midst of another drought.
For additional reference, just 10 seasons ago in 2005–06, there was an average of 253 goals scored per team. This past season, there was an average of 224 as each team is scoring roughly 30 fewer goals — nearly 1,000 fewer total. For those of you playing at home, that’s huge — a difference of more than 10 percent.
While I can appreciate defensive hockey (after all, I’m a Devils fan who watched several teams succumb to the trap in my childhood), there is certainly an added entertainment value in high-scoring games. It is generally a rule of thumb for hockey fans: the more goals there are, the more enjoyable the game is — as evidenced by some recent thrilling high-scoring playoff games. As a result, it is very possible and expected that the NHL will look into potential game adjustments.
Knowing that changes are on the horizon, naturally this has encouraged people to put on their expert hats and dictate what the NHL can do to combat the current scoring. The game modifications are fairly unconvincing, however. To name a few: widening the nets, widening the rink, or requiring less padding for goaltenders.
However, the answer seems to be much simpler, controllable by the league, and even safer: Call more penalties.
To accompany the recent scoring dip, the number of penalties called per team went from an average of 480 in 2005–06 to 251 in 2014–15. While the game is indeed different now than it was then, seeing an uptick of nearly 900 more goals during the season with nearly double the penalties makes a pretty strong case.
In addition, we can use history to make some basic predictions on how it would impact scoring. For example, over the past 10 seasons, teams score on power plays at an average rate of 18 percent of the time. If referees commit to calling just two more penalties per game, that would increase each team’s goals per game by .36, giving us roughly 450 more total goals league-wide — increasing each team’s average of goals scored by about 15. While hypothetical, it allows us to visualize why it’s a legitimate answer to the scoring question.
This begs the question of where the penalties come from, and what changes the referees can make to ensure there is more power play time. The following are potential penalty changes to hit the ice next season, at least if we had it our way:
Cracking down on the clutch and grab: Too often, players are run into the boards and kept there after the puck is free. Not only will calling more holding penalties will allow for power play time, but it could even create more open and fluid gameplay.
No more back-to-back icings: Similar to lifting the puck over the glass, sending the length of the ice twice in a row is a reasonable delay of game penalty. While it could get tricky to establish what “twice in a row” means logistically (perhaps 10 seconds, or during the next zone possession from the face-off), it again would provide more chances for a power play.
One skate must stay on the ice to block a shot: As entertaining as it can be to watch a player slide across the ice in attempt to block a slapshot, it is a serious accident waiting to happen. Sending a player to the box for this would allow more shots to get through to the goaltender and create a bit of a safer environment — a win-win by the NHL’s standards.
Using a body part to direct a goal: Despite being incredibly impressive, Andrew Shaw’s famous head-butt overtime goal (which was disallowed) struck me as a bit obnoxious. Whether it is a distinct kicking motion, arm swat, or head-butt, the player knows it is illegal and it wastes game time. While not the most frequent of circumstances, calling a penalty on such a play can help both help the integrity of goal scoring and add to some power play time.
It will be interesting to see what action the NHL takes, if any, in regards to recent scoring woes in the league. However, calling more penalties is easily controllable, feasible, and no doubt serves as a legitimate option to increase goal scoring league-wide.
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