Ranking the Game Changers

It happens about four or five times a game, and whenever it does, it brings the fans out of their seats - a big hit or takeaway that directly results in a scoring opportunity. The question is, who produces those signature moments? As a followup to the question of how Hits might impact Shot Quality and offensive production, I thought it would be interesting to find out how often Hits and Takeaways result in Shots, Missed Shots, Blocked Shots, or Goals within 10 seconds of the turnover. Data again comes from the 2005-6 NHL Regular Season Play-By-Play files.

I'm including Missed Shots and Blocked Shots here, as they are really the result of either a poor effort by the shooter or an outstanding effort by the opposing team, but either way these are unrelated to the value of the turnover generated by the player making the Hit or Takeaway.

Edit: Many thanks to Anonymous, for pointing out how to tighten up the table presentation.

Top 10 in Offensive Chances Generated From Hits

Trent HUNTER, NYI	30
Brendan MORROW, DAL	27
Dustin BROWN, L.A	24
Christopher NEIL, OTT	21
Arron Asham, NYI	20
Alexander OVECHKIN, WSH	18
Steve OTT, DAL	17
Shane DOAN, PHX	16
Dainius ZUBRUS, WSH	15
Donald Brashear, PHI	15
Michael RYDER, MTL	15
Jed ORTMEYER, NYR	15
Grant MARSHALL, N.J	15
Steve BEGIN, MTL	15

Check out last year's Calder Trophy winner, Alex Ovechkin! He's really the lone offensive superstar on this list.

Top 10 in Offensive Chances Generated From Takeaways

Scott GOMEZ, N.J	22
Daniel ALFREDSSON, OTT	22
Jason WARD, NYR	21
Mike MODANO, DAL	20
Saku KOIVU, MTL	20
Ryan SMYTH, EDM	19
Jason BLAKE, NYI	19
Marian HOSSA, ATL	18
Alexander OVECHKIN, WSH	17
Andrei MARKOV, MTL	17
Joe SAKIC, COL	17
Ilya KOVALCHUK, ATL	17
Ian LAPERRIERE, COL	17

A few dandies in here, more interested in swiping the puck than merely making a hit. Notice Ovechkin's the only player on both lists. And now, the totals...

Top 10 in Offensive Chances Generated From Total Turnovers

Trent HUNTER, NYI	41
Alexander OVECHKIN, WSH	35
Brendan MORROW, DAL	35
Christopher NEIL, OTT	30
Dustin BROWN, L.A	28
Shane DOAN, PHX	28
Michael RYDER, MTL	27
Arron Asham, NYI	27
Dainius ZUBRUS, WSH	26
Marian HOSSA, ATL	26
Saku KOIVU, MTL	26
Daniel ALFREDSSON, OTT	26

And finally, there's the most impressive play of all, when a player makes a Hit to take the puck and then scores a goal immediately afterwards. It's pretty rare, happening only 20 times last year. The only player to record multiple such feats was Lee Stempniak of the St. Louis Blues. To top things off, he made those plays in back-to-back games first against Detroit on February 1st, then against Chicago the next night. Maybe he he got hypnotized into thinking he was the second coming of Cam Neely or something - regardless, he's off to a good start this year with 10 points in his first 12 games.