Shoot It Like You Stole It

by Dirk Hoag on Jan 23, 2007 6:13 PM EST

One of the more interesting angles I looked at for the 2005-6 NHL season dealt with Takeaways and Hits that lead to immediate offensive chances. This helped shine some light on those players whose hard work actually provides benefit for their team, as opposed to a more general look at the basic leaderboard for those stats. So who's out there doing the yoeman's work to pave the way for the scorers?

The selection used here reflects Hits and Takeaways that result in an offensive chance (shot, goal, missed shot, or blocked shot against) within the next 10 seconds, for the current season up through the All-Star break.

Top 15 in Offensive Chances Generated From Hits
Chris Neil, OTT	20
Craig Adams, CAR	17
Antii Miettinen, DAL	17
Matt Cooke, VAN	16
Alexander Ovechkin, WSH	14
Erik Cole, CAR	14
Shane Doan, PHX	14
Trent Hunter, NYI	13
Ryan Hollweg, NYR	13
Blair Betts, NYR	13
Mike Fisher, OTT	13
Jeff O'Neill, TOR	12
Patrick Rissmiller, SJS	12
Chad Kilger, TOR	12
Sean Hill, NYI	11
Patrick Eaves, OTT	11
Jordin Tootoo, NSH	11

The usual cast of spear-carriers fills the list here, along with a few elite scorers who aren't afraid to get their noses dirty...

Top 15 in Offensive Chances Generated From Takeaways
Tomas Plekanec, MTL	17
Alexander Perezhogin, MTL	15
Tyler Arnason, COL	14
Alexander Semin, WSH	14
Marian Hossa, ATL	14
Pavel Datsyuk, DET	14
Andrei Markov, MTL	13
Martin St. Louis, TAM	13
Justin Williams, CAR	13
Alexander Ovechkin, WSH	12
Sheldon Souray, MTL	12
Eric Belanger, CAR	12
Dany Heatley, OTT	12
Simon Gagne, PHI	12
Saku Koivu, MTL	12

Methinks either the official scorer in Montreal has a itchy trigger finger on the Takeaway button, or kleptomania is taught as a core piece of their hockey scheme.

Top 15 in Offensive Chances Generated From Hits & Takeaways
Alexander Ovechkin, WSH	26
Chris Neil, OTT	24
Marian Hossa, ATL	23
Patrick Eaves, OTT	22
Mike Fisher, OTT	22
Erik Cole, CAR	20
Antii Miettinen, DAL	20
Shane Doan, PHX	20
Trent Hunter, NYI	19
Tomas Plekanec, MTL	19
Matt Cooke, VAN	19
Fernando Pisani, EDM	17
Craig Adams, CAR	17
Martin St. Louis, TAM	17
Blair Betts, NYR	17
Jarret Stoll, EDM	17
Eric Staal, CAR	17

Comparing against last year's leaders, we find many of the same players among our current rankings, in particular Alex Ovechkin, Trent Hunter, Chris Neil, and Marian Hossa. Probably the biggest name to drop off this list is Brendan Morrow from the Dallas Stars, who posted 35 such chances, tied for second-best in the NHL. When he was promoted to team captain during the offseason, his style of play was singled-out as an example for the rest of the team to follow. This year, however, with only 8 such chances generated, he's on track to produce less than half as many as he did all last season.

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Comments

Can you tell me what Dustin Brown's total is? I remember reading here that he was really effective at this last year, and I'm curious to see it this year. I know he's still hitting (140+ hits IIRC), and he's scoring more this year, so it's odd to see him disappear completely from the list.

by vh2k6 on Jan 24, 2007 12:14 PM EST reply actions

I've got him at 9 chances generated from hits, and 5 from takeaways, for a total of 14 which puts him close to this leaderboard...

by The Forechecker on Jan 24, 2007 4:46 PM EST reply actions

dammit! you've uncovered the final secret of montreal's hockey strategy. they're running their entire season on kleptomania, empty-net goals, masochistic netminders, and nearsighted referees. unconventional, and only moderately effective, but extremely entertaining nevertheless.

by E on Jan 24, 2007 5:19 PM EST reply actions