Numbers Game: “Shoot the Puck!”

Shoot the puck – One of the oldest adages in the game; coaches preach it, some players follow it (see Alexander Ovechkin, Jeff Carter), while others seem to painfully adverse to it (see Tomas Kaberle).  The 18,000+ “qualified” coaches that attend the NHL games (with obvious notable exceptions in Atlanta, Phoenix, etc.) scream it on every offensive rush.  What do the stats say though?  Do more shots lead to more goals?  It makes sense.  More shots, more rebounds, more offensive pressure, more goals.

The numbers confirm it, to a certain degree (check stats below).  The Wings lead the league in shots/game and with 3.54 goals/game, they lead the league in that category as well.  In fact, there are only 3 teams in the top 10 in goals/game that are not ranked in the top 10 in shots (Bruins, Flyers and Penguins).   The average team ranking in goals/game among the top 10 in shots is 10.1.

However, an interesting trend appears among the teams ranked from 11^th -20^th in shots and those ranked from 21^st -30^th.  Out of the teams ranked amongst the lowest in the league in shots, there are only 2 teams that rank among the lowest (21^st-30^th) in goals/game.  In fact the average goals/game ranking among the teams ranked 21^st-30^th in shots/game is 15.3 compared to the 20.5 average ranking for teams located in the middle of the pack for shots (11^th-20^th).