The 2012 Alternative NHL Awards: Most Shots Off The Iron

Our 2012 Alternative NHL Awards series continues with a look at those players who most often came “oh so close” to scoring a goal…

Nothing highlights the hard luck of a goal scorer more than ringing a shot off the goalpost or crossbar, especially when you’re already squeezing the stick tight enough to squeeze sawdust out of it. OK, it’s not like anybody uses wood any more, but you get the idea.

Of course, to a goalie’s ears, the ringing of iron is usually the sweetest music they’ll hear during a game. But the following skaters have a different story to tell…

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This season, Carolina’s Eric Staal was the NHL’s “Lord of the Pings”, ringing 17 shots off the iron. Did that play a role in Staal’s lowest goal output since his rookie campaign of 2003-2004? Pittsburgh’s James Neal (13) and Evgeni Malkin (11) followed up as leading puck-clangers.

Of special note were the foursome of John Tavares, Jordan Eberle, Patrik Berglund and Todd Bertuzzi, who each dinged two shots off the iron during the shootout. Even more frustrated were Teemu Selanne, Zdeno Chara and Brad Marchand, who each got robbed twice in overtime, when a goal would have won the game.

The following table lists your league-leading iron-clangers from this regular season:

For previous years’ editions of the Alternative NHL Awards, check out this series which dates back to 2008.